DGB 3: Media Use and Personalisation
Media use has shifted from fixed schedules and a limited number of channels towards on-demand, mobile and highly personalised services. Recommendation systems, user data and platform design can make content easier to find, but they can also influence attention, privacy, self-determination and the diversity of information people encounter.
Curriculum reference
[Bearbeiten]| Area | Classification |
|---|---|
| Competence area | Orientation |
| Perspectives | G, I |
| Focus | Changes in media use and personalised media use |
| Competence | Describe changes in media-use behaviour and analyse opportunities and risks of personalised media use. |
Learning objectives
[Bearbeiten]Students can:
- describe the shift from scheduled media to digital and on-demand media;
- distinguish active and passive forms of media use;
- explain personalisation through usage data and algorithms;
- name opportunities offered by personalised media services;
- recognise risks to privacy and self-determination;
- explain filter bubbles and echo chambers as possible effects;
- distinguish personalised advertising from editorial and user-generated content;
- reflect on their own media routines without disclosing private content.
Learning content
[Bearbeiten]Changes in media-use behaviour
[Bearbeiten]Media can now be used across devices, places and times. Streaming, short video, podcasts, gaming and social platforms have changed both the range of available content and expectations about immediacy.
Personalisation as a principle
[Bearbeiten]Platforms may use search history, viewing behaviour, interactions, language, location or account information to select and order content. The resulting feed is therefore not a neutral or complete picture of what is available.
Opportunities of personalisation
[Bearbeiten]Recommendations can reduce search effort, help users discover relevant content and adapt services to interests or accessibility needs. Personalisation can be convenient when users understand and can influence it.
Privacy and self-determination
[Bearbeiten]Personalisation often depends on collecting and analysing data. Users should distinguish necessary service data from optional tracking and should know that privacy settings can affect how much information is used.
Opinion formation, filter bubbles and social perception
[Bearbeiten]Repeatedly seeing similar content can influence what appears normal, important or widely accepted. This does not mean everyone is trapped in a filter bubble, but deliberate source diversity remains important.
Changes in young people's everyday life
[Bearbeiten]Media accompanies communication, learning, entertainment and identity. Notifications, autoplay and recommendations can blur the boundaries between planned and unplanned use.
Conscious media use
[Bearbeiten]A reflective approach includes purposeful choice, checking recommendations, varying sources, controlling notifications and noticing when a platform rather than the user is setting the next action.
Classroom activities
[Bearbeiten]Compare media routines across time
[Bearbeiten]Compare a media day today with a media day before smartphones and streaming.
Expected outcome: A change-over-time table.
Investigate personalisation in a feed
[Bearbeiten]Use prepared screenshots or a simulated feed to identify signals of recommendation and personalisation.
Expected outcome: A feature analysis.
Weigh opportunities and risks
[Bearbeiten]Create a balanced comparison of convenience, relevance, privacy and diversity.
Expected outcome: A pros-and-cons matrix.
Document a media week
[Bearbeiten]Record categories, duration and purpose without private content and identify patterns.
Expected outcome: A data-minimising media-use reflection.
Trace a possible filter bubble
[Bearbeiten]Model how repeated choices could narrow recommendations over time.
Expected outcome: A simple recommendation chain.
Analyse advertising and interests
[Bearbeiten]Identify commercial content and discuss how personalisation may influence advertising.
Expected outcome: An advertising analysis.
Discuss stakeholder perspectives
[Bearbeiten]Compare the interests of users, creators, advertisers and platforms.
Expected outcome: A stakeholder map.
Develop self-directed strategies
[Bearbeiten]Design settings and habits that increase control over recommendations and attention.
Expected outcome: A practical strategy list.
Reflect on the role of choice
[Bearbeiten]Write how personal decisions and platform design interact in media use.
Expected outcome: A short reflection.
Self-check
[Bearbeiten]- I can describe how media use has changed.
- I can explain personalisation in basic terms.
- I can name both benefits and risks of personalised media.
- I can distinguish recommendation from independent source evaluation.
- I can reflect on attention, privacy and source diversity.
- I can develop practical strategies for more self-directed use.