21st Century Literacy Skills All Teachers & Students Need to Succeed Frank W. Baker [email protected] Media Literacy Clearinghouse

21st Century Literacy Skills AllTeachers & Students Need to Succeed

Frank W. Baker

[email protected]

Media Literacy Clearinghouse

http://medialit.med.sc.edu

Summer Leadership Institute 2006

The current critical need

”Economic forecasters and business analysts are predicting that jobs in the 21st centurywill require information processing skills. ……..media literacy (is one of these)... Merely teaching reading and writing is no longer sufficient…..”

Source: Janet Murray, “Contemporary Literacy: Essential Skills for the 21st Century” MultiMedia Schools Magazine, March/April 2003

The need for media literacy

"Our young people need to be educated to the highest standard in this new information age, and surely this includes a clear awareness of how the media influences, shapes, and defines

their lives…. ….Media literacy courses can give young people the power to recognize the difference between entertainment, television that is just bad and the information they need to make good decisions.”

Former USSecretary of EducationRichard Riley

Recommending media literacy

American Assn of School Libraries Cable In The Classroom International Reading Assn. National Communication Assn. Natl Board of Prof Teaching Standards Natl Council for Teachers of English National Middle School Assn.

Why teach media…

““Movies, advertisements, Movies, advertisements, and all other visual media and all other visual media are tools teachers need to are tools teachers need to use and media we must use and media we must master if we are to master if we are to maintain our credibility in maintain our credibility in the coming years.”the coming years.”

Jim Burke, fromJim Burke, fromThe English Teacher’s CompanionThe English Teacher’s Companion

Media Literacy: Critical Skills & Knowledge for the 21st Century

Generation M: media & multi-tasking


“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”

Source: R. Hobbs, Journal Adult & Adolescent Literacy, February 2004


“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


"It is incumbent upon our educational system to prepare its students with the skills necessary to be able to approach the media critically……the middle school years are an ideal time to teach media literacy."

Marie Davies, The impact of the mass media upon the health of early adolescents. Journal of Health Education, 1993


What is media literacy?

OR

Why is it important that ourstudents be media literate?


Media literacy is concerned with helping students Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of mass media, 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 More specifically, it is education that aims to increase the students' understanding and increase the students' understanding and enjoyment of enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. create media products. (Source: Media Literacy Resource Guide, (Source: Media Literacy Resource Guide,

Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997) Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997)


Media literacy:

the ability to---

access, analyze, evaluate & produce

communication(both print & electronic media)

Source: 1992 Aspen Institute Nat’l. Leadership Conf.


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 21st century. Source: Alliance For A Media Literate America, 2000


What is media literacy? Set of skills, knowledge & abilities Understanding how media work and produce

meaning Awareness of personal media use Critical thinking applied to media messages Appreciation of media

What media literacy is NOT:

A separate course Expensive Media bashing Judging whether media or good or bad Just television or video production Teaching with media; rather it is teaching

about the media


1999 study finds media literacy in all state’s standards


Partnership for 21st Century Skillswww.21stcenturyskills.org

Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Map


English, Language Arts: 8th grade

demonstrate the ability to distinguish

between fact and opinion; compare and

contrast information and ideas; make

inferences with regard to what he/she

has viewed


Social Studies Health Library Media

Civics: the role of media in politics

Economics: the influence of advertising on consumer choices

8th grade analyze advertising messages related to alcohol and tobacco

Information literacy


All media are constructions Media use their unique languages with

their own set of rules Media convey values & points-of-view Different people see the same media

messages differently Media are about power & profit

Source: Center for Media Literacy


Who produced/paid for the message? What is its purpose? Who is the “target audience”? What does the message mean? Who or what might be left out? What techniques are used to attract

attention and increase believability?

Understanding the visual

Visual literacy slides

The languages of TV & Film

CAMERAS

Position (perspective) Movement (pan, tilt)

Lens (zoom in, pull out) LIGHTS SOUND (music, sound effects) EDITING (post production) ACTOR EXPRESSIONS; WARDROBE

Thinking Critically About Media

Schools should incorporate media literacy education throughout the curriculum, not just in English classes, and at all grade levels.

Technology, and its use by students to produce their own media, is a key component to media literacy education.

Source: http://www.ciconline.org/uploads/CIC_Media_Literacy_Report.pdf

Thinking Critically About Media School districts and colleges of education should

increase professional-development efforts to reflect the importance of media literacy education.

Parents should play an important role in media education, too. School districts can encourage their participation by holding workshops for parents and conducting other outreach efforts.

Source: http://www.ciconline.org/uploads/CIC_Media_Literacy_Report.pdf

Recommendations

Schedule professional development workshops on this topic

Help teachers see the media/education links Recruit school library media specialists to

identify needed resources which correlate to state standards

Give students opportunities to create and produce media and showcase those

Support stronger media literacy standards

Schedule a teacher workshop

Frank W. Baker*

[email protected] Media Literacy Clearinghouse www.frankwbaker.com

* A national “Leader In Learning” finalist May 2005

Documents

21st Century Literacy Skills All Teachers & Students Need to Succeed Frank W. Baker [email protected] Media Literacy Clearinghouse