Evaluating online media literacy initiatives
Evaluation gives those that provide media literacy initiatives an understanding of whether their objectives have been met and helps to guide future improvements.
Activity in this area is uneven: evaluating impact is complex and funding constraints can also be challenging. However, evaluation is important to making sure that online media literacy initiatives are as effective as possible.
This document provides an update on the evaluate pillar of the Making Sense of Media programme. It presents our updated thinking on the structure and content of our online digital toolkit due to be launched this autumn, and an overview of our research on the barriers and challenges to evaluation in the media literacy sector.
We welcome views and opinions on our plans set out in this update and invite comments to MSOM@ofcom.org.uk. We will provide further updates on our activity in due course.
Making Sense of Media – Evaluate: an update on our approach 2022 (PDF, 436.1 KB)
Evaluation should be an integral part of online media literacy initiatives and interventions. The evidence and lessons learned should be shared in an accessible way, so that others can replicate or build on these ideas for themselves. That evidence can be used to inform the design of other online media literacy initiatives and interventions. This will take time to achieve and will be challenging, as it will involve practitioners and platforms sharing what did not work for them, as well as celebrating successes.
- Developing guidance on the evaluation of online media literacy initiatives and interventions
- Building evidence on what works to improve media literacy online
- Developing a digital toolkit to share our guidance and evidence
- Collaborating with other organisations to inform the development of our work
- Publish draft guidance for comments in Spring 2022.
- Build in evaluation to all our future commissioning of online media literacy initiatives and interventions.
- Publish digital evaluation toolkit in Summer 2022.
- Commission further Rapid Evidence Assessments.