ASEAN Foundation And Google.org Hold A Digital Literacy Forum And Launch E-Learning Platform

Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation Piti Srisangnam (photo: Ist)

JAKARTA - At the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, the ASEAN Foundation, with support from Google.org, a Google philanthropic institution, held the ASEAN Digital Literacy Program (DLP) Impact Forum in Bali on November 14-16, 2023.

Carrying the theme 'Navigating Digital Resilience: Empowering ASEAN Communities through Digital Literacy', this forum has a mission to combat misinformation and disinformation through digital literacy training across ASEAN countries.

After almost two years of implementation, ASEAN DLP managed to hold 61 Training of Trainers sessions. As of November 2023, this program has distributed benefits to 193,955 people through 2,647 digital literacy workshop sessions.

In Indonesia, this program has reached 283 Master Trainers and 35,153 participants, as well as in collaboration with the Common Room Network, Ruangguru Foundation, and Fatihunnur Foundation as local implementing partners.

The joint mission of creating a safer digital space has brought us one step closer to creating an inclusive digital space in Southeast Asia, said Piti Srisangnam, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation in a statement.

Then, Marija Ralic, Lead for Google.org APAC, also expressed his pride in supporting this program. He hopes to reap inspiration from the stories of transformation and empowerment.

Previously, Google.org had distributed a grant of USD 1.5 million (IDR 23.3 billion) to the ASEAN Foundation for the implementation of the ASEAN DLP from 2022 to 2024.

As an implementing partner, Ruangguru sees the Indonesian people as having high awareness to play an active role in fighting misinformation and disinformation.

"As long as the program is running for two years, we have educated more than 12,000 students and teachers throughout Indonesia who will become agents of change to strengthen awareness of digital literacy in their community," said Gautama Adi Kusuma, Head of Public Policy & Government Relations Ruangguru.

As part of a commitment to improve digital literacy in Southeast Asia, ASEAN DLP has also launched a digital literacy e-learning platform, DigitalClassASEAN.org.

This platform not only targets young people but also teachers, community leaders, government officials, the elderly, and people with disabilities. This platform offers tools to help individuals with disabilities on their learning journey.

DigitalClassASEAN.org offers five main modules that include important and relevant topics on digital literacy, namely digital citizenship, media and information literacy, misinformation and disinformation, positive digital participation, and other specific topics, including social media ethics, digital parenting, and avoiding online fraud.