Middle East: The first interactive MIL Center

The NGO Pyalara in the Palestinian Territories is set to make Media and Information Literacy (MIL) education more hands-on with a MIL Center that aims to teach MIL in an interactive setting. “We want to give people a unique experience with all their senses,” said Hania Bitar, the director of Pyalara. Several months ago, Bitar started to work on the idea of building an interactive MIL center in the Palestinian Territories to create a place for learning while having fun — an attraction in an area that currently has few opportunities. She pitched the concept to DW Akademie, which is now a partner in the project. 

The MIL center wants to focus on four main topics: hate speech, cyberbullying, digital security and disinformation. It will be equipped with the latest interactive technologies and programs to give visitors the ultimate MIL learning experience. Britta Senn, a MIL expert who works as a project manager for DW Akademie, is developing concrete ideas together with the team of Pyalara. They are thinking about the option of a MIL escape room in which visitors need to find clues and solve puzzles to complete a mission and find the key to escape. One escape room idea involves a hacked social media account and the participants have to find ways of solving the problem. However, due to COVID-19, it is currently not possible for the team to meet in the space where the MIL Center will be located. “That makes the planning process difficult,” said Senn. 

Learning through games 

Despite the setback, Senn is convinced that escape rooms are an excellent way to learn. “In our MIL Center, unlike in schools, young people are not taught by someone else, however they are discovering knowledge on their own,” Senn said. They are also learning with their peer group. “The peer group is more influential than a teacher can ever be. If they are having fun together, the knowledge will stick.”

Aside from escape rooms, there are other games that target the five core MIL competencies: access, analyze, create, reflect and act. In these games, visitors can be divided into small groups and work on several tasks simultaneously. The team of Pyalara, which works in the Westbank and in Gaza, is thinking about a huge green screen where visitors can read the news or produce TikTok videos. There will also be workshops available for visitors where they can learn the basics of journalism and social media, and the center will also be a place where MIL teachers and trainers can be further educated and informed when there is new material on the market. 

Hania Bitar wants the interactive center to serve as a hub where young Palestinians, university students, journalists, academics and even parents from all over the territoriescan visit and live the MIL experience. For more than five years, Pyalara has taught MIL to teachers and students at schools in the Westbank and Gaza. Hania Bitar and her team were even able to persuade the education ministry to integrate MIL into the school curriculum. However, for Bitar, this is not enough. She is certain that with the MIL Center, she can reach even more people.  

“Why should we go to schools if our area is lacking places for activities?“ she asked. “We can reach way more [people] if they come to us and they will learn even more if we give them a unique experience with plenty of fun.” The MIL Center will be the first of its kind in the Middle East and Bitar hopes it will become a flagship project. 

Interactive content online and offline 

The MIL Center will be able to host around 100 people and will be located in Jaba, a village in the eastern part of the West Bank. The historical complex where the center will be based is currently being partially renovated by a cultural heritage organization. As the MIL Center aims to be a place for all Palestinians, it will provide its programs and experiences online as well.  

“It is important for us that people in Gaza can also participate,” Bitar said. Palestinians living in Gaza are not allowed to travel to the Westbank due to Israeli restrictions. Therefore, the center also wants to share its escape rooms, games and MIL resources online. 

Hania Bitar is the director of the Palestinian NGO Pyalara.

What is unique about the center is that it will become self-sustaining within the first few years. The income generated through collected fees will be utilized for operational, development and maintenance activities for the center and its surrounding community. The center’s medium- and long-term impact will include contributing to providing economic empowerment to the local community through the establishment of new businesses to serve the visitors. 

Pyalara, together with DW Akademie, is seeking more partners which can contribute financially or with technical equipment and ideas. The MIL Center hopes to open its doors by the end of 2022.