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Frequently Asked Questions
What's
the difference between media literacy, media education and media
studies?
Media literacy
and media education are sometimes used interchangeably
in the U.S, and even those within the "movement" haven't decided
on exactly when to use one or the other. Each has its advantages
and disadvantages as a label.
For example, the word
literacy is abstract and not immediately understandable
for many people, who think of reading and writing when they hear
the word literacy. On the other hand, to some people media
education means teaching kids how to use video production equipment.
Media literacy
is presently the most-used term, and it clearly makes the point
that to be a literate person in the 21st century, one needs to know
how to "read" and produce all forms of media, including visual media
-- reading and writing words isn't enough any more.
In the United Kingdom
and Canada, the classes where you learn to become media literate
are media studies classes, and media education
pertains to everything which support the teaching of media in the
classroom. In summary: media education
is the larger field of helping educators learn how to teach media
studies classes, so the students will become media
literate .
Is
there a curriculum for media literacy? I want to teach media literacy
in my school (church / community center / youth group). How do I
get started?
Media literacy is not about
content, it's about process. It's not a new subject to teach but
rather a new way of teaching -- using media and their messages to
help students learn basic skills such as critical thinking, evaluating
information, detecting bias, persuasion, and more. There isn't one
curriculum set in stone, but several have been developed just in
the past few years to help teachers begin to do this work. The grade
you teach and your subject areas would influence the materials you
use.
How to get started? If you're a total beginner, choose one of our introductory tours for teachers, parents, health professionals, activists or interested citizens. You will find links to guide you from there. Teachers may also choose from the subject area listings in the navigation bar on the home page, or you may pick one of the Subject Area/Topics further down the navigation bar.
Generally speaking, the best place to start
learning about media literacy is the Center for
Media Literacy (CML) , where you will find background readings, books,
videos and other materials to help you better understand today's
media culture and to teach others. CML offers basic teaching kits
with complete lesson plans, handout masters and other tools. Many
of the videos are divided into teaching segments of several minutes
each. CML also carries excellent Canadian media literacy materials,
which are great resources for high school teachers. The Orientation
Guide to CML's MediaLit
Kit ® , available as a 28-page free download along with
for-sale classroom posters and other materials, is the best piece
I've ever seen on explaining the fundamentals of media literacy
and how to teach it.
Also, you should definitely
subscribe
to the online Media-L listserv, where you can "lurk" [read the
posts without having to contribute yourself] with teachers talking
about what they do in the classroom, and ask for -- and receive
-- help from people teaching media literacy in the classroom all
over the U.S. and Canada.
How
many schools are using media literacy in their classes in the United
States?
There isn't one group keeping
statistics, and it's impossible to survey every classroom in 16,000+
U.S. school districts. All 50 states now have some form of written
curriculum standards that include media literacy principles without using the actual words (for example, often
using wording such as "information competency.") These state
standards have been documented by educators Frank Baker and
Robert Kubey. Here's a printable PDF document with the most recent California state standards that incorporate media literacy.
But in general, the United
States is far behind many other countries in teaching students about
media. (For example, on a scale of 1 to 10, Texas' curriculum standards
relative to media education are a 10, but the second runner-up state
would probably be a 4 or 5 at best. Many states would be a 1.) And,
in the U.S. educational system, there is no enforcement mechanism
for ensuring that classroom work actually meets the state standards.
In most provinces in Canada,
to graduate from high school, a student must have 25% of his or
her language arts units in media education. Great Britain, Australia,
and most every other industrialized nation also do a decent job of
media education.
Why
is the United States so far behind other countries?
It's not for lack of trying
to catch up. Elizabeth Thoman, founder of the Center
for Media Literacy , has been carrying the torch for media literacy
education for almost 30 years in this country. Many years ago,
Marieli Rowe founded the National
Telemedia Council , which sponsored an early gathering of educators, occasionally produces international videoconferences,
and now publishes the only journal of media literacy in the U.S..
Canada, Australia and England
are the worldwide leaders in media education, primarily because,
decades ago, they were the first countries to experience the cultural
and societal results of importing English-language visual media
(films and TV programs) from the United States. Much of the best
academic research and writing comes from these countries. Most of
the rest of the industrialized world also has reacted to the impact
of media on their cultures by instituting media studies in their
schools.
An excellent explanation
on the real reason we're behind is this one, from Literacy
in a Digital World , an excellent book by Kathleen
Tyner (available from CML ).
"Because of the idiosyncratic
nature of U.S. education, the problem of scaling up promising practices
in education [such as media literacy education] can be a nightmare.
Combined with the individual preferences exhibited by each classroom
teacher, the introduction of new subject matter in the curriculum
becomes a Hydra of complexity. Change and adoption occurs
district by district, school by school, teacher by teacher. It is
difficult to know which conditions, in which configurations, will
foster the kind of critical mass necessary to produce widespread
education change efforts. International media education programs
in Canada, England and Australia have an advantage because they
work from a central education ministry that disseminates resources,
training and information on a regional or national scale. The downside
of the centralized approach is that bad educational ideas can be
spread as easily as good ones.
Nonetheless, the
mechanisms for wide-scale educational change are in place when centralized
structure serves as a clearinghouse for concepts and resources.
At the time, no comparable institutional mechanism exists in formal
educational structures to support U.S. media educators. This puts
the onus of support on ad hoc organizations; nonprofit, community-based
organizations; professional education associations; or local teacher
groups."
In other words, because
education in the United States is decentralized -- almost to the
point where each teacher can make his/her own decisions about how
to teach (and what, to a certain degree) -- it is very difficult
to create awareness about media literacy and to make it happen in
the classroom. Even more important is the fact that in this era
of focusing on results and standardized testing, American teachers
are forced to spend most of their time ensuring their students can
pass the tests (which isn't necessarily the same as getting a good
education). Media literacy is not on the standardized tests.
What's this website trying to do, and who pays to keep it up?
As editor and publisher, I (Susan Rogers) have made it a gateway/portal for anyone trying to find out what media literacy is and how to learn more about it. It doesn't make sense to replicate content which can be found on many other websites. Metaphorically speaking, I want this site to be the Table of Contents (and cross-index) for media literacy content on the Internet.
In June 2004 I invested family funds in a major site upgrade, and at this point in time, it's still a non-profit labor of love. I'm working on ways to recapture some of the investment. One is the Media Literacy Speakers Bureau, which provides my associates in this field with a venue for publicizing their efforts to advance media literacy education through speaking, training and curriculum consulting. You'll also see some links to books on Amazon, but that produces no revenue.
Projects in the "vision stage" include instructional DVDs on:
- Early childhood development and media (interviews with researchers about brain development and media use by young children);
- Advertising/consumerism and the future of our planet (interviews with Robert McChesney, Bob McKibben and Jerry Mander).
Potential funders interested in these projects, please contact me.
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