News and Events

The Algowatch project was prominently featured among three sense-making practices at the 17th MediaEd Forum, held online on 10 January 2025, by the Media Education Lab in the USA, specifically within the panel dedicated to the EDMO Guidelines for Effective Media Literacy Initiatives. Vitor Tomé highlighted the project’s crucial role in enhancing media literacy strategies. Alongside Algowatch, other initiatives were demonstrated as exemplary practices in the field, including TeaMLit, presented by Chloé Pété from the Media and Learning Association, and … Read More

The Algowatch project was the central theme of the programme “90 Seconds of Science” on the Portuguese public radio station RDP1, aired on 9 January 2025. Using accessible language, researcher Vitor Tomé explained, in 90 seconds (the duration of the programme), what the project entails and its objectives. The episode is now available on the RDP1 website. “90 Seconds of Science,” created in 2016 and broadcast daily since 1 November 2023, aims to showcase the scientific work being done in … Read More

The Algowatch team member Aphra Kerr, from Algowatch at University College Dublin, participated in the recently held webinar “Games for Good: Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship” on 11 December 2024. The session explored the educational potential of games, emphasising their role in teaching media literacy and fostering digital citizenship. Kerr highlighted how interactive experiences can promote empathy and understanding while addressing critical social issues. Other speakers included Linas Skirius from the Civic Resilience Initiative, who introduced “The Disinformation Challenge Game,” … Read More

“Media, Citizenship, and Democracy in the Context of AI and Algorithms” was the theme of a session led by researcher Vitor Tomé on 10 December 2024, at Cacilhas-Tejo Secondary School in Almada, south of Lisbon, Portugal. Organised as part of the school’s Citizenship projects, coordinated by teacher Nuno Pousinho, the session engaged 11th and 12th-grade students in discussions about the importance of democracy and the right to vote, misinformation, and the impacts of algorithms. Students explored new tools developed using … Read More

The Algowatch project was one of the projects highlighted in the presentation that researcher Vitor Tomé presented on December 5th at the National Conference of the Association of Educational Services Agencies (AESA), which took place in Orlando, Florida, USA. The 50-minute intervention started with the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025, which will be launched in January, but then highlighted three projects based at the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES), as examples of fieldwork carried out … Read More

Algowatch researcher Aphra Kerr from UCD was one of two guests on the panel discussing AI through a media literacy lens at the Media Literacy Ireland annual conference 2024, held at the Foundry in Dublin, hosted by Google, on 4 December 2024. Moderated by Eileen Culloty, Co-Chair of MLI, the panel featured a captivating discussion that also included Dónal Mulligan from Dublin City University. The panel explored the essential skills and knowledge needed to fully harness the potential of AI, … Read More

The Algowatch project team convened for a face-to-face meeting at Maynooth University in Ireland on 2 and 3 December 2024, bringing together ten members to discuss key updates and progress. The agenda began with a welcome and an overview of the project, including the interim report and financials. The team reviewed the development of the video game, training workshops, and recent deliverables from WP3, followed by a playtest demo of the game. Discussions also focused on testing in schools, educational … Read More

Resources produced by the Algowatch project team, including quizzes, eye openers, and a video game, were validated in the Azores from 18 to 20 November 2024, during sessions with journalists and librarians. This initiative followed a collaboration with the Protocol Centre for Professional Training for Journalists, the regional delegation of the Journalists’ Union in the Azores, and the Public Library and Regional Archive of Ponta Delgada. Approximately 20 participants engaged in the sessions, facilitating an in-depth analysis of the project’s … Read More

The Algowatch project and the Centre for Teacher Training of the Sintra School Association (CFAE Sintra) organised an in-service training course titled “Media, Algorithm, and Artificial Intelligence Literacy for All,” which took place on 6 and 20 November 2024, with the participation of 104 teachers. Spanning six hours, the certified training focused on topics such as the definition and evolution of AI, its applications in education, and strategies for teaching AI concepts to students in compulsory education. Lesson plans and … Read More

The Algowatch project was one of the highlighted initiatives in the Media & Learning webinar on 20 November 2024, focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. The researcher Vitor Tomé presented the key aspects of Algowatch, which aims to enhance AI literacy among educators and students. The session addressed the important challenges of educating teachers about AI’s workings, its potential, limitations, and ethical implications, ensuring both groups are adequately prepared to navigate and utilise AI technologies effectively. … Read More

“Learning About and With AI: A Natural Project of the School Library” was the central theme of Vitor Tomé’s presentation at the XXVII Meeting of the Leiria Library Network on 16 November 2024.  In addition to a brief presentation on the Algowatch project, Tomé outlined the dynamic challenges that libraries currently face, transforming from bastions of knowledge into adaptable centres responding to the digital age. Issues such as digital exclusion and the need for equitable access to both traditional and … Read More

The French team of Algowatch, Savoir Devenir, facilitated engaging workshops at the “Critical Thinking Encounters” event in Bastia, France, on 18 October 2024. This initiative aimed at testing their new quizzes on the role of AI and algorithms in information usage, focusing on critical thinking and misinformation in the realms of sport and health. The workshops utilised the ‘Health and Well-being’ quiz from the European Algowatch.eu programme with 20-24-year-old students. Participants shared their thoughts and feelings about AI, often associating … Read More

The Algowatch Maynooth team were present at European Researchers Night in Ireland, on Friday, 27 September between 4 – 8pm in the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College Dublin, and presented for the first time a demo of the Algowatch game to researchers and the public. The event took place Over 800 people passed through the exhibition on the night. The game was set up on two laptops and people were invited to play and provide written feedback via a QR … Read More

The Algowatch project hosted an interactive activity titled “Challenges with Algorithms” during the European Researchers’ Night, on September 27th, at the Botanical Garden in Lisbon. From 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM, researchers Vitor Tomé and Ana Pinto Martinho engaged with approximately 100 visitors at the stand of the Research Centre for Sociology Studies at ISCTE. Participants were invited to complete one of the quizzes available on the project’s website, offered in English, French, or Portuguese, followed by a brief evaluation … Read More

Divina Frau-Meigs, President of Savoir Devenir, presented the Algowatch project during the online conference “Responsible Artificial Intelligence”, organized on July 9th, by the EPALE network, the ERASMUS platform dedicated to adult continuous training in Europe, specifically for its French community. Tha Algowatch’s leading researcher contributed to the first roundtable, which centered on the stakes for the continuous training of citizens, and detailed the Algowatch background, objectives, and the resources being developed. A link to the Algowatch project was shared during … Read More

Prof Aphra Kerr from Maynooth University, Ireland, presented a paper titled ‘Should Algo- and AI literacy be part of Media & Information Literacy (MIL), and How? (Preliminary) Results from a meta-analysis’  to the Media Education section at the International Association for Media and Communications Research conference in Christchurch New Zealand on the 4th of July, 2024. Co-authored with Prof Divina Frau Meigs, Lana Ciboci Perša, Vitor Tome and Igor Kanižaj from the Algowatch project the presentation reported on the initial … Read More

The second face-to-face meeting of the Algowatch project took place on 4 and 5 June at the premises of Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, in Portugal, and was attended by seven members of the research team, joined by three more online. As well as taking stock of the project, the team discussed the production of the quizzes and eye openers, as well as the competences associated with the video game currently being produced by the project team. The team … Read More

To address the democratic challenges related to AI, it is necessary to mobilize all stakeholders: journalists, as well as civil society and cultural mediators. The statement comes from Divina Frau-Meigs, the principal investigator of the Algowatch project, and was made at the European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy, held in Florence, Italy, from March 14th to 16th. Divina Frau-Meigs took part in a debate on ‘AI and journalism: navigating the intersection of economics, ethics, policy and democracy, during which … Read More