1.7 million in funding for the development of an educational programme
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is sponsoring a new project involving Paderborn University and Bielefeld University, a church research and educational institution and an association for digital learning with 1.7 million euros. The scientists are developing an educational programme that strengthens digital skills in families. Primary school children and their parents are to be trained in how to use the internet and AI.
The four-year project "Together online: Search.Find.Understand" is the first programme to systematically combine media education in families and schools. "Previous studies show that children develop their digital skills primarily in the home environment. Nevertheless, most educational programmes focus exclusively on the school context," says the coordinator of the joint project, Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Kamin from Bielefeld University. The educational scientist emphasises how important it is to critically question internet sources and the results of AI-supported applications. For this reason, children and parents in the project should, for example, work together on how to deal with fake news and misinformation.
Focus on disadvantaged families
Bielefeld University is developing the media education principles and concepts for the educational programme. Paderborn University is contributing its expertise on family literacy through a team led by Prof Dr Heike M. Buhl. The scientist explains: "Children and parents explore digital media separately at times, but above all have shared experiences. This gives parents a better idea of how they can support their children."
Both locations are jointly responsible for the scientific evaluation using standardised surveys and qualitative interviews as well as participant observations. The target group is primarily families who have previously had little access to media education programmes, but who are very interested in using digital media. The project team therefore takes care to support families in difficult circumstances.
The Neue Wege des Lernens association creates the digital learning materials and ensures the technical implementation of the educational programmes. The programme is being developed together with the Catholic Adult and Family Education Paderborn and will be tested there in three rounds. All concepts and materials will be prepared in such a way that they can also be used in other family education institutions. The project runs from January 2025 to December 2028.
This text was translated automatically.
