Developing media literacy skills of children and youth through the process of creative communication

Abstract

The purposes of this research aimed at studying the factors that affected the creative communication process and extracted the lessons learned from it and it focused on enhancing the media literacy skills of children and youth residing in rural areas of Kalasin Province. The researcher collected data from the workshops, qualitative research, participatory observation and focus group with two target groups namely 1) 50 secondary students in grades 1-3, Ban Nabon School Nabon Kamuang District, Kalasin Province, 2) The process was organized by 20 leading students from Kalasin University. The study found that the creative communication process of children and teenagers was affected by two types of factors: 1) internal factors that include (1) the leaders' knowledge and understanding, (2) the presence of volunteers, (3) the design of activities that were in line with the curriculum being studied, (4) the leaders' training before they do activities in the area, (5) the presence of mentors and (6) the planning of events. 2) external factors that include (1) community’s cooperative and strong, (2) the target group’s enthusiasm, (3) the support of network partners, and (4) the support of educational institutions. The lessons of creative communication process found as the following important lessons: 1) create innovative communication tools or processes to streamline the media literacy process in children and youth, 2) develop work skills of children and youth, 3) develop skills and knowledge of media literacy among children and youth and 4) develop creative media production skills to disseminate to the public.