„Helpful, social, self-confident, speaking their own mind, not arrogant, tolerant, responsible, funny, laid-back, fair… – these are the qualities that heroes and role models should possess. Students in grades 8 and 10 at Friedensburg High School collected these attributes as an introduction to the seminar “Heroes of the Internet.” From September 7th to 11th, 2015, the seminar explored what it means to act “heroically” online, both as a daily sphere of activity, for example, to be fair both offline and online. How does one act confidently, tolerantly, and responsibly on the World Wide Web? In the workshop groups “Video,” “Explainer Video,” and “Digital Photography,” the students worked together to find answers and created their own media productions to express their positions and opinions on the seminar topic through film and photography.
""Always Online ." Using drawings and spoken text, they explain what they do on the World Wide Web. YouTube and Facebook top the list. By learning and experimenting with stop-motion animation, the young people themselves take a step towards developing media literacy and using it for responsible decision-making. In this sense, the resulting explainer film also contributes to addressing the risk of a digital divide in society. The gap that exists between groups such as parents and children due to differing levels of knowledge about media and internet use is a socio-political challenge. "Always Online" is a practical contribution to the participating Friedensburg High School, encouraging everyday reflection and discussion on this topic between students and their parents.
Democratic action in everyday life
Fundamental principles of democratic coexistence also underlie the problem of bullying, which young people face in their everyday lives – both offline and online. The video group therefore made a tutorial the subject of their filmmaking process. From discussions about being courageous in the analog and digital worlds, they jointly developed a storyboard and brought it to life. "Bullying on a School Trip" depicts a problematic situation and then offers tips on how to deal with it. This includes, above all, actively involving the community – family, friends, teachers, and even the police – in finding a solution, because behind the problem of an individual lies a societal challenge: that of democratic coexistence.
Content is determined through photographic decisions
How do the young participants see themselves in a media-driven democracy where media superheroes are part of their everyday lives, both as fictional characters in films and as digitally "real" YouTubers? In the "Digital Photography" workshop, participants experimented with image perception, production, and manipulation using technologies such as 3D and image editing software. Through what means does photography construct realities and thereby convey perspectives, opinions, and content? From experiments with mirrors to building their own 3D viewing boxes, the participants explored these questions practically and developed a multimedia exhibition. They experimented with ways of determining and influencing content through deliberate photographic choices, from framing to camera angle, or through image editing.
Everyday “heroic”
Here, as in the other two workshop groups, the self-production of media also aimed at fostering a critical engagement with it. Through the action-oriented transferof knowledge and skills, participants were to be motivated and empowered to act responsibly within and actively shape the social sphere of the internet – through media use and creation. Heroes and role models served as a starting point for practicing fair, self-determined, and responsible everyday behavior and for strengthening the young people's media self-determination and external control as users and producers of digital content.
The seminar participants were able to benefit from each other's diverse levels of knowledge and experience among the eighth and tenth graders. The participation of older students from the "Media and Communication" courses at Friedensburg High School, who had also attended a wannseeFORUM seminar in previous years, has become a tradition in this ongoing collaboration. Another seminar in the "New Media" department is planned for 2016.https://www.flickr.com/photos/wannseeforum/sets/72157660230985775/with/22219676398/
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