Oberberg Media Initiative (OMI)

The Oberberg Media Initiative (OMI) is a network for media education in the Oberberg district. Its goal is to support children and young people in using digital media safely, critically, and responsibly. At the same time, OMI's offerings are aimed at teachers, educational professionals, and parents, because media education can only succeed together.

OMI was founded in 2016 and is jointly supported by the Oberberg Education Office, the District Youth Office, the School Psychological Service, and the District Police Authority of the Oberberg district. Additional regional and supra-regional network partners contribute their professional expertise to the collaborative work.

OMI's offerings are aligned with the current challenges of the digital world. Topics such as social media, cyberbullying, data protection, fake news, artificial intelligence, gaming, or digital communication are addressed in a practical manner and conveyed appropriately for the target audience. The offerings are continuously further developed.

A key focus of OMI is the training of Social Media Scouts in secondary schools. Students are trained together with teachers and subsequently serve as contact persons for questions regarding digital media at their schools. This offering is complemented by professional development days, prevention events, parent evenings, as well as other projects for different age groups.

In addition, OMI qualifies educational professionals in primary education for the use of the prevention program Smart Kiddies and supports vocational colleges with training offerings and educational days on current topics in media education.