Resources for Media Literacy: Mediating the Research on Children and Media

Mucho se ha investigado sobre la educación en medios, su importancia y objetivos. Más allá de las directivas, resoluciones o recomendaciones, la investigación en esta área ha permitido profundizar y solidificar sus fundamentos, al tiempo que ha facilitado el reconocimiento de sus puntos más débiles u omisiones. Uno de los puntos críticos destacados por la formación y por el trabajo de investigación que se ha desarrollado en la Universidad de Miño (Portugal) durante los últimos 20 años, es la inexistencia de recursos y materiales que puedan utilizarse para la promoción de la educación en los medios de comunicación en diferentes contextos. De esta forma, independientemente de los recursos y materiales, se genera la importancia de la transferencia de conocimientos a la práctica, la trascendencia de la mediación del conocimiento producido a su público. Esta preocupación fue la base principal del proyecto titulado «Recursos para la alfabetización mediática» llevado a cabo en el Centro de Estudios de Comunicación y Sociedad y financiado por Evens Foundation (Bélgica). Este trabajo presenta sucintamente los procesos de creación y los resultados generados por estos recursos, centrados en tres medios: televisión, videojuegos e Internet y redes sociales.Much has been said and written about media education, its relevance and goals. Beyond directives, resolutions or recommendations, research in this area has deepened the foundations of media education but has also emphasized its weak points or faults. One of these critical points noted in the training and research work developed at the University of Minho, Portugal, in the last 20 years is the non-existence of resources and materials that could be used to promote media education in different contexts. But this is not just about the availability of materials, it concerns the importance of putting knowledge into practice and of mediating the knowledge produced with the appropriate audience. This concern was the basis of the ‘Media Education in Booklets’ project carried out by the Society and Communication Research Centre and funded by the Evens Foundation, Belgium. This paper presents the resources produced by this project in the form of three booklets: the first deals with the mediation of TV at school and at home; the second describes videogames, ways of playing, benefits, dangers, creativity and interculturality; the third is about the Internet and social networks, and the new forms of relationships and communication that these allow

Healthy lifestyles and body mass index as correlates of body image in primary schoolchildren

Background: Body image is a representation of the self that develops from an early age. Such representations are likely to be associated with lifestyle choices.Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between health behaviours (i.e., physical activity, screen time and adherence to the Mediterranean diet), body mass index (BMI) and body image dissatisfaction among primary schoolchildren.Methods: A total of 782 pupils (age 7.92 ± 1.36 years), 405 boys (age 8.01 ± 1.38 years) and 377 girls (age 7.95 ± 1.33 years) from the Southeast region of Portugal, answered a survey containing the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) to measure eating patterns and gender congruent Figure Rating Scales to measure body image dissatisfaction. Children also had their weight and height measured to calculate BMI. Based on the Krece Plus quick test, parents reported on children's physical activity and screen time.Results: Girls reported being less active, t(619) = 2.29, p = .022, d = 0.19; adhering more to the Mediterranean diet, t(775) = -3.92, p < .001, d = -0.29; and having higher body image dissatisfaction than boys, t(773) = -2.53, p = .012, d = -0.19. There was a significant association between BMI and body image dissatisfaction, χ2(4) = 79.34, p < .001. Moreover, 22.5% of the children with normal BMI perceived being overweight/obese. Gender (β = 0.085, p = .036) and BMI (β = 0.40, p < .001), but not lifestyle variables, predicted body image dissatisfaction (R2 = .173).Conclusions: Physical activity, screen time, and adherence to a Mediterranean diet were not associated with body image dissatisfaction. However, BMI was positively associated with body image dissatisfaction. Children are not accurate in estimating their body size which can lead to body image dissatisfaction and attempts to control body weight

Equivariant dendroidal sets and simplicial operads

We establish a Quillen equivalence between the homotopy theories of equivariant Segal operads and equivariant simplicial operads with norm maps. Together with previous work, we further conclude that the homotopy coherent nerve is a right-Quillen equivalence from the model category of equivariant simplicial operads with norm maps to the model category structure for equivariant-$\infty$-operads in equivariant dendroidal sets.Comment: v3: Improvements to exposition and minor edits, in response to referee suggestion