Media literacy 101 Frank Baker media educator Media Literacy Clearinghouse

Generation M= multi-taskers aka Digital Natives

“As film, TV, video, and other moving image and sound formats continue to pervade and shape our lives, the ability to understand how these media ‘work’ and how they impact our lives is crucial for all librarians.” Lori Widzinski, University of Buffalo Studies In Media & Information Literacy Education (SIMILE)

Information literate? College students and high-school students preparing to enter college are sorely lacking in the skills needed to retrieve, analyze, and communicate information that is available online… only 13 percent of the test-takers were information literate. The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 17, 2006 The Chronicle of Higher Education

(students) "spend lots of time chatting, looking at pop culture web sites, and downloading MP3s, but they don’t deal with critical evaluation of information." Donald Leu University of Conn. Teaching With The Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times

(educators) “spend a lot of time teaching kids to find things on the Net, but we need to expend 10 times more effort teaching them how to interpret what they've found." Alan November, Education Technology Consultant (quoted in Edutopia: October 2006)

“While more young people have access to the Internet and other media than any generation in history, they do not necessarily possess the ethics, the intellectual skills, or the predisposition to critically analyze and evaluate their relationship with these technologies or the information they encounter. Good hand/eye co-ordination and the ability to multitask are not substitutes for critical thinking.” Dr. David Considine, media educator, Appalachian State University

What media literacy means Where it fits in Ohio Standards What it looks like in the classroom What resources are available What your role is in teaching/promoting it

Write a definition of “media literacy”

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. Ontario Resource Guide, 1997

What media literacy is: Set of skills, knowledge, & abilities Awareness of personal media habits Understanding of how media works Appreciation of media’s power/influence Ability to discern; critically question/view How meaning is created in media Healthy skepticism Access to media Ability to produce & create media

What media literacy is not: media bashing “protection” against media just about television just TV production how to use AV equipment only teaching with media; it is also teaching about the media

Importance of media literacy "Being literate in contemporary society means being active, critical, and creative users not only of print and spoken language but also of the visual language of film and television....Teaching students how to interpret and create visual texts....is another essential component of the English language arts curriculum. Visual communication is part of the fabric of contemporary life." NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts (1996) as quoted in Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48:1, September 2002, pps.74-75

ML in Ohio Academic Standards ELA SOCIAL STUDIES HEALTH ART LIBRARY MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

Media literacy in the classroom ELEMENTARY ELEMENTARY SECONDARYSECONDARY

Key ideas in media literacy 1. All media messages are constructed 2. Media use languages with their own set of rules 3. Media convey values & points-of-view 4. Different people see the same media message differently 5. Media: power and profit Source: Center for Media Literacy

All media are constructions Media represent reality

Body image: constructed media DOVE SOAP: EVOLUTION

Media are languages (w/ rules) The Language of IM BRB Be Right Back POS Parent Over Shoulder LOL Laughing out Loud The Language of Film Cameras Lights Audio (sound, music) Editing Set Design Costume Actors’ expressions Makeup

“Language” of cell phones? ring tones roaming (isn't this about buffaloes?) roll over minutes coverage area cell tower dropped calls smart phones (do stupid phones exist)

"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

Media convey values & points of view

Audiences negotiate meaning (we all don’t see the same things)

Media= power + profit

Big (6) Media News Corp. DisneyAOL/Time Warner

This program is brought to you by the sponsor. You are brought to the sponsor by the program. What would your students say is the purpose of TV?

Critical thinking/viewing questions related to media messages Who created/paid for the message? What is its purpose? Who is the ‘target audience’? What techniques do they use?techniques What lifestyles are promoted? Who or what might be omitted and why? Is there bias or stereotypes in the message? Who benefits?

Visual literacy Video Video Is Seeing Believing? Visual literacy- Visual literacy- powerpoint

Activity Photographs, like writing, communicate information as much by the way a subject is photographed, as by the content that is chosen to be photographed.

The language of TV & Film Camera (angles; movement; location) Lighting Sound (including music) Editing Set Design Actors: expression; wardrobe VideoVideo scriptscript

Toy advertising Video Script

Toy advertising Video Cinderella Magical Interactive Talking VanityVideo

Tobacco Advertising PowerPoint

Newspaper activity Using stories from the morning newspaper, you will work collaboratively to create a 30 second TV news/promotional script