Information Disorder and MIL skills: Conceptions, teaching and learning experiences in Indonesia

Abstract: In today’s increasingly digital society, the rampant creation and spread of misinformation and disinformation poses a critical problem in our lives. As a society, we are suffering heightened panic facing Information Disorder (ID). This is especially true in the context of Indonesia, a highly Internet-penetrated country with low levels of literacy. A prominent solution to the problem at hand is to develop Media and Information Literacy skills (MIL). To gain in-depth understanding of the context and phenomenon at hand, three things need to be explored; conceptions of the problem, conceptions of the solution, and conceptions of possible issues with the solution. This study aims to explore conceptions and experiences of ID, MIL and discussions of possible issues with advancing MIL skills in Indonesia across a variety of stakeholders. This extensive insight will give an opportunity to reflect upon current efforts and help design sustainable and adept solutions. In order to undertake the aim of collecting and analyzing conceptions and experiences of a variety of stakeholders, a theoretical approach of phenomenography is taken using semi-structured qualitative interviews as a method of empirical data collection.  The varied conceptions and experiences of stakeholders paints a picture of how Indonesian society conceives ID, MIL skills and possible issues with the solution. A solution broadly encouraged by stakeholders is for all stakeholders to work together to create comprehensive, context-relevant, and sustainable solutions.