Media Literacy

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog!

As I have begun my journey to become a future educator, I have noticed the enormous shift in education. Applying technology into the curriculum is the new big thing, and the traditional style…well, not so much. As a start I will be introducing two terms that I will discuss throughout this blog, those being media education and media literacy. To begin, media education is the process that students go through to become media literate, and media literacy is being able to evaluate, analyze and understand media messages and productions. That being said, it gives students a chance to explore, be creative and learn in a fun and engaging way!

            Not fully convinced? Here are some reasons why teachers should teach media literacy in the classroom…It allows students to question, evaluate and appreciate the media, allowing them to become active, creative and engaged with different media consumers. It is bringing real life situations into the classroom by giving relevance to traditional subjects such as English, Health, History and Art. For example, What influences does the media have on individuals regarding their body image and how they eat? Media education is student-centred learning, where media such as music, comics, television and video games are apart of the students every day life that they enjoy. It encourages students to use media tools, and prepares them for potential future work placements that use different forms of communication. It deepens the students understanding of diversity, helps the students personal growth and social development, and can help students critique media. This meaning they can differentiate between fantasy and real-life things. They can understand what they should be posting online, and what they should avoid. This as well can be beneficial to them as future employers. 

            Now to incorporate media literacy into your classroom you can give students the chance to be able to create their own media, instead of just analyzing it. This will give your students a fun, and hands on experience. Allow your students to bring their own media to the classroom, with your expectations for the assignment, will allow them to have fun and be more engaged if they have a choice to pick something they are interested in. Another strategy would be to make it so you're asking questions, not just giving them answers. Although you may have an opinion, your students have their own as well. Give them time to share theirs with the class to create a class discussion, this will also help students look at other ideas, and expand their own thinking. Lastly, teach about media, don’t just teach with media, this means that using media in the classroom is good but they need to learn about it or else it is not as beneficial. For example, you can use a book and a movie they are reading within the class. Have them compare the differences between both, and see what way was more meaningful.

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Denise Krebs. (November 25, 2011). Technology Use. (Flickr Image). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dLRu3f 

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