Partner – Meno avilys
Location – Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šalčininkai, Švenčionys, Trakai, Vilnius and Visaginas districts
Since 2016
The Big Small Screens project aimed to develop media literacy skills amongst students and teachers at secondary schools in Lithuania, facilitating the discovery and exploration of their community, while nurturing dialogue with other communities by utilising creative and analytical media literacy activities. Through collaboration with media experts and partners, workshops were organised for the participants who developed skills and awareness in terms of the various media sources and types. The primary focus was directed towards audio-visual media and media products of particular interest to students such as films, advertisements, computer games, social networks and television.
The students developed their creativity through meetings with audio-visual media industry professionals and engaging in creative workshops to improve technical skills like filming, coding and editing, while enhancing their communication competency through public speaking and discussions. They also learned how various media channels function, improved their critical thinking and analytical skills, and developed their resilience to false narratives and disinformation.
As the outcome, the students created audio-visual media products by engaging with every step of the process, working in conjunction with inspirational professionals, experimenting with new professions and developing a deeper understanding of how various media products and outlets operate. After participating in the project, some of the students gave serious consideration to a career in the media sector.
The project was also of particular benefit to the teachers, who acquired the knowledge and belief necessary to deliver media literacy as a field of specialisation. After completion of the training and having gained the skills and tools required for the critical analysis of different media products, the teachers felt well equipped and confident in terms of integrating media literacy teaching and/or introducing diverse forms of media into their lessons.
During the project:
Over 17,500 teachers, students and school community members from 320 schools participated in the project activities
23 training sessions and creative workshops featuring media education experts from the United Kingdom and Lithuania were implemented for more than 520 teachers
More than 80 creative student workshops (involving over 3,000 participants) were conducted with media industry professionals hailing from throughout Lithuania
Over 300 audio-visual media products were created by the students
Teaching tools were developed for educators, encompassing 6 forms and domains of audio-visual media, 24 lesson plans and 24 video-based lessons
More than 670 media literacy lessons based on these tools were conducted by the teachers
Five annual media festivals were held, reaching over 2,000 participants annually
15 short media literacy lessons were aired in October 2020 on Lithuania’s Lietuvos Rytas TV channel, reaching more than 200,000 viewers.