MEDEA Awards Finalists Announced
Roosbeek (BE), October 2010 - The MEDEA Awards Organizing Committee has announced nine finalists for the MEDEA Awards 2010. The overall winner will be announced during the MEDEA Awards Ceremony on Thursday, 25 November, during the Media & Learning conference in Brussels. The competition attracted 140 entries from 31 countries.
The finalists are (in alphabetical order): BBC News School Report by BBC (UK); Bla Bla Bla e-democracy e minori by Civil Life Lab (Italy); Et si c'eìtait toi by Lyceìe Technique du Centre (Luxembourg); Evolution of life by CNDP (France); Level 7 by Careersbox (UK); Monkey Labs by Die Keure/Larian Studios (Belgium); Pocket Anatomy by eMedia Interactive (Ireland); Theorem of Fire by Nafta Films (Estonia); and The Classroom by Cornerhouse (UK).
For the first time, those entering could choose between submitting their entry as a production made by a professional company or semi-professional production unit or as one made by teachers, students, learners, parents, professors, individuals, or organizational representatives. The last-mentioned could be in primary education, secondary education, higher education, adult education, vocational education and/or training. This means that this year, as well as the overall MEDEA Prize, there will also be a prize for the highest scoring entry in each of these two categories.
There will also be a special prize, the European Collaboration Prize, which is supported by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. Prizes are sponsored by Adobe, Smart, and AVID.
Entries this year included excellent examples of how students and their teachers are using media to enhance their own media literacy skills, while creating learning resources that can have significant social impact. Animations and cartoons made by younger children demonstrated that they are never too young to begin creating their own media-based learning materials.
Professional productions made by broadcasters and other production facilities demonstrated the power of audiovisual media to support learning in both formal as well as informal settings. Highly engaging 3D animations and games highlighted the sophistication of today's learning resources, which really bridge the gap between entertainment and learning in novel and engaging ways.
Helle Meldgaard, from the MEDEA Awards Organising Committee comments, "This year we see a good variety in the entries and excellent examples of media in education and training. We are particularly pleased to have seen such a good mix of user-generated and professionally produced media among the finalists coming in from across Europe and beyond. This year we also see a number of high-quality media productions that come about as a result of European cross-border collaboration."