Thursday, December 6, 2012

Media Literacy Slideshow


What is media literacy?

  • "to help students develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today's world."
  • Media literacy can become a habit! How?





Working towards media literacy: 

YOU are doing it already



• media search for information about a topic
• use brief article/video to stimulate discussion
• play a popular song or radio clip
• read a short poem/story (fiction/nonfiction)
• students working in small groups to read, analyze, discuss a magazine, newspaper,  online article, blog entry, video game;
• encouraging students to express what they already know or their opinion
• showing students how to search for information on the Internet and compare results from different search engines

  • teaching students to routinely ask critical media questions that will help them determine the meanings and think critically about information presented in media they use and consume at home/at school/in their world including textbooks, video games, Youtube… 




       Make your own decision-making process transparent by explaining how you assess credibility of sources and why you choose the media that you use in class.
 
 
       How do you examine your media sources?
       How do you encourage a new habit?



  Q: What do you notice?

       Allow students to go beyond the curricular issue at hand to comment on accompanying aspects of a media message;
       Who is represented? Who is left out?
       What techniques are used to attract attention…?
       Point out ways in which media messages might be interpreted differently by people from different backgrounds or groups.

  • identify how students prior ideas about a topic have been influenced by media messages (show examples, Disney, grandtheftauto… from popular media (e.g., films, advertising, music) to illustrate what students might already know or believe about a topic;
  •  discuss accuracy of that knowledge 

  •  foster communication skills and creativity by encouraging the production of media messages about a topic (audio, video, poster, painting, etc.)
  • flexible assignments - allow students to choose media formats they find effective to communicate the required information
  • Use media as a standard pedagogical tool by using a diverse array of media, i.e. Radio, print, films, docs, video games, etc.


  • analyze media content that misrepresents or presents false  information about a topic.
  • Show examples of misleading ways in which data are presented in media (citing statistics selectively to exclude contradictory evidence, presenting graphs without appropriately identified x or y axes);
  •  pointing out language constructs (e.g., passive voice) or words used to mislead/misrepresent (e.g., “new and improved” or “all natural”).
  • identify inaccurate or stereotyped beliefs held by students about a topic that may have come from either overt or implied media messages (e.g., toys in pink boxes are only for girls,  Muslims are dangerous…). 

       Encourage students to get information from more than one source;
       Compare information gathered from different sources.
      Are there discrepancies across sources? Which sources are most credible for specific types of information?

       Develop an awareness of credibility & perspective
       how to recognize the sources of a media message, (e.g., creator, speaker, funder, distributor, etc. ), their purpose or goal, and how that might influence production choices (e.g., what is included or omitted, selection of images, music, or language).
       ask questions routinely and consistently of ALL media (including media conveying a perspective you support).
       help students learn to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction.




   Ice Breaker

       Entertainment is…
       Journalism is…
       Advertising is…
       Democracy is…
  Media is…
• Press is …
   The difference between the real world and the media world is…
This ice breaker is a brain storming exercise and from these pieces of paper you can have a discussion about what they wrote for each topic.

Discussion

  • Critical thinking
  • What is the difference between media and democracy?

 

What makes me a critical thinker?

Am I a consumer of media?
Who is in control of my visual environment?
Do I think critically about other subjects?

Examples of being critical:

Being critical of food -- do you read the labels
Pair of jeans - do you look at the labels or how they were made -- sweatshop labor…


       Effective media analysis is based on the following concepts:
       1. All media messages are “constructed.”
       2. Each medium has different characteristics, strengths, and a unique “language” of construction.
       3. All media messages contain embedded values and points of view.
       4. People use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.
       5. Media and media messages can influence beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, and the democratic process.

Media literacy can be readily integrated into existing curricula on a wide range of topics and can be a valuale tool for exploring approaches to education that are interdisciplinary and that recognize different learning styles.
 

  

Do you feel the media is everywhere?


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