'Maddie is Online' Series 4 'The ethics of online safety and security'


“The Library of the future” conference

 The last two months was a busy time for 'Maddie is Online'.

On 25th and 256th August 2022, I presented our work at “The Library of the future” conference, organised by Székelyudvarhelyi Városi Könyvtár (Odorheiu Sequiesc city library) in Transylvania, Romania. It was a great conference, which took place in a beautiful library building, and I had the opportunity to meet different librarians from both Romania and Hungary working on interesting projects on children's library community development.

Székelyudvarhelyi Városi Könyvtár

On the first day of the conference I presented ‘Maddie is Online: a creative learning path to digital literacy for young people', offering an overview of the three existing series and our new project on the ethics of online safety and security, funded by the Scottish Government as part of its Ethical Digital Nation programme and Supported by Digital Xtra Fund.



 Presenting at The Library of the future” (Day 1)

On Day 2 there were a number of “Roundtable” sessions: discussing the topics from the day before, followed by a taste of a number of incredible activities, offered in the library: escape room, earthquake simulator, exhibition of special musical instruments, virtual world, physical experiments and photography with light. 


Day 2 of the conference


Steps to the library showcasing books

At the closing session, which took part in the City hall - Saint Stephen Hall I had the opportunity to reflect on what I learned from the conference and share my experiences with the audience. I was very grateful to have a wonderful interpreter Nόra, throughout the conference, who helped me tirelessly to understand all the exciting information shared.


Saint Stephen Hall

I also went on a Trip to Farkaslaka to visit the house of Áron Tamási (1897–1966) and to the pear tree of Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849) and in the evening I participated in the Night of the Open Books, with some beautiful live music and theatrical performances. Here is a video overview: Night of the Open Books videoI am grateful to Rόsza Galovits and Endre Szőcs (Library Manager) for the invitation and the wonderful hospitality.


House of Áron Tamási (Hungarina writer) (1897–1966)


Building a Media, Digital and Information Literate Scotland


On 8th September 2022, I took part in another event, this time online, Building a Media, Digital and Information Literate Scotland, which was the first online Autumn Gathering, organised by the Chartered Institute of Information and Library Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS). I participated in 'Young People and IL – a panel discussion' together with Gillian Gillespie, Greenwood Academy, North Ayrshire Council and Lauren Pluss, Digital Information Manager at Young Scot.

I was able to share some of my new work on Series 4. 


Themes in Series 4

'Maddie is Online' Series 4 Booklet

We are now developing the booklet for the series and it is packed with interesting activities and resources. Here is a little taster of what is coming up below. Our school competition seeking creative stories from schools on the ethics of online safety and security has also now closed, so we are very excited to share more information on this before the end of September.  


                      
       Series 4 booklet

BRIDGE "Information and digital literacy at school"

    Another project 'Maddie is Online' is participating in the EU Erasmus+ project BRIDGE "Information and digital literacy at school. A bridge to support critical thinking and equality values for primary education using children’s literature and transmedia", which aims to foster information literacy in primary education. Our team is composed by 6 countries: Spain, Turkey, Italy, Finland, Greece and United Kingdom, and our work focuses on  approximate middle primary school stage (aged 8-11 years). 

The BRIDGE project
        
        The objectives of the project are:

  • Create a transnational cooperation network for the exchange of good practices and resources for the joint promotion of information and digital literacy (IL) as a way of underpinning education in equality values in primary schools.   
  • Enable key actors to make better use of digital technologies, develop innovative teaching, training and learning methods, and have quality resources to develop activities.  
  • Take advantage of the educational potential of children’s literature (especially picture books) and transmedia to engage with students about equality, diversity and inclusiveness and global citizenship, and as a door to information and digital literacy activities that help to foster informed, enquiry-led learning and critical thinking. 








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