MILA welcomes the government’s pledge to give media literacy more focus in schools in England following the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, along with the government’s response to it, on 5 November. For a fuller statement of our reaction, see mila.org.uk/mila-reactio...

@senseaboutsci.bsky.social has produced a guide on the role of public-good curators: trusted people (librarians, editors, research integrity officers, specialist journalists) who work to uncover reliable information, share knowledge & protect public access to it senseaboutscience.org/championing-...

Here's a recording of the workshop run recently by First News, in association with MILA. Really interesting insights into the place of media/information/AI literacy in young people's education, what this means for teachers and for democratic health of society schools.firstnews.co.uk/articles/ai-...

New report commissioned by Google looking at how teenagers in six European countries (but excluding the UK) are using the latest technology and the relative risks and educational opportunities this entails. Unsurprisingly, the report has a strong focus on understanding and use of AI. futurereport.eu

Interested in how media & information literacy can be integrated into learning in schools? If so, you are welcome to join a free event on 23 October - details below. The webinar reflects work undertaken earlier this year by First News, in association with MILA schools.firstnews.co.uk/articles/ai-...

The UK government & Ofcom have just published their responses to the House of Lords report on media literacy. MILA hasn't hasn't yet looked properly at these, but we will do so & will comment in due course, jointly with other key stakeholders committees.parliament.uk/work/9030/me...

Good Things Foundation @GoodThingsFdn have launched an interactive learning platform designed to demystify artificial intelligence for everyone. It's broken down into simple, manageable lessons so that users can learn at their own pace. A really good resource, well worth a look. bit.ly/ai-gateway

Recent research from the UK Dept for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) shows how particular situations may prompt individuals to engage with media literacy. These 'moments of need' could be optimal times to provide targeted support to help develop media literacy www.gov.uk/government/p...

First News @firstnews.bsky.social has partnered with MILA to produce two practical frameworks for teaching media/ information literacy in primary & secondary schools. These new resources set out key knowledge & skills young people need for thriving in an information society www.firstnews.co.uk/mil

New report from Scotland, with research conducted by Dr Bruce Ryan at Edinburgh Napier University, on the challenges faced by school librarians in developing a valuable role and fulfiling their teaching potential in helping to address mis/disinformation www.cilips.org.uk/misinfo-scho...

@literacy-trust.bsky.social‬ has produced a report on AI in the school classroom. Drawing from a decent sample of students & teachers, the findings reveal a mixed picture of how AI is deployed, for better or worse, with significant concerns expressed by teachers literacytrust.org.uk/research-ser...

Research just published in Nature (in open access) suggests that psychological inoculation, in the form of a game, significantly improves ability to discern vaccine misinformation from facts, confidence in ability to do so & the quality of information-sharing decisions www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The H of Lords Communications & Digital Committee has published its report on Media Literacy. MILA welcomes this. The report cites MIL abundantly and its commendations underline many of our views, including that MIL must be embedded in the school curriculum. committees.parliament.uk/committee/17...

The World Economic Forum has published a report which takes a holistic approach to media/information literacy, i.e. to be successful, MIL must be embedded in different societal contexts & coordinated across all players in society, to become a shared responsibilty reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Ret...

The UK govt has responded to a written parliament question, asked at MILA's behest, on the place of media & AI literacy in the future school curriculum. The response is rather noncommittal, but at least we now have a statement, however bland, on the ministerial record. mila.org.uk/ministerial-...

MILA has signed an open letter to UK Govt calling for prioritisation of critical AI literacy. The letter, coordinated by @connectedbydata.org, stresses it's time everyone had access to learning that supports people to choose how to engage with AI connectedbydata.org/blog/2025/07... #AILiteracy

Ofcom has published a report on the online manosphere. Drawing from interviews with 39 individuals, this sets out findings/themes about people who view, engage with or create content associated with the manosphere, exploring experiences, attitudes & media literacy. www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

A new report from the Anti-Bullying Centre at Dublin City University, drawing from a review of international research, concludes that smartphone bans in schools have little or no impact on education, cyberbullying and wellbeing among students. antibullyingcentre.ie/publication/...

The latest edition of MILA's newsletter is now available online - mailchi.mp/5cb2611d910b...

Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating the launch of our NEW #EpistemicSecurity Network this week! We enjoyed a fantastic line up of speakers, excellent questions from guests and presentations from network leads @hannahperry.bsky.social and Elizabeth Seger. 📺 Watch the full recording ⬇️

At the launch of goodthingsfdn.bsky.social Minimum Digital Living Standard, a holistic concept that covers knowledge/skills, goods & services. Heavy focus on everyday needs & overcoming digital divide. Skills component of MDLS clearly overlaps with media & information literacy.

Important research from @nickanstead.bsky.social‬ & LSE colleagues on effectiveness of media literacy interventions in addressing misinformation. Big variability in success of such interventions, pointing to need for multi-stranded approach to combat complexity of problem ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

In a joint statement, a coalition of organizations has issued an urgent call for media & information literacy to become a mandatory part of England’s school curriculum. The statement, coordinated by MILA, responds to govt’s Curriculum & Assessment Review interim report. mila.org.uk/curriculum-j...

New report from @pifonline.bsky.social, Macmillan & Marie Curie assessing the impact of Google AI search summaries on the health sector. Report concludes that such summaries present a risk to health outcomes & have impacted traffic to credible healthcare sources. pifonline.org.uk/resources/go...

Not exactly a surprise... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Australia has produced a new resource to help boost media literacy in school education across all year groups. Good to see ML recognised as a fundamental pillar of young people's education, but it's a pity the framework is focused explicitly on very limited range of subjects. tinyurl.com/r9h62zry

Ofcom's new Online Information Advisory Committee met for the first time today. Curious to see what emerges from its discussions - minutes will be published in due course. Under the terms of the Online Safety Act, its remit includes the promotion of media literacy. www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/...

@fullfact.org launched its 2025 report today. It's a wide-ranging document, covering mis/disinformation, the state of legislation in the UK & the role of platforms, with a timely chapter on media literacy. MILA looks forward to developing its relationship with Full Fact. fullfact.org/policy/repor...

Prof Lee Edwards & colleagues at LSE have produced a report analysing approaches to media literacy in 11 countries: Belgium (Flanders), Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, N Zealand, S Africa & Sweden. Useful to compare these with what UK does eprints.lse.ac.uk/127862/

The data from this survey also shows that not only are critical thinking skills important, but cultural/national context and emotional responses to news are also factors affecting belief in disinformation.

MILA has made a submission to the House of Lords Digital & Comms Committee inquiry on media literacy. Our response below stresses why media & information literacy are important to society and why it imperatively needs to feature prominently in young people's education. mila.org.uk/mila-respons...

Nothing new about this but still deeply worrying. DfE says mysogyny will be tackled through the curriculum review looking at skills children need to thrive in an online world. Let's hope that means much more prominence for media/information literacy in school education www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

And to quote from the author of this study, "If we cannot trust that the research we read is genuine, we risk making decisions based on incorrect information [...] But as much as this is a question of scientific misconduct, it is a question of media and information literacy.”

OECD is working on its new Media & Artificial Intelligence assessment framework for PISA. This recognises the place that ML & AI literacy must have in school programmes, to assess & develop competencies that students need. First draft of framework available in Dec 2025 www.oecd.org/en/about/pro...

Three MILA trustees at #LILAC25, the Librarians Information Literacy Annual Conference in Cardiff: Elinor Carmi, Stéphane Goldstein and Jane Secker. Elinor and Jane delivered two of the keynote addresses, so MILA is definitely on the map!

An outstanding and bravado keynote (with music!) today from MILA trustee Jane Secker @jsecker.bsky.social at #LILAC25 in Cardiff. The essence of information literacy captured imaginatively.

The April 2025 MILA newsletter is now available, with updates on the school curriculum & assessment review, the House of Lords inquiry into media literacy and a spotlight on recent studies focused on conspiracy theories. mailchi.mp/8fab0b43559c...

Collective narcissism, paranoia, and distrust in science predict climate change conspiracy beliefs www.psypost.org/collective-n... @psypost.bsky.social "Conspiracy beliefs about climate change, such as claims that it is a hoax or part of a global political agenda, are widespread across the world."

Critical Thinking Resource Spotlight: thinkingispower.com Run by science educator Melanie Trecek-King, this site has free videos and articles about critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy. @thinkingpowers.bsky.social

The Ferret has been investigating how the 'culture war' is influencing Scotland and the UK. We have mapped some of the connections between organisations across the world. 🌏 theferret.scot/mappe...

The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee has just launched an inquiry into media literacy. This is a really important opportunity, so please consider submitting a written response to their call. The deadline is tight: 11 April. committees.parliament.uk/work/9030/me...

Interim report from review of the school curriculum in England has been published. Includes brief references to importance of media literacy & critical thinking, but nothing substantive - that might be for next stage of the review, looking at subject areas in more detail. www.gov.uk/government/p...

always worth listening to @jelaniya.bsky.social

This EU-funded project kicked off a few months ago, but it's a salutory reminder of the vital lifelong learning role played by local libraries for media/info literacy, and of the urgent need to train & equip librarians with the necessary MIL knowledge & skills #infolit fujomedia.eu/projects/mil...

Recent study from Switzerland points to a significant negative correlation between frequent gen AI tool usage & critical thinking abilities, particularly for younger people. Educational programmes emphasising critical thinking could help to mitigate such adverse effects. www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15...

Fostering critical thinking can be an effective method to reduce tendency to believe in conspiracy theories according to an experimental study by psychologists in Ireland, enabling people to distinguish between plausible and implausible conspiracy theories www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

The CILIP Information Literacy Group is running a webinar on 1 April on AI and infolit teaching. Details below and the organisers will consider adding small case studies to the event, for anyone wishing to contribute. @infolitgroup.bsky.social #infolit www.tickettailor.com/events/cilip...

New & very wide-ranging report, drawing from case studies in 7 countries, on how gen AI is used & perceived in journalism. One key & unsurprising conclusion is that both journalists and audience members are concerned about the potential of AI content to mislead or deceive. apo.org.au/sites/defaul...

The US Vice-president comes to Europe to lecture us on free speech & openness whilst his administration shuts down access to huge quantities of public US scientific & other data, with impact for scholarship across the globe. Is there such a thing as irony literacy?? www.cilip.org.uk/news/news.as...