De Schaal van M (The Scale of M) is an initiative of Mediawijs (the Flemish Knowledge Centre for Digital and Media Literacy) and the youth channel Ketnet that challenges primary school children and their teachers to work on media themes. The aim, of course, is to make children media savvy and aware in an accessible way of how to deal with advertising, (fake) news, social media, screen time games and of their online safety.
For first- and second-grade children, the scale of M provides free educational materials that teachers can use to get started in the classroom.
Most media-savvy class in Flanders
The highlight of The Scale of M is the competition for the third grade of primary school. Classes from the 5th and 6th grade can compete for the title of 'Most media-savvy class of Flanders'.
The competition starts on Monday 27 February 2023 and consists of five game days with four assignments each.
A class can earn one star for each game day. Classes that earn five stars and take part in the Challenge Competition have a chance of winning the title of 'Most media-savvy class in Flanders' and one of the prizes.
Campaign and aftermovie secure passwords
Classes that want to compete for the honorary title must also complete an extra challenge. There is a choice of three challenges, one of which has been devised by DNS Belgium.
Our mission is to make the internet in Belgium as secure as possible and to make young and old aware of their security online, so we have devised a challenge around safe passwords. After all, secure passwords play a crucial role in people's online security. De Schaal van M and this challenge seem like a great way to raise awareness about that topic once again.
The idea is for third-grade classes to come up with a campaign around that theme and make an aftermovie of the preparation and elaboration of their campaign.
For more information about De Schaal van M and our challenge, go to www.deschaalvanm.be.
You can also download the educational material (only in Dutch) for free and register for the competition (only for Flemish third-grade schools).
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