Round table : Do we need to see it to believe it ? Visual literacy and critical thinking

With Divina Frau-Meigs, Professor at the Paris III University, media sociologist, Head of the association Savoir Devenir

François Laboulais, National Manager for Media, Digital and Citizenship of Ceméa

Aline Bousquet, member of the working group on critical thinking of the Conseil Scientifique de l'Education Nationale

Animated by Christian Gautellier, Festival's director

Misinformation now affects all kinds of texts and images. Even film images aren’t spared, especially through the use of memes, these small viral thumbnails, coming from online and onscreen popular films and TV shows, which are associated to all sorts of false messages and disinformation. Hence visual literacy is becoming an essential skill in the digital era, in the same way as is critical thinking applied to fixed and animated images. What has changed since the days of « image grammar » ? What are the new skills required to navigate between the credibility of images and people’s gullibility ? What strategies, derived from popular information and media education, are available to stimulate the resilience of ordinary citizens and provide the means to act ? This round-table will help to highlight and develop these questions, by establishing the benchmarks and ways of response provided by educational tools and practices…