The Majority of Students Use Mobile Phones to Access Digital Media

The Majority of
Students Use Mobile Phones to Access Digital Media

A Thesis Calling
for Promoting the Concept of Media Education and Its Inclusion in Curricula

 

A study at the College of Arts at
the University of Bahrain (UOB) called for promoting the concept of media
education among those in charge of it, such as teachers and learning resource
specialists in the school so that they would be able to instill knowledge
values ??in the students’ digital utilization.

The scientific study was presented
by the student in the Master of Media program at the University, Shatha
Abdullah Al-Moradi, and it discussed the role of media education in forming
cognitive cultural values ??in light of digital utilization.

In its recommendations, the study
referred to the importance of introducing media education in school curricula,
noting the importance of seeking assistance from experts from UNESCO to provide
specialized training courses in media education, and to involve parents in
media education courses for its significant impact on upbringing young people.

The researcher Al-Moradi
explained that the concept of media education appeared in the late sixties of
the last century, in which experts focused on the possibilities of using
communication tools to achieve tangible benefits as an educational method, therefore
media education began to be viewed as a protection project whose goal is to
protect children and youth from the dangers created by the media by detecting
false messages and “inappropriate” values ??and encouraging students
to reject and getting past them.

Moreover, she indicated that the
UNESCO affirmed that media education is as important as the issue of spreading
a culture of human rights, as the UNESCO recommends the necessity of
introducing media education into the national educational curricula and within
informal education systems and lifelong learning.

Also, Al-Moradi stressed the
importance of regulating the use of digital media by individuals, enabling them
to use digital media in a way that contributes to the formation and development
of their knowledge values, and achieving the greatest benefit from the amount
of information circulating through digital media, in addition to saving them
from the risks they may be exposed to through digital utilization.

The researcher applied her study on
a group of students from the Student Media Center of the Ministry of Education
in the Kingdom of Bahrain and another group of high school students who did not
register in the center, using the quasi-experimental approach comparing two
control and experimental groups, to measure media awareness and media education
among students in light of digital utilization.

An examination committee
discussed the researcher Shatha Al-Moradi in her thesis, which consisted of Professor
of Media and Public Relations in the Department of Media, Tourism and Arts at UOB
Dr. Ashraf Ahmed Abdelmogeth as a supervisor, the professor of Media and Public
Relations in the same department Dr. Redha bin Hammoud Muthanani as an internal
examiner, and the professor of media at the University of Hail in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mohammed Al-Nazir as the second external examiner.

The findings of the study showed
that students’ ownership of electronic devices reached 99.5%, which indicates
that the process of accessing digital utilization has become much easier than
before, as there is no material difference and everyone is able to use and
follow media websites.

Also, it was found that the
majority of students use mobile phones to access digital media more than
relying on computers and information systems laboratories, which indicates that
owning mobile phones in itself is a facilitation of the digital utilization
process, which is clearly reflected in the rate of use.

Furthermore, the study revealed
the increased ability of the Student Media Center’s regular students to produce
information materials and their superiority over the rate of production of
non-regular students, which confirms that increasing the student’s knowledge on
how to use digital means of communication will increase his media awareness,
indicating that media training courses have a significant role in increasing
awareness among students, and especially regarding digital utilization, as
there is a clear positive impact of training courses on students who are
regular at the Student Media Center, through their selection of information
materials and forwarded media messages.

The study confirmed the
entrenchment of knowledge values ??among students who are regular in training
courses at the Student Media Center, such as the values of honesty and
responsibility towards others, in addition to the value of honesty and national
values.

 

Sustainable Development Goals

4 Quality education

17 Partnerships for the goals

 

Key Words

UNESCO, Media Education, Regulating the Use of Digital
Media, Detecting False Messages, The Quasi-Experimental Approach, Using Mobile
Phones to Access Digital Media,