Civic Media Education Online

1. Civic Media Education Online Sirkku Kotilainen Senior Researcher, Ph.D. University of Jyväskylä & Finnish Youth Research Network sirkku.kotilainen@jyu.fi Leena Rantala Researcher, Ma.Ed. University of Tampere leena.marjut.rantala@uta.fi

2. For most the Young, it seems to be essential (online or offline): • to show yourself publicly • to express yourself publicly • to have your say publicly ...and Public Space is offered Online (F.ex. Kotilainen& Rantala 2005)

3. Social networking sites are popular photosmusic videobloggingchatting with friendsmeeting new people www.myspace.com www.bebo.com www.irc-galleria.net

4. Proposition 1 The Public Sphere Online makes the Possibility of the Civic Activities more communicative than ever before. BUT the Adults’ Conceptions of Civic and Political Engagement seem to be from the age of the mass Media

5. PARENTS Mostly email & web for research YOUNG PEOPLE Social networking, IM, Games, Blogging Different usage online, too

6. Proposition 2 ”The empowering Technologies are the Media, Government and Education.” (Dahlgren 2000) BUT the Role of the Public Media has not been taken seriously enough in Civic Education.

7. Today Civic Actor needs Skills and Knowledge • about how Media works • about how can I participate (generally and through the Media) plus • the Willingness and Braveness to participate (= to take a Public Action). (Dahlgren 2000)

8. Teaching Civics in Finland Civic Education has NOT been the Issue in School: History comes at First! Teachers are not so much stressing on the Importance of Civic Engagement Young People have only little Possibilities to have their Say in Civic Matters (IEA: Civics 1999/ Finnish results available at http://www.jyu.fi/ktl/civics.htm)

9. Civic Projects Online in Finland since 1995: the Aims • to advance the Rights and Services of Citizens • to help the Progress of Local Communities and Areas • to enhance Civic Engagement via the Net (Sirkkunen & Kotilainen 2004)

10. Vaikuttamo.net – Local Civic Web for the Young

11. Sections of Vaikuttamo.net • Informative about the Ways of Civic Participation, political Parties etc. ”The Formal partisan political” • Interactive including Conversation Area, Journalism and Digivideo Platforms etc. ”Activities the Young prefer to do” (compare Montgomery et. al. 2004)

12. Vaikuttamo.net, a Local Site • started as European Project 2000 • a Part of municipal Activities in Hämeenlinna in the southern Finland (about 60 000 Inhabitants) • cooperation with Youth Work, Schools, Arts’ and Culture Activities, Local Newspaper etc.

13. The Questions of our Research • What kind of Possibilities are the Youth Civic Sites offering Teenagers to engage in the Civic Culture? • How are these Sites used inTeaching and Youth Work? • What kind of new Modes of Youth Civic Engagement could be developed?

14. Mixed Methods • Questionnaire for the Young Users, nearly 600 respondents (2005) • Interviews among the Project Stakeholders, Teachers, Youth Workers, local Mainstream Journalists (2005-2006) • The Mobile Picture (MMS) Experiment with a voluntary Arts’ Class, the Young aged 15-16 (2005)

15. Girl Energy in the Vaikuttamo Site • Over half of the Respondents visit regurlarly Vaikuttamo.net • More often Girls than Boys • The Age mostly between 14 – 16 Years (compare Livingstone et. al. 2005)

17. In what kind of Case have You influenced? ”The food in school. I managed to begin a conversation in the discussion forum” ”A mirror to the trailway tunnel, we got it!” ”Skeiting hall. We got it.” Open Answers from the Questionnaire

18. What are the Reasons for NOT visiting Civic Sites? • Lack of the Faith that there really exist Influencing Possibilities • Problems in finding the Issues to Influence on • the Opinion about the Net as not a proper Place for Civic Actions (prefering the traditional Media instead) • the Self-Image of the Young as not a political Person (Civic Identity under Construction) These come up from the Survey and Interviews

19. How should Vaikuttamo.net be developed? • more Issues related to the Young and their Life (f.ex. Stories, Pictures, Discussions) • more Productions by the Young themselves • wider Content including f.ex. Youth Employment, Student Life, Popular Culture • marketing the Site for wider Audience, i.e. also to Adults in the Region TOP 4 from the Questionnaire

20. Vaikuttamo in school practices • Space to PUBLISH Students’ journalistic Stories and other Student Works • Material to teach own Subject • Material for Student Projects and Workshops • Material for Optional Courses (c.f. Kotilainen & Suoranta 2007)

21. The changed Role of the Teacher ”[…] When I am here in the classroom, I am often in front of the class. And although I would walk among pupils, I can not get the same feeling which I got in the computer classroom, when I realised that pupils had concentrated in their own work and I walked there helping so much I could and I was not a front-of-class teacher any more. […] Interviewed Teacher 5

22. Difficulties and Challenges • Lack of the Resources: Time, Money and Technology • Difficulties in integrating the Site with other Subjects • Difficulties in Cooperation with other Teachers (c.f. Kotilainen & Suoranta 2007)

23. But still they want to continue..... • Coping with one Laptop and Digital Camera • Rewarding cooperation with Colleagues in Town

24. Vaikuttamo in the Local Media • All of the interviewed Journalists (7) tell that they use the Site as a Source and Material for their Stories • Many Online Discussions have been reconstructed to the News and published in the local Newspaper or on the local Radio

25. Pictures of My City 2005 - Experiment • One Class of optional Arts’ (aged 15-16) • The Students went to the City to create Mobile Posters: a Picture and Text. MMS should generate Discussion. • The MMS Pictures were Online two Months on the Vaikuttamo site linked to the local Online Newspaper for public Discussion

27. Lacking Skills, but motivated in Visual Expression • For not sending the MMS messages shows out to be the lacking Skills for Visual Expression and difficult Mobile Technic (in this Group) • On the other hand, the Youngsters were motivated in planning, testing, visual and technical Expression • Some of them told that they even got the Feeling of Civic Influencing

28. Teachers´ Views of the Significance of Vaikuttamo.net

29. Civic Media Education Public Space (Online Media) for Civic Discussions and Actions Community (of Learners) for Participatory Online Activities Experiences (in Participatory Actions) in Learning and in Online Production

30. In the Vaikuttamo project, with the Cooperation of the Schools there has been a Sustained Development instead of one-time user Involvement on the WebSite. We suggest that empowering the Young in the Contemporary Civic Cultures should be a Mission also for Youth Work and even Mainstream Media.

31. References Dahlgren, Peter (2000) The Internet and the Democratization of Civic Culture. Political Communication 17: 335-340. Livingstone, Sonia & Bober, Magdalena (2005) UK Children Go Online: Final Report of key project findings. [http://www.children-go-online.net] Montgomery, Kathryn, Gottlieb-Robles, Barbara & Larson, Gary O. (2004)Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation. Center for Social Media. School of Communication in American University. [http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/youthreport.pdf] Kotilainen, Sirkku & Rantala, Leena (2005) Osallistutaan verkossa! Nuoret Vaikuttamo.net-sivuston käyttäjinä. (Let’s Participate! Young people using Vaikuttamo.net) Nuorisotutkimus 23 (3): 19-30. Sirkkunen, E. & Kotilainen, S. (eds.) (2004) Towards active Citizenship on the Net. Possibilities of Citizen oriented Communication: Case Studies from Finland.University of Tampere, 9-28. [http://tampub.uta.fi/tup/951-44-5827-3.pdf.] Kotilainen, S. & Suoranta, J. (2007) Mot en dialogisk mediepedagogikk i Finland. In Vettenranta, S. (ed.) Mediedanning og mediepedagogikk: Fra digital begeistring til kritisk dommakraft. Oslo: Gyldendahl Akademisk