Design, implementation and effectiveness of a web-based media education program for teenagers: an exploratory study in China

The purpose of the study is to design and implement a web-based media education (ME) program for Chinese teenagers and to see its effectiveness. With the help of Italian Association of Media Education (MED), the researchers of the study designed a webbased ME program, which included five interactive learning modules, covering instructional materials about such media as comics, advertisement, newspaper, Internet, and multimedia products. During the Spring Semester of 2011, 458 teenagers from three primary schools, which are located in Hangzhou, were invited to attend the program with the guidance of their ICT educators and two researchers. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to collect data. Results of pre- and posttest found that participating students’ Internet self-efficacy were significantly improved after attending the program. Participating teachers and students had generally positive perceptions toward the program. However, the study still detected some limitations impeding the full implementation of the program. Based on the findings, suggestions for improvement were proposed in the last part.