A new partnership and resources to expand media literacy education for teens
Oct 21, 2024 – [[read-time]] minute read
At YouTube, we’re committed to providing teens with a safe and enriching experience online. As part of Global Media Literacy Week 2024, we’re pleased to announce alongside our partner the Poynter Institute’s MediaWise, the launch of a media literacy curriculum designed to help teens become discerning digital citizens. Starting today, teachers around the world can access these free educational materials for use in the classroom and other learning environments.
Learning to understand the context behind posts, images and videos and share responsibly are crucial skills at any age — even more so for young people.”
Alex Mahadevan MediaWise Director and Poynter FacultyThe new curriculum includes lessons on important media literacy topics, from evaluating sources and evidence to recognizing AI-generated content, and tips for sharing content responsibly. The full host of lesson plans, slide decks, and videos are available on hitpausewithmediawise.com for educators everywhere to access, with more materials to come over the next few months.
Our collaboration with MediaWise expands on YouTube’s Hit Pause initiative, launched in 2022 to help teens safely navigate the online world by using short videos to teach essential media literacy skills. Developed with input from the National Association of Media Literacy Education, Hit Pause videos have been viewed millions of times globally.
“We’re thrilled to kick off Media Literacy Week with YouTube and introduce new resources to help educators empower their students with techniques to identify misinformation. Learning to understand the context behind posts, images and videos and share responsibly are crucial skills at any age — even more so for young people,” said MediaWise Director and Poynter Faculty Alex Mahadevan.
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MediaWise assembled a team of media literacy experts from MediaSmarts (Canada), Mythos Labs (USA/India), and the Parent Zone (U.K.) to ensure materials are easily adaptable for different cultures and languages. Over the next year, YouTube will collaborate with these and other global partners to promote the materials outside the U.S, starting with a pilot in the U.K. with Parent Zone.
Together with MediaWise and our international partners, we’re expanding the reach of Hit Pause and our shared commitment to media literacy education. We continue to reinforce our efforts to ensure teens have a safe and enriching experience online, with more to come.