Game creation in youth media and information literacy education

This article presents the preliminary findings of GamiLearning (2015-2018), a research project that aims to promote critical and participative dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in children through the creation of digital games. The project presents an innovative approach by arguing that MIL can be promoted through the process of creation and development of videogames. Students ages 9 to 14 years old from Portugal and Austin, Texas (USA) participated in the study. which included an intervention at school, was based on a constructivist/project-based approach. Fieldwork was conducted at four schools and a MIL questionnaire was used, based in a theoretical framework, and were administered before and after the project’s intervention. Results from the four schools indicate statistically significant differences between pre and post questionnaires, considering MIL skills in general, and in several groups of skills, namely Operational Skills, Editorial Skills, Digital Identity Management Skills, Critical Media Literacy, Learning and Social Interaction.