Interpretation and evaluation of media
Interpretation of media content
Early childhood education
- Children become familiar with the media and media content containing images, moving images and sound and their combinations: they examine images in newspapers, magazines and books, watch videos, play digital games and listen to audio books.
- Children learn to understand that some of the things presented by the media are true while others are fictional, and that media content has been created by people. Children learn to understand the difference by taking and editing photos, for example.
- Children are immersed in media content and encouraged to talk about what they have seen and heard as well as the feelings that the media content has awoken through the use of varied methods of expression.
Pre-primary education
- Children experience a wide variety of different media content such as news, media art, films and music suitable for children. Together, they use media content that includes written text.
- Children study the difference between fictional and truthful media content, for example, by examining children’s programmes and news suitable for children.
- Children learn to understand the media as content produced and selected by people.
- Children learn to understand media contents. They process events and characters of fairy tales, games and children’s programmes by means of different methods of expression and are encouraged to produce their own interpretations.
Grades 1–2
- The pupil is familiar with the concept of media and is able to give some examples of media, containing images, moving image, sound and combinations of these, such as digital games or videos.
- The pupil practices reading media content containing written text. The pupil familiarises themselves with a comic strip, for example.
- The pupil uses age-appropriate media content including written text with ease.
- The pupil understands the difference between fact and fiction, divides media content into factual and fictional content under guidance and gives an example of these. The pupil understands that all media content has been created by someone.
- The pupil understands that different media content has different purposes, such as entertaining or communicating information. The pupil is able to give an example of a type of content.
- The pupil is able to divide media content into truthful and fictional.
- The pupil identifies media content that has different purposes and gives some examples.
- The pupil practices understanding and interpreting images and the sound environment. The pupil analyses their observations and experiences.
- The pupil is able to describe the course of events and characters in a piece of media content or issues presented in it by means of personal expression.
- The pupil also draws their own conclusions and makes interpretations of media content.
Grades 3–6
- The pupil widens their experience of different types of media content. The pupil familiarises themselves with journalistic content, such as news stories in newspapers and on TV. The pupil is familiar with the basic terminology related to media content.
- The pupil knows what social media is and understands its operating principles.
- With guidance, the pupil examines the topical media phenomena resonating with their age group and discusses their observations.
- The pupil is able to name some pieces of media content that represent fiction, facts and opinions and use this division to understand and interpret the content.
- The pupil knows that media content has different purposes, such as entertaining, influencing, selling and conveying information. The pupil is able to give some examples of these.
- The pupil becomes familiar with different text types and examines narrative, descriptive, instructive and argumentative media content. The pupil is able to give an example.
- The pupil develops their competence in examining images and the sound world. For example, the pupil knows how to examine camera angles and croppings or reflect on the purpose of music in the context it is presented.
- The pupil develops their competence in understanding and interpreting media content. The pupil is able to talk about the issues and perspectives presented in the media content or describe the plot and the different roles of the characters.
- The pupil considers the target audience and the purpose of the media content.
- The pupil develops their competence in examining and interpreting media content: examines things like the media content’s narrator and genre or reflects on the theme.
Grades 7–9
- The pupil broadens their knowledge of media content by familiarising themselves with new types of content, such as a blog, a podcast or e-sports. The pupil describes their experiences of the content.
- The pupil knows what social media is, is able to name some social media services and describe their operating principles and the particular character of their content.
- The pupil knows and is able to use the basic concepts related to different media content, such as films and journalistic and social media content.
- The pupil knows different kinds of narrative, descriptive, argumentative and instructive media content. The pupil is able to describe some structures and features of expression that are typical in the media, such as the structure of a news article or the argumentative style of an opinion.
- The pupil applies their knowledge of text types when examining media content. The pupil develops their competence, for example, in telling the publications of social media users from news and with guidance identifies hybrid texts that combine different features.
- The pupil deepens their skills in interpreting images and audiovisual content, for example, by examining scenes in films, the use of music to support the storyline or the technical implementation.
- The pupil strengthens their skills in analytically examining and interpreting content. The pupil identifies different narrative voices and structures in media content, characterises the genre and reflects on the theme.
- The pupil is able to characterise what kind of target audience the media content is trying to reach and what the intention of the content producer was. The pupil acknowledges the publication context.
- The pupil deepens their skills in analytically examining and interpreting content.
Understanding the influence of media
Early childhood education
- Together with the personnel, children look at how the media are visible and influence their everyday life, such as play and the living environment.
- Sympathising with the features and operating practices of media characters is discussed through play.
- Children explore advertisements together and discuss the difference between wanting, needing and buying.
Pre-primary education
- Children reflect on the media’s influence on thinking and actions, such as information and games.
- Children learn to understand that media can create impressions and generalise things. Children examine the ways of presenting fairy-tale and animal characters or genders in children’s programmes and films.
- Children explore advertising in the nearby environment and reflect on the link between advertisements and consumption.
Grades 1–2
- The pupil becomes aware of the influence media has on the thinking and actions of an individual, such as their views and interests. The pupil is able to give an example from their own life.
- The pupil observes generalisations created by the media under guidance. The pupil examines the characters of films or games, for example.
- The pupil understands that media can shape impressions and views, and is able to give an example.
- The pupil knows that media is used to influence and is able to name some type of content which aims to influence, such as advertisements.
- The pupil identifies some method of influencing found in media content, such as repetition used in advertisements or visual effects.
Grades 3–6
- The pupil is able to give some examples of how media content affects their actions, knowledge, opinions and impressions. The pupil examines the effects critically.
- The pupil examines under guidance what kind of impressions media content such as advertisements or pictures in the media convey and by what means the impression is created. The pupil is able to give an example of this.
- The pupil examines what kind of matters are presented as good and worth aiming at in media content.
- The pupil knows and is able to name some pieces of media content that express ideas, take a stand and aim to influence, such as an opinion, assessment, vlog or meme.
- The pupil identifies and describes some features that are argumentative or aimed at influencing, such as repetition or the use of humour in advertisements.
- The pupil becomes familiar with how algorithms work in the selection of media content.
- The pupil knows tasks of the media industry in society.
- The pupil investigates what kind of topics get media visibility and gives examples of them.
Grades 7–9
- The pupil is able to reflect on the influence that different media content and phenomena in media culture have on the thinking and actions of individuals and groups. The pupil is able to give an example.
- The pupil understands that media influence culture and values in society by conveying impressions, stereotypes and ideals. The pupil is able to give an example.
- The pupil is aware of the character of social media as a channel for influencing and knows its methods of influence.
- The pupil examines how a phenomenon or a target group is presented in the media content they have selected and makes justified interpretations of their observations.
- The pupil understands the earnings logic of different media and its impact on the content. The pupil recognises the difference between the commercial and public media industry and the social media in this respect.
- The pupil knows what sponsoring and product placement in media content mean and recognise the references to commercial cooperation in online content.
- The pupil understands the influence of algorithms on how digital media content such as advertisements, social media publications, news and the content of streaming services get selected.
- The pupil observes and evaluates the actions of media in society by following topical phenomena and their handling in media. The pupil presents justified observations related to them.
- With guidance, the pupil examines media content from the human rights point of view of, such as the freedom of opinion and speech, and evaluates their implementation with the help of an example.
- The pupil follows topical international events and phenomena and the actions of media in them.
- The pupil is familiar with the guidelines for journalists and is able to tell why they have been drawn up.
Media as a source of information
Early childhood education
- Children learn to use media to acquire and structure information. They examine the environment and the world together, for example, by taking photographs or searching media content for information on issues they are interested in.
- Children are encouraged to have a curious attitude to media content. They are also taught to be critical: they are guided to ask questions about what they see and hear.
Pre-primary education
- Children use media in varied ways to find and structure information in everyday situations.
- Children contemplate and assess whether the information they have found is usable.
Grades 1–2
- The pupil is able under guidance to search for information in some digital media content by using a search engine and search terms.
- The pupil knows how to use the media as a tool when examining the environment and matters.
- The pupil knows how to search for information from digital media content independently and together with others.
- The pupil understands the different nature of factual and fictional media content as a source of information. The pupil understands that not all information found in the media is usable or reliable.
- The pupil becomes familiar with media content that communicates information, such as the news.
Grades 3–6
- The pupil is able to search for information in different kinds of media content, such as websites, digital magazines or radio and TV news. The pupil knows how to use search terms to find information. The pupil practises the stages of searching for information.
- The pupil knows how to use media as a tool in learning new things.
- The pupil practises reading and interpreting graphs, tables and diagrams, and makes use of their skills when examining media content, such as news articles.
- The pupil familiarises themselves with how algorithms work when searching for information.
- The pupil evaluates under guidance how useful and reliable different types of media content are as an information source. The pupil compares information from different sources under guidance.
- The pupil practises source criticism. Under guidance, the pupil verifies the source of a text or an image and pays attention to the creator and the publication context. The pupil is able to present some justification for and against the reliability of the media content.
- The pupil knows the difference between how journalistic and social media content is produced and understands how they differ as sources of information.
- The pupil is able to describe some safety aspects related to untruthful information, such as the impact of wrong information about health behaviour.
- The pupil understands that the information which is conveyed may be conflicting, and that there are many perspectives on any issue.
- The pupil becomes familiar with journalistic content, such as newspaper articles and news on the TV.
- The pupil knows about media phenomena related to the spreading of false or misleading information, such as disinformation, misinformation, deepfake and fake news.
Grades 7–9
- The pupil is able to search for information from different media sources and to examine their ways of obtaining information critically.
- The pupil understands how algorithms work in information search and in the communication of information in the media and is able to give examples related to it.
- The pupil takes into account the effect of algorithms when evaluating the information they have found.
- The pupil evaluates different kinds of media content as sources of information and reflects on their usefulness and reliability while justifying their opinions.
- The pupil is able to assess the reliability of the information conveyed by media content, for example, by verifying who made it and the publishing context, by using reverse image search and by comparing the information with other sources and their basic knowledge.
- The pupil understands that the information conveyed may be conflicting and that there are many perspectives on any issue. The pupil is aware of the need for critical evaluation.
- The pupil is able to describe some security aspects related to false information, such as the impact that misleading information can have on health behaviours or the polarisation of views in society.
- When evaluating the reliability of the content, the pupil uses their understanding of different text types and pays attention to the stylistic features and ways of expression in the content.
- The pupil is aware of confirmation bias and also develops a critical approach towards their own thinking.
- The pupil expands their experience of informative media content and familiarises themselves with a documentary, an article or informative social media content.
- The pupil knows the basic principles of the editing process of journalistic content and has an understanding of the differing ways of producing social media content. The pupil understands the differing nature of the content forms as sources of information and is critical about information that is spread socially.
Personal use of media
Early childhood education
- Children discuss their media use at home: media content, the time spent using it and the experiences they have had.
- Children’s own topics of interests are handled by playing in the media or by means of creative expression.
- Children are supported in building a relationship with media through encouragement to use different media content.
Pre-primary education
- Children’s own media use is examined. Children discuss different media use situations and how the media are used in different ways alone or together.
- Media content meaningful to children is examined without evaluating it and children are encouraged to tell about it using diverse methods of expression. Children reflect on why it is meaningful.
- Children understand that different people experience and use media in different ways. Children are encouraged to discuss their experiences of media use and compare them with one another.
Grades 1–2
- The pupil is able to talk about media content they find interesting and situations in which they use media in different ways.
- The pupil recommends meaningful media content to others. At the same time, the pupil learns to respect individual choices made by others.
- The pupil understands that there are different media tastes and ways to use the media.
Grades 3–6
- The pupil tries out diverse media content, names the ones they are interested in and explains why they find them interesting.
- The pupil describes their habits of media use and reflects on the importance of media in their own life, for example, with the help of a media diary.
- The pupil understands that their media taste keeps changing and that it is affected by many parties, such as friends, the media and the parents. The pupil knows that they can with their choices influence their media use.
- The pupil is able to use diverse methods to tell about media content that they are interested in and, for example, prepare a video tip or a blog post.
- The pupil is able to discuss the different media use habits and likings of others with respect.
- The pupil becomes stronger in making choices and respecting the choices of others in media use.
Grades 7–9
- The pupil is able to describe or justify their habits of media use and the role as consumer of media.
- The pupil is aware of how they want to use the media and advances their media use habits.
- The pupil understands the positive impact of getting to know varied media content and familiarises themselves with types of media content that are new to them.
- The pupil analyses their media consumption as part of the media culture and its phenomena.
- The pupil respects individual and different ways of using the media.