Media design

Media offers children the opportunity to let off steam creatively and design their own content. That's why everyday family life should not only include discussions about how children can be protected from online dangers, but also about the opportunities that media open up. Actively creating media yourself also means engaging with media and expressing your own opinion in a self-determined way.

Democracy thrives on diversity of opinion. But these opinions also need to be made visible and heard by other people. While people of previous generations still had to write letters to the editor to the newspaper or call into radio broadcasts, the threshold for reproducing one's own opinion is lower today than ever before.

Participation, i.e. taking an active part in shaping the media, is one of the best ways to have an impact on society and offers many other benefits at the same time.

Children and young people acquire creative skills in dealing with media and their production, which can be useful later in their working lives, for example. In addition, creating their own media contributions can promote the creativity of adolescents.

If your children engage with media interactively and independently, this can also train skills such as reading, writing and listening and refine motor skills. They also learn how to use media correctly.

Active media creation can mean many different things. Children could create visual and audio contributions about existing hobbies or discover new topics for themselves. From short videos about horses or soccer to a podcast that shows society or politics from their perspective, for example, anything is possible.

Parents can help by suggesting topics and distribution channels or providing technical support, while at the same time not losing sight of the child's safety. This includes discussions about contact with strangers, their own self-presentation, but also about reactions to published content. It should also be discussed together that the rights of the author must be observed when using and editing media content.

In addition, media production should not replace time for social contacts or school education, even for particularly enthusiastic children and young people.

It takes just a few seconds to record a high-resolution video on a cell phone, minutes to create an account on a social network and post the video. And high-quality audio and video productions are also much faster and easier than in past decades.

It is all the more important that media professionals learn how to research properly, form an opinion and then process it into well-made content. The skills required here range from recognizing disinformation and deepfakes to legal issues and the correct operation of the necessary recording equipment and editing programs.

The Medienbox NRW provides information and training on all of these topics.

The Medienbox NRW is an offer from the NRW Media Authority and is aimed at all citizens who simply want to create their own audio and video contributions in order to make their opinions known to the public.

The Medienbox NRW can be used free of charge by people of all ages from all over NRW. They can decide for themselves whether they want to take part in an online seminar with media professionals or continue their education independently in digital self-study modules. The topics are diverse: from the simple and creative use of AI for media production to tips on the right research and podcast production with a smartphone.

In addition, institutions in NRW such as schools and clubs can register with Medienbox NRW for a free on-site course on media production. They can choose from a course on audio or video production or on research. The course, which lasts several hours, is then run by trained instructors on site at the institution.