This issue offers a wide variety of resources for parents and educators interested in media literacy for early childhood education. We follow a team of library researchers who discover that the accessible information technologies are helpful but not sufficient to spur early literacy development, whereas parental involvement is crucial if young children are to acquire early literacy skills. We also review the research on the quality of literacy-focused applications for young children on the market today.
If the ultimate goal of media literacy is to make wise choices possible, we must ask ourselves, “How do people make decisions?” and “What role can media literacy education play in this decision-making process?” Nudge theory suggests that heuristics can be approached deliberately to encourage/enable helpful thinking and decisions, and that this is more effective in shifting individual and group behavior than by traditional threats, laws, policies, enforcement, etc.
Media literacy is now recognized as a skill-set that should be at the center of education today – but change management continues to be needed to realize this vision. John Kotter, a professor at Harvard Business School and a change management expert, introduced a series of eight steps – considered classics -- in his 1995 book, “Leading Change.” New media tools can amplify these steps towards faster adoption of new ideas and processes. Includes an interview with leaders of NAMLE.
In 2006 Henry Jenkins published a white paper identifying the challenges and opportunities for media literacy in our 21st century media culture. Since then, new ideas, new technologies, and new names have emerged bringing with them misunderstandings and rifts among educators. It’s time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we are now.
Media literacy is not teaching with media, it’s teaching about media. The difference between the two is not at all trivial, but indeed profound. In this issue of Connections, we explore the differences between media literacy and other approaches to media in the classroom.
The Voices of Media Literacy project, sponsored by Tessa Jolls and Barbara Walkosz, features interviews of 20 early pioneers who shaped the field into what it is today. As Executive Editor Tessa Jolls comments, “These people know what media literacy is, and are able to articulate it and express it because they lived it and helped invent it.”
Media literacy educators want to help students become aware of the need to question media messages rather than simply accept them. But students don’t learn those skills so readily when teachers tell them what to accept or reject. In this issue, we share our strategies for helping students develop a healthy skepticism about media.
In this issue, we discuss the work of the Waters Foundation and the movement towards the use of systems thinking tools in K-12 education and the strong connections to media literacy. We explain what systems thinking is, trace the connections between systems thinking and media literacy, discuss the research which supports the use of systems thinking in K-12 schooling, and discuss how systems thinking can be used to solve real-world problems.
What is clear is that the majority of media offer images of beauty to young girls which are virtually impossible to attain. Many of those images also offer a hyper-sexualized model of feminine identity for girls to emulate. In this issue, you’ll find reviews of two films from the Media Education Foundation which will help you discuss issues of media, sexuality and gender identity with your students and children.
Catholic educators have been active in the field of media literacy since its inception. In this country, Elizabeth Thoman, CHM, founded Media and Values magazine in 1977 to explore the influence of media on family life, education and citizenship in a democratic society. In 1989, when the audience for Media and Values had grown substantially, Thoman founded the Center for Media Literacy to publish curriculum and develop models for teacher training.