Higher Education Course: Introduction and Overview

3/6 ECT “Introduction to Media and Information Literacies” example course design for higher education

PS! All 16 weeks of the example course with necessary materials can be found under the “Materials for higher education” subpage.

If you are working in higher education and are planning to design a 3 or 6 ECT course that focuses on the basics/introduction to media and information literacies, here are some structures you could follow. 1 ECT= 26 hours of work, so the 3 ECT version requires 78 hours of work from students and 6 ECT requires 156 hours of work. 

The introductory course lays the foundation for understanding media systems, disinformation, and influence activities – all forming the foundation of (digital) media and information literacies, crucial for contemporary democratic societies. It introduces the student to the theories and practices of information society, media, journalism, and social media. To act as responsible, safe, and engaged citizens in the networked public, individuals need to build digital resilience and consistently develop their media and digital literacy skills. This course is dedicated to developing students’ digital and media agency to be able to make use of the various affordances of the digital mediatized life as well as to mitigate potential risks technology-saturated societies uphold. The course has a special emphasis on the work and skills of contemporary journalism but is relevant for most professions that have to constantly update their digital/media and information literacy competencies – accessing information, analyzing it, creating one’s message, reflecting one’s consumption, and being socially responsible. 

After the completion of this course, the student: 

1. Seeks and successfully finds reliable academic information, using various information search strategies.     
2. Is familiar with the vocabulary on related topics, is able to discuss and critically analyse some of the contemporary issues of the information society and mediatization processes.
3. Understands the main media and communication theories, is able to connect theories to practices.    
4. Differentiates between disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation but also recognizes the limits of such categorization and the potential for re-categorization.  
5. Understands the potential effects of information disorder – on micro, meso, and macro levels.
6. Can independently work through reading materials and discuss with others in seminars later on. 
7. Can use various e-learning opportunities and is reflexive about the experience, has used e-learning platforms for cooperation and group work.

Typically a semester will have 15-20 weeks of active classes (often followed by an exam session), so here is an example of how the course could be built up on average. You can find the detailed course plan with the first columns describing a 3 ECT course base and the last column on the right adding tasks and materials for an additional 3 ECTs down below. All materials can be found under the “Materials for higher education” subpage.