Media literacy 101

1. Berkeley County Reading and Writing Institutes Media literacy 101 Frank Baker media educator fbaker1346@aol.com Media Literacy Clearinghouse http://medialit.med.sc.edu

2. Media literacy 101 “It would be a breach of our duties as teachers for us to ignore the rhetorical power of visual forms of media in combination with text and sound…the critical media literacy we need to teach must include evaluation of these media, lest our students fail to see, understand, and learn to harness the persuasive power of visual media.”NCTE Resolution on Visual/Media Literacy

3. Media literacy 101 Conventional: Read --------------- Write Contemporary: Analyze-------------Produce

4. Media literacy 101

5. Media literacy 101 The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, PreschoolersKaiser Family Foundation, May 24, 2006

6. Media literacy 101 “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

7. Media literacy 101 • American Association of School Libraries • International Reading Association • Natl. Board of Professional Teaching Standards • National Council for Teachers of English • National Middle School Association • Partnership for 21st Century Skills • White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

8. Media literacy 101 What is media literacy? OR Why should your students become media literate? video

9. Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding 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 increase the students' understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. (Source: Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997)

10. What media literacy is: • Set of skills, knowledge, & abilities • Awareness of personal media habits • Understanding of how media works • Appreciation of media’s power/influence • Ability to discern; critically question/view • How meaning is created in media • Healthy skepticism • Access to media • Ability to produce & create media

11. Media literacy in SC ELA

12. Media literacy 101 “If video is how we are communicating and persuading in this new century, why aren't more students writing screenplays as part of their schoolwork?“Heidi Hayes Jacob Ed Consultant

13. Media literacy 101 “Movies, advertisements, and all other visual media are tools teachers need to use and media we must master if we are to maintain our credibility in the coming years.”Jim Burke, fromThe English Teacher’s Companion

14. Core Concepts • All media are constructed • Media are constructed using unique languages with their own set of rules • Media convey values and points of view • Audiences negotiate meaning • Media = Power + Profit Source: Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org

15. All media are constructed

16. What is this? No, this is a PHOTOGRAPH of a horse.

17. Media are constructed using unique languages with their own set of rules Language of film Camera LightsSound/Music Sets Editing

18. Media convey values and points-of-view

19. Audiences negotiate meaning

20. Media = Power + Profit Big 5 MediaFOX (News Corp) NBC (GE) CBS ABC (Disney)CNN (AOL/Time Warner) What are the implications/ramifications if only 5 companies control magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, newspapers, Internet, film, etc.?

21. Advertiser~Audience This program is brought to you by the sponsor. You arebrought tothe sponsorby the program.

22. Critical thinking questions • Who produces/pays for media? • For what purpose(s) was it made? • For which ‘target audience(s)’? • What techniques attract attention;increase believability? • Who or what is omitted and why? • How do we know what it means? • Does it contain bias or stereotypes?

23. Techniques

24. Techniques

25. Techniques well known case of the digital creation of a magazine cover featuring a woman who does not exist

26. Techniques

27. Techniques

28. Techniques

29. Techniques The box of Oreos was not in the original NBC “Friends:”it was placed there virtually for DVD/syndication exposure

30. Critical Thinking Questions • Who produces/pays for media? • For what purpose(s) was it made? • For which ‘target audience(s)’? • What techniques attract attention;increase believability? • Who or what is omitted and why? • How do we know what it means? • Does it contain bias or stereotypes?

31. Applying critical thinking questions to examples Visual Literacy

32. Understandingprint advertising Food ads (from popular magazines) Handout: Advertising Analysis (questions)Share time

33. TV Toy Commercials:How they influence kids Buy Me That: a 3 part video series Script Toy Ad Analysis Worksheet

34. Tobacco advertising Activity

35. Media literacy 101 Berkeley County Reading and Writing Institutes Frank Baker media educator fbaker1346@aol.com Media Literacy Clearinghouse http://medialit.med.sc.edu