Media Literacy One of the Critical 21 st

Media Literacy: One of the Critical 21 st Century Literacy Skills Frank Baker media educator fbaker 1346@aol. com Media Literacy Clearinghouse http: //medialit. med. sc. edu

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Media Literacy: One of the Critical 21 st Century Literacy Skills "In this technological age, teachers must expand their students' technological, visual and information literacy as well as provide them with a sense of intertextuality, or the ability to make meaning from a variety of texts. This requires teachers to reshape their curricula and enhance students' abilities to understand use multiple technologies in order to acquire, evaluate and organize information. " Smolin L. & Lawless K, in The Reading Teacher, March 2003

Media Literacy: One of the Critical 21 st Century Literacy Skills “…economic forecasters and business analysts are predicting that jobs in the 21 st century will require information processing skills…a multitude of literacies now exist: visual literacy, media literacy, textual literacy, numerical literacy, technology literacy…. merely teaching reading and writing is no longer sufficient…” Contemporary Literacy: Essential Skills for the 21 st Century (Multimedia Schools; March/April 2003)

Media: the world of our students March 2005 Generation M: Multi-taskers (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Multi-tasking The mental habit of dividing one's attention into many small slices has significant implications for the way young people learn, reason, socialize, do creative work and understand the world.

“Our students are growing up in a world saturated with media messages…yet, they (and their teachers) receive little or no training in the skills of analyzing or re-evaluating these messages, many of which make use of language, moving images, music, sound effects. ” Journal Adult & Adolescent Literacy, February 2004

Using media to teach "If video is how we are communicating and persuading in this new century, why aren't more students writing screenplays as part of their schoolwork? “ Heidi Hayes Jacob

Film as language "Film has its own language, its own grammar. . It's helpful for students to know this language and to think critically about film in an increasingly visual world. " Martin Scorsese “If people aren’t taught the language of sound and images, shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read and write? ” George Lucas

Media literacy: what is it? What does it mean to be “media literate” in the 21 st Century? Take a few minutes to create your own working definition– after which we will share Video

Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. More specifically, it is education that aims to increase the students' understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario

Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages. As communication technologies transform society, they impact our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our diverse cultures, making media literacy an essential life skill for the 21 st century. Alliance For Media Literate America, 2002

Media literacy benefits l l Meets the needs of students to be wise consumers of media Engages students Gives students and teachers alike a common approach to critical thinking Provides an opportunity for integrating all subject areas

Media literacy benefits l l Helps meet state standards Increases the ability & proficiency of students Inquiry process transforms teaching Focuses on process skills rather than content knowledge Source: Literacy For The 21 st Century (Center For Media Literacy)

Sunshine State Standards Language Arts -identifies bias, prejudice or propaganda Social Studies -understands the role of special interest groups, political parties, the media, -understands specific public opinion and ways that mass majority/minority media can potentially conflicts on the enhance or development of public manipulate policy and the information political process Health -knows how messages from media and other sources influence health behavior.

Partnership for 21 st Century Skills http: //www. 21 stcenturyskills. org/

Media literacy: core concepts l l l All media are constructions (of reality) Media use languages with their own set of rules Media convey values and points-of-view Audiences negotiate meaning Media= power + profit Source: Center for Media Literacy

All media are constructions

Media use languages with their own set of rules Language of film Camera work Lighting Editing Sets Sound/music Costumes Expressions

Media convey values and points-of-view

Audiences negotiate meaning

Media= power + profit FOX (News Corp) NBC (NBC/Universal) CBS (Viacom) ABC (Disney)CNN (AOL/Time Warner)

Critical inquiry l l l l Who created/paid for the message? Why was it produced? (purpose) For whom? (target audience) What techniques are used? What lifestyles are promoted? Who benefits? What does it mean? Who/what might be omitted and why?

Techniques In what ways does advertising make goods/services so appealing?

Techniques

Techniques In what ways does this fake web site for a prescription drug advertisement, look like the real thing?

Visual literacy analysis

video

Connecting Curriculum and Technology National Ed Technology Standards for Students Grades 3 -5 Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of electronic information sources. Grades 6 -8 Research and evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of electronic information sources concerning real-world problems.

Advertising Lesson Plan You Want to Sell Me What? The Many Forms of Advertising http: //cnets. iste. org/students/pf/pf_you_sell. html Link to PDF: http: //cnets. iste. org/students/pdf/3 -5 Formsof. Advertising. pdf

Advertising: product placement

Virtual product placement

Script Writing How will the digital universe change the way scripts/plots are developed?

Digital enhanced TV HDTV is nothing more than pretty pictures EDTV has yet to realize its full potential: the ability for the viewer to interact with the program PBS produced video

Student produced media

Student produced media One camera (elementary) Animation (secondary)

Resources Telemedium: The Journal of Media Literacy What Video Games Have New Literacies In Action: to Teach Us About Teaching & Learning in Multiple Learning and Literacy Media

Media Literacy: One of the Critical 21 st Century Literacy Skills Frank Baker media educator fbaker 1346@aol. com Media Literacy Clearinghouse http: //medialit. med. sc. edu