Media Literacy as a Basis for Health Preserving Online Learning Environment of Modern Ukrainian School

Background and aim of study:

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many inadequacies and misalignment between resources and needs in Ukrainian education system. The conventional schooling has been interrupted and teachers and pupils had to adapt to technologies of distance education and to continue their learning through the Internet, television and social messengers. Due to pandemic Ukrainian education institutions, in particularly secondary schools, started to search the efficient and available means and platforms for online learning organization. While schoolchildren were unable to come to school, it was used a variety of resources to support online learning, including different digital media resources, educational television, online learning programs which students explored at their own pace, and virtual meeting and event platforms, etc. The peculiarities of online education organization have actualized the problem of health preservation of all participants of the distance education process. The aim of Ukrainian schools is to create online learning environment that is not just safety but health preserving as well. Thus, current situation stipulates the increasing importance of media literacy, which is recognized almost universally as one of the key competences in the educational system and is a core of health preserving online learning environment of modern secondary school in Ukraine. The aim of this study is to define the impact of media literacy on health preserving learning environment formation during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Research methods:

A number of theoretical and empirical methods of scientific research were used. Among them are theoretical analysis, comparison, generalization and interpretation of results, pupils and teachers’ questionnaire, online discussion.

Results:

Media literacy skills are particularly important given the radical shift towards online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ukraine. But even before the pandemic crisis, teachers reported a strong need for pupils’ media literacy formation as it is a basic skill, one that supports many others that are important in global information society. In modern days and life, digital technologies and the new online media occupy the learning environment and it rapidly changes from traditional to online one. The positive using of media technologies in learning environment will depend on pupils and teachers’ ability to gain cognizance of their potential impact. Online learning environment harbors enormous potential, along with some risks. Its full and positive realization depends on whether pupils gain in media literacy awareness. The study shows that with arrival of digital media a new school reality emerged. It is defined that modern schoolchildren have to organize in a proper way their media time, which is continually on the rise, and today they perform their education and leisure activities, and social interaction in online society. It is emphasized that online learning environment has to protect health of all participants of education process and provide them with necessary conditions for healthy learning and personal development.

Conclusion:

In the face of modern challenges, in particularly the distance learning and education development, the success of education process in secondary school depends largely on the level of media literacy of all participants. Nowadays learning environment becomes online, and it is based on educational and technical potential of new digital resources as well as online media. It is obvious that in this context media literacy is a tool of health preservation in such online learning environment.

DOI and UDC:

UDC: 373.5.016:070 DOI: 10.26697/ijes.2020.4.14

Information about the authors:

Kurlishchuk Inna Ivanivna – Doctor of Philosophy in Pedagogy, Associate Professor, Associate Professor at Department of Pedagogy, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Starobilsk, Ukraine. Research interests: education and training, mass media as a social institute, media education and media literacy, health preserving competence; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7980-7090 Aleksieieva Oksana Radyslavivna – Doctor of Philosophy in Pedagogy, Associate Professor at Department of Pedagogy, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Starobilsk, Ukraine. Research interests: education, learning environment of modern education institutions of different levels, youth socialization, health preserving technologies and tools; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3719-6775 Poluliashchenko Tеtiana Leonidivna – Doctor of Philosophy in Pedagogy, Head of the Department of Sport Disciplines, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Starobilsk, Ukraine. Research interests: problems of education, physical education of youth, online learning; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6345-585X