What is Media Literacy Anyways?
We've all heard about media literacy in today's tech based society, but just to recap, media literacy focuses on teaching youth to be critically engaged consumers of media – including elements like being able to recognize the purpose, the creator, the intentions, the validity of the source and information, voices that may have been omitted and the commercial, political and social implications of the given media. As media is used so often in today’s day and age, it is important we teach students the importance of thinking critically about the content they are streaming, listening to, watching, texting, browsing etc. As most of us are spending upwards of 7 hours with some form of media, it is imperative that we develop skills that allow us to think deeper, question claims and understand the multiple perspectives that construct various media.
What is Digital Literacy?
Digital literacy on the other hand, recognizes the interconnectedness that the digital world offers us; teaching students digital literacy is teaching them to understand the actions they make online are permanent, and can be viewed by anyone. As well, they must understand the instantaneous response that exists because of our digital world. Digital literacy looks at the ethical standards we must assume, as well as the authenticity of the digital world. For example, I posted this photo on Facebook years ago when I thought I was cool – guess what? It's still available to the public to this day.
(Brock University, Media Info Literacy Models)
(Brock University, Media Info Literacy Models)
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| Watch what you post kids, it could come back for revenge |
Why are We Teaching Students This?
The Ontario Curriculum’s media literacy strand focuses on four key principles in which students will be expected to understand: how to “demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts,” identify various media forms and “explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning,” create a “variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences” and “reflect and identify areas for improvement” when understanding media texts (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006). As media is such a key component in our daily lives, it really is vital that we are teaching our students to think critically when it comes to what they see on the news, hear on YouTube, read on SnapChat, or scroll across on Facebook or Twitter. By being active and alert, students are able to critique the biases, prejudices, inequities, and social justice issues from a new lens – a lens that is not naïve and accepting, but one that is educated from various perspectives. Literacy isn’t just about being able read and analyze a narrative or poem anymore – educators have to consider the literacy that exists within the scope of media. How can we teach a student to think critically about a short story that is placed in front of them, but not about the latest YouTube challenge or fad they want to participate in?
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| Gardner, Laura. (2016). Teaching information literacy now. Retrieved from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=teaching-media-literacy-now |
TedTalk: Creating Critical Thinkers Through Media Literacy
This presentation essentially discusses what has previously been mentioned in my blog post – we must urge and teach young students to be active in their understanding of media. As we are all consumers of media, it is essential that we are not passively accepting whatever is fed to us; instead, we must learn to dissect media, deciphering fact from opinion, real from fake, biased from unbiased, and be “attuned to discriminatory portrayals of individuals and groups” (Ontario Ministry of Education). This is a Ted Talk presented by Andrea Quijada, an executive director of Media Literacy Project, who explains the importance of teaching students to become familiar and confident at examining media through a critical lens. In a society where most individuals spend upwards of “7.5 hours of our day interacting with media,” (TED, 2013) it is imperative that we use these hours in ways that connect and enhance our daily lives.
After having a collaborative discussion about what my students think media and digital literacy is, and how they use it in their lives, I would show this short video to my class for them to gather a better idea of its significance. This presentation is better suited for intermediate students in my opinion, but is a discussion that needs to occur with all ages of students.
Let’s Play A Game
A fun class game to introduce digital media, and how we as consumers are easily swayed by the biases in the media would be a class version of the game "Snake Oil". While this would be a drama based activity, it works as a good discussion starter about media literacy, consumerism, and multiple perspectives and biases that we must be aware of.
Rules of the Game:
· Have students fill out 10 cards with a noun on each card
o Go over perameters and expectations of what they know is acceptable and unacceptable
· Next, have students fill out 5 cards, each with professions
o These do not have to be ‘typical’ professions like teacher, lawyer or police officer
o They can be humorous and creative – snake charmer, babysitter, dogwalker
· Mix up noun cards and give students 10 new cards each
· Have students divide into groups (5-6 people) and divide out profession cards evenly between groups
· Have 1 student in each group be the consumer
· Have the other students in the group be the salesperson (or, the media in our case – Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, CBC, Instagram etc.)
· Have the consumer pick up a profession card and show the circle of students
o Let’s say the student picks up 'Food critic'
· The other students flip over their noun cards (don't show them!) and pick 2 cards to create the product that they are trying to sell to the consumer
o Let’s say one student choses 'Exercise' and 'Robot', their product is called an Exercise Robot
· The students then have 1 minute to brainstorm a sales pitch that makes a made up item into an item that the specific consumer (in our example, 'Food Critic') would want to buy
· Go around the circle and have students give their 1 minute sales pitch to the consumer
· After, the consumer picks which pitch they like best and they give their profession card to the winner
· The goal is to collect as many profession cards as you can at the end of the game
· Rotate consumers, pick new cards and play again!
Although this is a fun game, it acts as a way to introduce students to media and how it is filtered based on consumer. Have a discussion with the students after and have them relate the game to what they see and hear every day in the media.
Questions to Ask Students After the Game
How did you choose a product?
How did the profession of the consumer alter your pitch?
How would you have changed your pitch if you had a 'Cowboy' as a consumer?
Give a real-world example in the media of when something like this has happened?
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| Wheaton, Will. (2015). The elements of a worthwhile boardgame expansion. Retrieved from https://unapologeticnerd.com/category/board-games/ |
Fake News Bellringer Game
I also found an interesting lesson plan posted on Cool Cat Teacher blog. This game is designed for students to think critically about news to research if it is credible or not. Working in teams, students are challenged to research and deconstruct a news story to see if it is real or fake. The teacher should set up multiple stations with current real and fake news stories that the students must work through. Set a time limit per station, and vary the forms of news stories using articles, news reports, videos, interviews, tweets, Facebook posts and Snapchat stories. At the end of the game, you should open up for a larger based discussion about difficulties, biases found and experiences they had when critically examining each story. Vicki Davis uses the image posted below as an example of a ‘fake news’ story that the students must deconstruct and figure out if it is real/fake and why.
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| Davis, Vicki. (2016). 3 fast, free lesson plans to fight fake news. Retrieved from http://www.coolcatteacher.com/3-fast-free-lesson-plans-fight-fake-news/ |
Media Literacy in My Classroom
In my first day of practicum, my teacher associate implemented an opportunity for my 7/8 class to discuss Rowan’s Law, as it was a day to spread awareness about concussions and concussion safety. Instead of brushing past why the students were wearing purple, she took the time to pull up news articles, interviews and videos about Rowan’s Law. After she took the students through various media relating to Rowan, as well as current concussion stories in the news, she opened up for class discussion. She asked them leading questions, pushing the children to think critically about the news they were viewing and about the multiple perspectives they were coming from. One child asked, “Why do you think Rowan’s friends never told anyone that she might have had a concussion? I think they were trying to be a good friend by keeping her secret, but in the end they weren't good friends.” I was thouroughly impressed with the student’s ability to distance himself from the news, look at the issue from Rowan’s friend’s perspective, and think critically about it.
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| Clark, Donald. (2015).10 reasons why hands up kills learning. Retrieved from http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2015/03/why-hands-up-teaching-kills-learning.html |
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I hope this helped to highlight the importance of teaching students media literacy competency, as well as give you some fun game and lesson ideas to include in the classroom. Check back in for more updates about literacy later in the month!
Madeleine
References:
Clark, David. (2015). 10 reasons why hands up kills learning. Retrieved from http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2015/03/why-hands-up-teaching-kills-learning.html
Davis, Vicki. (2016). 3 fast, free lesson plans to fight fake news. Cool Cat Teacher. Retrieved from http://www.coolcatteacher.com/3-fast-free-lesson-plans-fight-fake-news/
Gardner, Laura. (2016). Teaching information literacy now. Retrieved from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=teaching-media-literacy-now
Module 1: What is digital and media literacy? Retrieved from https://lms.brocku.ca/portal/site/Media_Info_Literacy_Modules/tool/04ab90c7-565c-441f-8c8e-05444930f31?null
Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). The Ontario Curriculum grades 1-8 language (Revised). Toronto: Queen’s Printer.
TED (2013, February). Andrea Quijada: Creating critical thinkers through media literacy. Retriened from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE
Wheaton, Will. (2015). The elements of a worthwhile boardgame expansion. Retrieved from https://unapologeticnerd.com/category/board-games/
https://lms.brocku.ca/portal/site/Media_Info_Literacy_Modules
