Engaging students in the creation of a digital newspaper

Hosted by , contributed by Kyriaki_Vakkou on 15 September 2023

Dimension:

Opportunities for community learning

Stakeholders involved:

Parents

Main challenge:

The main challenge faced by Portugal rural schools was to provide their students with the tools to read and interpret the world around them, develop critical thinking, social responsibility and capacity for action while also sharing traditions, customs, local experiences and heritage from the 4 rural parishes to which the schools belong.

Action and initiatives:

Within the Learning from the Extremes project, the school cluster decided to create a Digital Newspaper to achieve the proposed goals. The LfE project provided technological equipment necessary to develop the Digital Newspaper, such as photographic equipment and powerful computers. Some teachers’ training was conducted to familiarize them with the new equipment and technologies. To promote collaborative work among students from different schools, videoconferencing was used as a means of communication. The approach is that students are the active agents of the project, with the appropriate guidance of the teachers. In each classroom, a writing space was created so students can, with the support of the teacher and, desirably, with gradual autonomy, carry out the tasks inherent in the production, editing and revision of content for publication. Students can work individually, in pairs and in small groups, help each other, learn and teach one another. Each edition of the newspaper involves, directly or indirectly, parents and members of the local community, depending on the topics covered.

Main change/improvement/impact:

The collaboration between teachers and students from the different schools, as well as the direct involvement of families and the community in the project, has developed a positive and constructive image of the school-family-environment link. There is also a sense of gratification for recognizing and valuing their land, customs, traditions, in short, their local heritage. For the students, it has been very important to take an active role in the process and develop meaningful activities with a direct connection to reality (e.g., decision-making, drawing up an action plan, "dressing up" as reporters, working in groups, evaluation). Also, the possibility to share their knowledge among peers and help one another makes them feel useful and valued. They enjoy the opportunity of having diversified learning spaces, both inside and outside, and the classroom configuration changes according to different tasks. The project allowed teachers to better understand the digital literacy of the students. They found that although the students handle the computer well in terms of browsing the internet and social media, they need a lot of support in using work tools (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.) and are very defenceless when it comes to internet security, making them vulnerable to fake news. All these aspects help teachers work with the students to overcome these challenges.

More information: