Media education is an area of ​​education and teaching where one learns to perceive and look at the effects and meanings of media on individuals and societies. Media education studies media and their use from different perspectives, analyzes different media content and examines the effects of the media environment on people’s actions, growth and well-being.

Relative to our nation’s population, Finland has a lot of different industries and sectors where media education is done. In addition to schools and early childhood education, media education is part of youth work, library activities, several NGOs, media organizations and the private sector. There is also a lot of activity in Finland related to film education, game education and art education, where media education is present.

Media education strengthens media literacy: the kind of knowledge, skills and understanding needed to interpret, produce and express media, as well as to use the media and look at one’s own media relationship.

Media education can be structured instruction, teaching or content production about or via media. It can also be spontaneous conversation across different media content and environments. Media-related discussions can be used to articulate and outline the role, impact, and opportunities of media in society and in the lives of individuals. Over time, new things are connected to media education and old ones are left out as technology evolves and society’s values ​​and culture change. For this reason, media education often involves experimentation and development.

Sometimes, in addition to or instead of media literacy, there is more talk of media skills. Media skills are the civic skills of modern society. Examples of media skills include media production, interpretation of media content, skills in using media equipment, information retrieval skills, critical thinking about media-mediated information, media-mediated communication and interaction skills, social and political inclusion and influence through the media, and use of media to support life management and well-being.

Strong media skills support individual autonomy: critical and creative thinking, aesthetic taste, and inclusion. Media skills are not only the skills of the individual, but also have a social and wider societal dimension: the strong media skills of members of society can also be seen as a factor in strengthening democracy.