Proprietary Educational Platform Establishes Media Literacy, Critical Thinking and Strong Writing Skills
Pressto, the premiere SaaS-based platform designed to make journalism easy, simple and accessible for K-12 students, is proud to announce its global launch. The program features proprietary technology that develops media literacy, critical thinking and strong writing skills while also acting as a tool to communicate through creative expression, providing both voice and agency. Pressto’s primary focus is to engage with schools in order to implement the program as a supplemental curriculum – the platform is currently part of a pilot program with the New York Department of Education – and will also extend beyond the classroom so that parents and children can utilize Pressto on their own.
“Faith in media and truth has eroded in recent years. This is exacerbated by the current decline of extra-curricular student journalism programs, which are failing students and the communities that they serve,” says Pressto Founder Daniel Stedman. “Our goal is to create the next generation of critical thinkers that can process information and also put information out into the world in a healthy way.”
To achieve this goal, Pressto leverages four core modules:
- The process begins with the newspaper builder, which gets students doing. A sidebar showcases various templates that are easily interchangeable as the publication is being created. Images can be integrated throughout the publication and students have the option to distribute their work digitally or print it out on an 8.5″x11″ piece of paper, which makes Pressto uniquely accessible.
- The range of educational skills, which support learning, are visible on each page through an interactive sidebar that uses Pressto’s natural language processing tools to give students realtime educational feedback, offering guidance on everything from title length and image selection to varying reading levels and use of passive verbs.
- These features simultaneously lead to cognitive behavior therapy lessons that get students understanding and thinking critically about their work and media overall.
- Lastly, the implementation of the Pressto Academy will get students working by sourcing and securing paid writing assignments for graduates.
“My hope is that by using Pressto and our proprietary tools, young people will be able to better discern between fact and opinion, leaving them less susceptible to the manipulations of social media and propaganda, while simultaneously fostering stronger relationships with themselves, their peers and their communities,” adds Stedman.
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