Most often media education was regarded as a defense project aiming to protect children and youth from the danger imposed by new media. Much concern was focused on detecting false messages and inconvenient values as well as to encourage children to avoid them. However media education has now became more oriented to adopt an empowerment approach  (behavioral skills), as the objective is to prepare youth to understand media culture surrounding them, make better selection, deal with it and contribute effectively.

For these reasons the First International Media Education Conference is organized by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the UNESCO, the Media Education Organization and the Capital Center for Conferences & Exhibitions from 4-7 March 2007 at King Faisal Hall for Conferences in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This conference brings together educators, experts, international organizations representatives and media producers to share their work and learn from each other. The conference will discuss the international experiments in the field of media education and the learned lessons in this concern and how developing countries can benefit from these experiences.

Conference attendees will also include leaders from civic, cultural, education, public health and educational research associations. Participants will discuss the latest theory, research, and strategies in media education. The conference is accompanied by the Education & Communication Technology Exhibition which will be organizing at Riyadh intercontinental Hotel.

Conference objectives:

The conference goal is to support and coordinate current and future research efforts in the field of media education which serve the peoples of the developing countries.
 

o  Raise awareness about currently available research.

o  Serve as a vehicle for researchers across disciplines to meet for the first time.

o  Identify critical problems that must be addressed to move media education field forward.

o  Promote new collaborative efforts among researchers.

o  Discuss international experiments which can be benefited from.

The conference main topics

o Introducing media education.

o Methods of media education.

o The importance of media education for the Ministry of Education in KSA.

o The role of multimedia in education.

o The educational stages of media means.

Date & Location

Date: 4-7 March 2007

Venue: King Faisal Conference Hall

The Communication & Education Technology Exhibition will be accompanying the conference and be organized at the Main Hall, Intercontinental Hotel.

Organizers

-   The Ministry of Education

-   The Mentor Association

-   The International Capital Center for Conferences and Exhibitions.