Practices and perspectives of media literacy in the Mozambican educational context

Abstract

The research aims to understand the practices of media literacy in the medium of Mozambique. The research is qualitative in nature and data collection techniques included interviews and participant observation. The analysis carried out on the data collected led to the conclusion that the Mozambican educational system is facing difficulties in monitoring the social changes in which they occur, as despite hybrid teaching, based on face-to-face classes and mediated by new digital technologies, being a reality in the country, the use of information and communication technologies as a teaching tool is still a mirage. Computer science subjects are limited to teaching the functioning of computer components and not necessarily the critical and demanding ability to read the world through media products, a fact that smart cell phones capable of searching for more up-to-date information in real time are still seen as obstacles and distracting students' attention within school environments, because they are not used properly. The appropriation of information technologies is still far from being achieved, as conflict reigns between analogue teachers and digital native students. Therefore, it is necessary that there are teachers trained in media literacy and that the topics of cyber security, content criticism and consumption in the virtual environment are part of all teaching subsystems.