The aim of this study was to observe how, and if, the concept of Media and Information Literacy (Medie-och informationskunnighet in Swedish) was used in the extended school environment. In Swedish primary schools, 21stcentury skills, such as critical thinking, are beginning to be implemented, butis that also the case with the fritidshem? In this study, I have used fiveobservations to examine the situation at a specific school that has a vision ofsustainability and focus of extensively working with information andcommunication technologies. Would this school break down the boundaries, andstatus divide, that often exist between school and fritidshem? / Måletmed den här studien var att observera hur, och om, medie- ochinformationskunnighet användes i fritidshemmet. I den svenska grundskolanbörjar 2000-talets förmågor, som kritiskt tänkande, att sätta sig, men gällerdet även fritidshemmet? I denna studie har jag använt fem observationer för attundersöka hur det ser ut i en skola som har en vision om hållbarhet och fokuspå informations- och kommunikationsteknologi. Kunde denna skola brytabarriärerna och statusskillnaderna, som ofta finns mellan skola ochfritidshemmet?

Abstract Title: Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in kindergarten: A phenomenological study of preschool teachers' perceptions, competencies and preconditions for the introduction of media information literacy (MIL) in preschool. Author: Paramaporn Erdtman Instructor: Janne Kontio Autumn Term 2016 Various studies have shown that there has been a great increase in the use of digital media for children of all ages, especially children of preschool age. A need for skills and knowledge in how we as educators should be able to help children manage digital media and information has become essential. In 2011, UNESCO presented the concept of media information literacy or MIL, which is a collective concept of media literacy and information literacy in a network society. According to state media council, MIL is a tool to enhance understanding and critical abilities and to manage the problems that will arise in everyday media. Such skills are essential in order for children to be able to exercise both their rights and their responsibilities in a democratic society. The purpose of this study is to examine the different conditions that exist amongst pre-school teachers which will help in introducing media - information literacy in the preschool context. The study is based on a quantitative method, i.e. survey and qualitative interviews. The study is aimed toward preschool teachers who have worked with digital tools in preschool. The result shows that there are positive opportunities for working with MIL in preschool. Preschool teachers have some understanding of the concepts of media and information literacy are about. Preschool teachers consider themselves to have the most of the important skills in order to bring MIL into the preschool. The result also indicates that children need more opportunities to create and communicate in intercultural dialogues and critical discussions with the help of digital media. Early childhood educators approach to children's use of digital media and information is a prerequisite to MIL's implementation in preschool. Early childhood educators are in favor of working with MIL's main points which they have already implemented in the preschool.

Our society has become increasingly digitized, and all around us information flows constantly. Knowledge about valuing different sources of information, and not least the information itself, are becoming increasingly important. Media and information have come to play a big role in our society, and knowledge of media and information literacy becomes important to learn in school. High school students are at the beginning of their adult lives as educated citizens. In this study, we measured high school students experience of media and information literacy, during their three years in high school. Students answered a questionnaire, with questions based upon theoretical concepts in media and information literacy. We chose to focus on high school students as a homogeneous group and not make comparisons between different programs. Everyone is equal before the Education Act. We had preconceived ideas about the outcome, we thought it would turn out that school education regarding media and information literacy had been insufficient, but in many cases those ideas proved to be incorrect. It turned out that high school students may have considerably more knowledge in media and information literacy than we first thought.

Online social networks are a natural part of the lives of today’s western youth. Media and information literacy is a central part of research in Library and Information science and until now there has always been more focus on these subjects in a learning context rather than in an every day life context. The aim of this study is to further examine how adolescent boys value and trust the information they receive via Twitter in their personal lives, and how this effects their view of their environment. The study was done with a qualitative method, where we conducted interviews with six boys who were all born in 1997. The results showed that they knew how to react critically to information on Twitter. Although none of the participants valued information on Twitter too seriously, they did feel that it kept them more updated than if they had not been using the social network.

Denna studie handlar det om de utmaningar och möjligheter som lärare möter när de ska implementera digitala verktyg i undervisningen. Syftet med studien handlar om att bidra till kunskap om de utmaningar och möjligheter som lärare upplever och erfar i en digitaliserad skola. En ytterligare ambition är att väcka reflektioner kring och bilda kunskap om hur verksamma samhällslärare arbetar med digitala verktyg och hur lärare kollegialt arbetar med digital kompetens. Den teoretiska ansatsen som används för att ge uttryck för lärarnas utmaningar och möjligheter bygger på TPACK-modellen. Genom en sådan ansats kan studien förklara de förutsättningar som lärare möter när de implementerar och inkorporerar digitala verktyg i undervisningen. Detta är en intervjustudie som har intervjuat fyra yrkesverksamma lärare runt om i Stockholmsområdet. Studien uppmärksammar dels hur lärarna arbetar med medie- och informationskunnighet (MIK) och digitala verktyg, samt som tidigare nämnt hur de kollegialt arbetar med digital kompetens. Studien diskuterar också effekterna av digitaliseringen i skolan. Vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som digitala verktyg medför, men också diskuterar studien lärarens förutsättningar i relation till det digitala verktyget, och hur detta påverkar deras attityd till det. Resultaten av studien belyser att samtliga samhällslärare anser att digitala verktyg har medfört nya pedagogiska möjligheter där lärare kan arbeta med feedback och ett formativt arbetssätt. Något som också framkommer i resultaten är de pedagogiska utmaningar vilket kommer till uttryck i termer av ett ökat informationsflöde och distraktion. Sedan visar resultaten på hur samtliga kollegialt arbetar med digital kompetens och att attityden skiljer sig åt beroende på skolorganisation.

Syftet med denna studie är att få en insyn i vilket förhållningssätt fem verksamma grundsko-lelärare har kring användning av digitala verktyg i deras undervisning och hur det påverkar deras integrering. I Läroplanen för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2011 fram-går det tydligt att handhavandet av digitala verktyg är en viktig del då skolan ansvarar för att varje enskild elev efter genomgången grundskola kan använda modern teknik som verktyg för kunskapssökande, kommunikation, skapande och lärande (Skolverket 2011a). För att nå syftet i denna studie har vi samlat empiri genom telefonintervjuer som sedan har tolkats och analyse-rats utifrån fyra valda teoretiska begrepp, IT, IKT, digital litteracitet och MIK. Studien visade att samtliga lärare förhåller sig positivt till arbete med digitala verktyg i undervisningen där det används som stöd för elevers lärande. Vidare framkom det att lärarna arbetade med olika kunskaper och förmågor utifrån de teoretiska begreppen. Slutsatsen är att lärarna gärna hade velat ha mer kunskaper i hur man didaktiskt arbetar med digitala verktyg för att kunna inte-grera användningen ännu mer vilket även tidigare forskning visar på. Svenska rapporter bely-ser att det finns en stor spridning i fördelning av den fysiska tillgången till digitala verktyg vilket vi såg i vårt resultat.

The purpose of this bachelor´s thesis is to create an understanding and reflection about how librarians at a small public library work to counter disinformation in their professional practice. Similarly, we students, aim to understand how disinformation impacts library´s democratic mission, and how they promote media- and information literacy. The practical work that librarians perform daily needs to be further highlighted to create awareness among the public. That's because librarians work for democracy, information acquisition, education, and free opinion according to the Swedish Library Law (SFS 2013:801). In a similar way, smaller public libraries need to be made more visible. A qualitative method was employed, consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with six librarians from two small public libraries [in the middle part of Sweden]. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of the concept of media and information literacy. The findings of the thesis demonstrate that the librarians at smaller public libraries have more control over the spread of disinformation in the practical work related to literature purchases than in their interaction with library patrons. Conversations within the library space present a complex situation and crossing a boundary pose challenges in fulfilling the library´s democratic mission. The findings demonstrate that the librarian´s action is influenced and subject to reflection, particularly when addressing social crises, like covid-19, as compassion plays a role on their practice. The thesis has helped to create an understanding and insight into how smaller public libraries work with the few resources and conditions that exist to counteract disinformation in their daily work practice.

Today’s complex and rapidly developed media landscape has brought a greater need for Media and Information Literacy. In order to live and express one’s opinion in a democratic society, it is considered a requisite to possess the skills that Media and Information literacy carries. This requisite mostly concerns the younger generation, since they are the ones growing up in today's media landscape.   Many studies have shown that Media and Information Literacy is connected to civic engagement in various ways. Yet we have not encountered studies with Media and Information Literacy in correlation to civic engagement for a social issue. Therefore, the study will initially describe the main terminology and abilities concerning Media and Information literacy, this through a model formed by Renee Hobbs. Thereafter, the study presents how the abilities of what the model implicates execute in a civic engagement concerning a social issue.   The study is conducted on eight adolescents in 9th grade at a school in Småland, using a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The result showed us that the abilities presented in the model, were practiced on a daily basis in the adolescent’s life in different ways. Further, it showed that the abilities played a significant role in order exert civic engagement. Interestingly it showed us that the social context was a remarkable reason for the adolescents to engage together.

The aim of the study is to investigate how media and information literacy (MIL) among young women affect their views on beauty-related advertisements and posts on Instagram, in accordance with infrastructure knowledge, mental health and purchase behavior. This is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 6 young Swedish women in the age range of 20-25 years old, through which an analysis of the retrieved answers is made. The analysis of the empirical materials takes a stamp in the theories of uses and gratifications theory and cultivation theory in relation to MIL in order to further prove the arguments and conclusions being made. The importance of MIL in this context needs to be highlighted in order to make young women more aware of the ways in which the media takes advantage of them and tries to manipulate them into a spiral of beauty standards and advertisements, making them the targets for further consumption. Considering that the digitalization is moving at a rapid speed, the possibilities for economic growth are doing the same thing. This means that beauty companies, just like any other corporation with a motive of profit, will continue to evolve their marketing strategies in accordance with female consumers' interest and needs.  The collected empirical data of this study shows that the interviewees have at least some basic knowledge of Instagram’s technical infrastructure in the meanings of algorithms and cookies, and therefore understand the basics of how their actions construct their Instagram feeds. The study also shows that the interviewees have a generally negative image of the beauty industry on Instagram; they like the possibilities of using Instagram as a source of inspiration and entertainment, but heavily dislike and disagree with the beauty standards being portrayed. They have all in some shape or form been affected negatively by beauty related content on Instagram - however, it shows that the ones with supposedly higher MIL and knowledge about algorithms more easily could identify the sources of negativity and steer away from it, showing the benefits of MIL in this context. The study also concludes that the interviewees generally are highly skeptical of advertisements and sponsorships on Instagram and therefore rarely purchase anything because of said platform. However, they have a higher tendency to do so if the product being advertised is endorsed by a, according to them, highly trusted influencer or if a discount code is being provided.  It is of importance to continue studies within this area in order to make deeper analysis of potential consequences of the beauty industry and standards on Instagram, so that more women can be taught and informed about how they can protect themselves from negative influences.

I dagens medielandskap lever många människor en stor del av sitt liv genom digitala medier, något som även påverkar skolvärlden. Denna studie undersöker den digitala utvecklingen i relation till lärarrollen och svenskämnet. Det empiriska materialet består av kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare som arbetar med medie- och informationskunnighet (MIK) inom svenskundervisning och skolutveckling samt en kompletterande intervju med Statens medieråd. Syftet med studien är att genom svensklärarnas upplevelse av att arbeta med MIK försöka förstå den digitala utvecklingens betydelse i relation till svenskämnet. Min hypotes är att dagens lärare behöver öka sin medie- och informationskunnighet för att kunna möta elevernas behov och kunna utföra sitt allt mer komplexa demokratiuppdrag. Genom teorierna New Literacy Studies, Critical literacy, begreppet multimodalitet och aktuell tidigare forskning har jag försökte förstå vad den digitala utvecklingen innebär för lärandet och språket.Studien visar att osäkerhet, okunskap, tidsbrist och vaga direktiv är några skäl till att utvecklingen går långsamt framåt. Tydligare nationella direktiv, ett större kollegialt samarbete och kompetensutveckling är några av de faktorer som nämns skulle kunna påskynda progressionen. I den avslutande reflektionen diskuteras MIKs öppningar för att arbeta med normkritisk pedagogik och möjlighet till fortsatt forskning inom detta.