Media Guru - A fun way to teach freedom of expression

What is the state of freedom of expression in the world? How does censorship affect a country's media landscape? What do you have to keep in mind when sharing news on social media? What is the deal with online disinformation and hate speech?  

These questions are becoming increasingly important, especially for young people. In order to find their way in today's increasingly digitized world, they need to be able to navigate a wide variety of media in a safe and reflective way. They need to be media literate.   

'Media Guru' is primarily aimed at teachers in formal and non-formal educational settings and invites them to create a protected environment in which young people can address the opportunities and risks of media use while having fun. The tool teaches them to consume media in a reflective and competent way. Complex issues such as "fake news", hate speech, global freedom of opinion, censorship, digital rights and social media are pesented in a motivating and entertaining way through exercises and games.   

Through knowledge, decision and action-based modules, 'Media Guru' is both a comprehensive educational resource and a fun game for groups of any size. The modules are available in German and English, both digitally and analog. This way, trainings also work offline and with low technical requirements as game boards and cards can be printed and copied for use in a classroom setting.  

Trainers can utilize the game collection when designing training units on freedom of expression and media and information literacy (MIL), combining different games or using them individually depending on the topic and need.   

We invite you to integrate the games into your media education work and use them to address questions about freedom of expression and media literacy, deepen knowledge on the topic and stimulate reflection and curiosity.

The games are available in German and English on the DW Akademie homepage. The publication 'Media Guru' is currently only available in German but translations are in the works. Feel free to use the games now as all are available in German and English!