University of Tartu and EU partners have developed new digital literacy tools to counter disinformation

The Erasmus+ project S.HI.E.L.D vs Disinfo aims to foster critical digital literacy (CDL) by aligning higher education with labour market needs, safeguarding democratic values, and renewing teaching through learner-centred and action research methods. The University of Tartu team including Professor of Political and Sociosemiotics Andreas Ventsel, Research Fellow in Semiotics Mari-Liis Madisson and Junior Research Fellow in Information Resilience Diana Poudel worked alongside project partners from universities and organisations in France, Poland, Belgium, Greece and Cyprus.

From mapping to solutions

The project began with literature reviews and focus group interviews to map existing approaches to tackle disinformation in education and other sectors of the labour market. This revealed that manipulation techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and that cultural, linguistic, and age-related factors significantly affect susceptibility to disinformation. The need to assess the effectiveness of teaching methods also emerged. Based on these insights, several lecture courses were developed, focusing on analysing learning processes and incorporating feedback.

The project produced a range of innovative tools to strengthen learners’ critical thinking and digital literacy, while equipping educators and trainers to foster more resilient educational environments.

• CDL competences framework and an interactive matrix of quality-assurance criteria. The matrix is a three-part tool to support the design of teaching resources by addressing the following:
  • the origins and mechanisms of disinformation;
  • the skills and tools for identifying disinformation;
  • effective pedagogical strategies.

• An anthology of innovative educational scenarios – syllabi and practical ideas for use in various disciplines, based on feedback from observers, lecturers, students, and pupils who participated in the pilot courses conducted during the project.

• Educators’ e-Toolkit – an interactive environment for integrating the topic of disinformation into diverse educational contexts, offering age-appropriate themes, exercises and teaching materials.

The project underscores that disinformation cannot be tackled solely as a technical issue of identifying falsehoods. Effective resistance requires collaborative strategies that consider ideological, cultural and emotional factors. As such, the project’s outcomes are valuable not only for educational institutions but also for society at large.

S.HI.E.L.D vs Disinfo (Students’ of higher education critical digital literacy development against disinformation) is an Erasmus+ KA2 project running from October 2022 to September 2025. It is funded by the French Erasmus+ Agency (Agence Erasmus+ France / Education Formation). Project partners include CY Cergy Paris University, University of Crete, Center for Social Innovation in Syprus, University of Tartu, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Athens Technology Center, and Medical University of Gdańsk.