Youth Spotlight: MeDialog pioneers game-based media literacy
Winning at imaGen Youth Ventures, the Armenian MeDialog team showcased their media literacy game at the Global Incubation workshop in Jordan.
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When 193 countries unanimously proclaimed Global Media Literacy Week as official in 2019, there was one messages to the world – that media and information literacy is key to empowering all peoples and imperative to nurture trust, freedom, peace, and solidarity. Around the same time, a group of young people in Armenia formed the MeDialog team and embarked on creating a board game on media literacy for their peers and educators.
Since then, MeDialog has emerged as a 2022 winner in the Armenian competition of the global Generation Unlimited imaGen Youth Ventures, while in September 2023, the team joined 11 other international teams in a Global Incubation workshop in Jordan, an event organised by UNICEF.
“Participating in the Global Incubation workshop in Jordan opened a new chapter for our project, inspiring us to bring it to a completely new level. We consulted with specialists who helped us tackle some of the shortcomings. For instance, initially, we didn't prioritize proper promotion. However, as we delved deeper into the dynamics of the industry, we gained a clearer understanding of how crucial social media promotion and marketing are for the success of our product. We realized that strong online presence and effective utilization of social media platforms are essential to connect with our target audience and disseminate tips on media literacy, and, ultimately, drive sells,”
A founding member of MeDialog and the only girl in the team, Milena is now in charge of marketing. In Jordan, the team benefited from sessions on business planning, financial management, marketing, and other entrepreneurial disciplines. They had a unique opportunity to spent time with accomplished entrepreneurs and seasoned mentors to transform their ideas and projects to more advanced stages.
“Through pre-testing with their peers, the team made several adjustments, ranging from design enhancements to selection of media literacy topics. They determined the age-specific complexity of terminology used throughout the game and took steps to ensure that is it accessible to a broader audience,”
The team holds regular game testing and presentation sessions for adolescents as their target audience. Preparing for the Global Incubation workshop, they made sure to organise one such session at the Alternative Youth Center in downtown Yerevan.
“Through these interactions we gain insights into how to improve the game, such as how much time to allocate for different stages of the game. It was through this feedback that we decided that at the start of the game, each of the teams should hold, which they have to reveal if they lose in the game. This also teaches players that without proper knowledge of media literacy, you can risk putting important information into the wrong hands,” explained Milena.
At the Alternative Youth Center, participants had the chance to play the game, forming four teams. As Maria from one of the teams put it,
“The team behind this game did an outstanding job. It was a lot of fund to play and it made you think. I played with people from various backgrounds and they were all equally into it. I’m also proud that it’s in Armenian. I will definitely recommend this game to my friends!”
MeDialog is already in the planning stages for developing a version of the game tailored to a younger audience. “We would like to create a game for younger children as well. Teaching media literacy from an early age is crucial, particularly given how early children begin to use gadgets and access the Internet,” noted Samvel, the game designer.
The team has already produced 500 copies of CoMedia board game, some of which will be donated to schools. They hope to leverage enough funds to be able to print and distribute further.
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