Developing Media and Digital Literacies in Children Aged 5 to 10 through Play

Need for the Games: Media Literacy in Estonia

Estonia acknowledges media literacy’s importance in its national curriculum. Still, its uneven implementation across schools, as noted by the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in 2022, contributes to societal division and knowledge disparities. Moreover, media education lacks a standardized approach and doesn’t fully meet the practical needs of children and teenagers.

Media education in Estonia primarily occurs in high schools through the mandatory “Media and Influence” course in the 11th-grade Estonian language curriculum. However, young children start using smart devices at ages 0-3 (Nevski, 2019), often receiving their first personal devices around age 7, leaving those under 17 to navigate media literacy independently. The ICDS 2022 report notes that children up to 12 receive the least media literacy attention compared to other Media and Information Literacy (MIL) projects.  

Although primary and basic schools incorporate media competence through various outside-of-school activities (Blaubrük 2023), Nõmm‘s master’s thesis (2023) reports that only 3% of the country’s 514 general education schools provided dedicated media and information extracurriculars during the initial schooling stage in the 2021/2022 academic year. This is compounded by the fact that media education is often delivered by individuals without formal teaching backgrounds, and this shortfall is especially pronounced in rural areas, leaving residents more vulnerable to echo chambers, information bubbles, and radicalization.

Children experience media through social media, for example, platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which blend various activities and pose risks. Research indicates that encountering one form of harmful content often leads to exposure to other online risks (Stoilova et al. 2023). Furthermore, because of rapid technology development, teachers struggle with knowing the needs for students’ media and digital literacy education (Eickelmann et al., 2022). Blaubrük’s 2023 study also revealed teachers’ difficulties in social media usage, algorithms, targeted media use, security, and privacy.

To address this complexity, Laste Aeg uses a research-based and systematic approach called the 4C internet risks classification by Livingstone and Stoilova. During discussion-based games, teachers observe effective media literacy teaching methods, access essential resources, and receive guidance and support from our experienced team.