For parents and the general public, we have prepared a toolbox containing interactive games, videos and animations, posters, a manual and various tips.

It contains tools that we either developed ourselves or in cooperation with organizations from abroad.

At Časoris, for example, we prepared the booklet Children and the media and the series of videos Fake news hunters. These are complemented posters summarizing essential information.

We also translated and edited the interactive games Bad News, Bad News Junior and Harmony Square, as well as the leaflet How to recognize fake news and poD.V.O.M.I.Š.

With this project, Zavod Časoris encourages the use of media, reading news and identifying reliable sources of information in primary schools.

It is intended to educate a new generation of informed active citizens and there strengthen democracy.

One of the results of the project is the Časoris portal for media literacy.

The activities that we designed in the Media Literacy for Sustainable Future (MIL4SF) project, which was financed the US Embassy in Slovenia, will be carried out in the future as part of the following projects.

Teachers integrate current daily news into regular lessons through carefully designed lesson plans.

Through didactic objectives, teachers encourage children to use reliable sources (not only TikTok) on a regular basis and encourage them to reflect on the credibility of the news and information they come into contact with.

By using teaching aids, teachers strengthen students’ news literacy in an interesting and subtle way.

News literacy is the ability to know and understand the role that free media play in democracy, as well as to recognise credible journalistic reporting in the media and its relevance to everyday life and the functioning of society.

A news literate person can critically assess the credibility of news in the media.

Media literacy is the ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create media messages in different formats and platforms, and to act on the knowledge acquired.

Media literacy education for children and adults helps to understand the role of the media in society and strengthens the fundamental skills of self-reflection and self-expression that citizens need in a democratic society.

There are several areas of literacy that educate critical media users.

Media literacy encompasses the competences that enable critical and effective engagement with information and other content in the media. Media literate people are able to access, analyse, evaluate and create media content and act on the knowledge they have acquired.

News literacy helps to understand the role of credible information and a free media in our lives and in democratic societies, and to recognise the credibility of news and other information.

Information literacy enables people to find, evaluate and use information effectively.

Digital literacy enables people to use information and communication technologies in an effective, responsible and ethical way.

We live in a time when disinformation and a lack of news literacy threaten democracy.

Free and independent journalism and the ability to determine whether the information coming to us is credible are essential for the future of democracy.

In the Mirror of Slovenia (Ogledalo Slovenije) survey, in October 2022 and April 2023, the negative trend of trust in the media, journalists, television presenters and RTV Slovenia was measured. The level of trust in the media reached the lowest result in the last ten years with a measured fall in 2022; journalism remains a profession with a negative level of trust.

News literacy helps to understand the importance of free journalism in a democracy, including how to recognise and demand journalism based on agreed standards. This builds respect for quality journalism. Reliance on fact-based journalistic standards is the best way to measure the credibility of news and other information.

Misinformation affects all areas of everyday life – from healthcare and finance to our personal values. If we cannot agree on a set of basic facts, then we cannot make informed decisions about our lives and the shared governance of our communities.

Disinformation and fake news appear because someone wants to use it to influence our beliefs and behavior, or to make money from it.

All too often, and especially during elections, their dissemination is aimed at creating confusion and division.

The best way to combat disinformation and minimise its damage is to have a well-informed public that is able to recognise and reject false information.

Evaluating our work has been a priority since we started working with teachers and working in classrooms. The results show that news literacy education is desirable among teachers and interesting for students. At the same time, it fulfills the objectives of the curriculum.

In the Media Literacy for a Sustainable Future project, we work together with teachers. They also chose the content sections that they want to use in the lessons. In addition, teachers are the authors of lesson plans based on the news in Časoris, which other teachers then tested in the classroom.

The method for empowering teachers in media literacy and active citizenship through the use of journalistic content in the classroom was first developed in the 2021/2022 school year as part of the Erasmus+ KidsTrustNews project. Mojca Kacjan from Polzela Primary School wrote in her evaluation at the time: “All teachers – no matter what we teach – should be concerned about reading and media literacy and raising awareness about what is happening in the world.” Her words encouraged us to further develop our materials and to design the Časoris portal for media literacy.

The Media Literacy for a Sustainable Future project involved 98 teachers from 24 primary schools. They tested the curriculum with 3,500 pupils in all triads.

All participating teachers answered in the evaluation questionnaire that they would recommend the materials to their colleagues.

They also revealed that 60% of their pupils are interested in current news. At the same time, they estimated that the majority of pupils, i.e. 80%, are not media literate and that 63% of them do not recognize misinformation or incorrect information when they come across it.

As many as 89% of teachers stated that their understanding of media literacy improved participating in the project. The vast majority, 84%, also confirmed that the materials are useful in supporting pupils in the area of media literacy.

The evaluation of the effectiveness of the materials for pupils will be measured in the school year 2023/24.

We want children to learn to recognize the importance of credible media and to – like the generations before them – get used to following news they can trust.

We strive to make media and news literacy an integral part of learning processes. This would contribute to the goal of citizens of all ages being able to recognize credible news and other information and to understand the indispensable role of a free media for democracy.

If you teach and have recognised the importance of media literacy in schools, you are invited to join a team of passionate mentors who know how important it is for children to follow credible news. They are also aware of the important role of the media in a democratic society and are ready to pass this awareness on to their pupils and colleagues.

All schools can easily provide teachers with access to proven and simple innovative learning materials. They are suitable for all triads, for teaching in one subject, interdisciplinary teaching or in a thematically focused class lesson.

We have also developed interactive media literacy workshops for teachers, primary school pupils and students. For more information, write to us at urednistvo@casoris.si.

A free media literacy toolbox is available to parents and the general public.

Everyone is cordially invited to read Časoris together with the children. You can also follow us on social networks: Facebook, Instagram, X in TikTok.

You can support us texting Casoris5 to 1919. Every donation through the text message is for us a confirmation that we are working well and in right direction.

Časoris is an internationally awarded free online newspaper for children. With it, we inspire and encourage children to become informed, active, compassionate and responsible citizens of the world. It has been bringing news since 2016.

Every day, Časoris publishes current, authentic news from Slovenia and the world, as well as information about sports and cultural events and scientific discoveries. In doing so, we respect and observe our editorial policy and other general terms and conditions.