Foundations in Media Literacy
Students in this course will consider the Internet and other communication technologies (ICTs) as they shape social and educational systems. This examination will be guided by critical foundational theories to include a focused study of traditional and new media, including social media that attempts to account for the feedback loops between institutions, audiences, and technology. The class will examine foundational research across various media to evaluate how media is as used in K-12 instruction, with an awareness of how these skills will play out in higher education, or in individual’s lives. They will also investigate how critical thinking and the Internet shape how we learn. The class will consider the distinct contours of media and information technologies and how these influence current students’ perceptions of theirs and others’ realities. Media literacy means not just accepting what is presented, but being an active user, a critical media evaluator, understanding content, systems, application and effect, to be a better informed decision maker.
Core Objectives:
1. Students will examine the evolving nature of subject-matter knowledge and the need for constantly acquiring new ideas and understandings within one’s discipline, including the impact of technology and information sources on the nature of teaching, communications and development of knowledge.
CTTC[1]: 1C, 1E; ISTE NETS-T[2]: 3A, 3B
2. Students will design strategic questions and opportunities that appropriately challenge students and
actively engage them in exploring the content through strategies such as discourse and/or inquiry-
based learning.
CTTC: 1C, 1D; ISTE NETS-T: 2A, 2B
3. Students will debate and critique the ethical and legal issues associated with bringing new media technologies and participatory culture practices into the classroom.
CTTC: 4A, 4B; ISTE NETS-T: 4A, 4B
4. Students will outline some of the ethical challenges which youth face in their roles as media producers and members of online communities.
CTTC: 4C; ISTE NETS-T: 4B, 4C
5. Students will apply their theoretical understandings to the development of curricular resources for use in school or after school programs.
CTTC: 2A, 2B, 2C; ISTE NETS-T: 2C, 2D
Required Texts:
Key Facts: Media Literacy, by the Kaiser Family Foundation
The State of Media Literacy, by W. James Potter
The Seven Great Debates in the Media literacy Movement, by Renee Hobbs
Essential Questions:
· What does it mean to be “literate” and how has this changed as a consequence of the introduction of new communications technologies?
· What social skills and cultural competencies do young people need to acquire if they are going to be able to fully participate in the digital future?
· What are the ethical choices young people face as participants in online communities and producers of media?
COURSE ASSESSMENTS (specific instructions will be distributed separately):
1. Attendance & in-class discussions (10%)
Active participation, in this course, is defined as: contributing relevant information to class discussion, demonstrating an understanding and engagement with reading assignments and/or concepts discussed in class, applying reading and other course materials to discussions, and being intellectually present and open throughout each class.
2. Online Discussions & Discussion Director (DD) (15%)
Throughout the course you will be expected to contribute in online discussions, along with the in-class discussions during our face-to-face meetings. Each week the discussions will focus on a selected reading for the week and will ask you to have read and then respond to the selection. You will respond online a minimum of one time before our weekly class meeting and one time after our class meeting. During class, we will save time to discuss face-to-face the selection or discussions that have arisen from the literature. The online discussions will be led each week by one of your peers. You are expected to involve yourself in the discussion. You may respond as often as you like, but the minimum you may respond is once before and once after class. The rubric that will be used to assess your involvement in online discussions will be based on a three-point scale. The rubric will assess whether or not you involve yourself in the discussion, attention to the literature, and depth of the discussion. The rubric can be found on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. Discussions, both in-class and online are a valuable and necessary piece of the profession. Practice in these environments will prepare you for the situations that will present themselves throughout your future
Each week all members of the class will be expected to contribute to discussions in the virtual classroom on Google+. One week a semester, you will act as a Discussion Director (DD) for that week’s literature. You will be required to have read the week’s literature and write two prompts that address what you believe the pertinent issues of the literature are. You will post these prompts to the online discussion board the day after our face-to-face class session. As individuals read the literature and respond to your prompts, it is your responsibility to lead a discussion of what you believe to be the essential parts of that week’s readings. In the face-to-face class, you will present a quick synopsis (5 minutes) of the week’s readings and what points came up in the discussion. In class, we will then have time to discuss how the literature affects the greater elements of the course and the effect on instruction. The rubric can be found on the Google Doc containing the class rubrics. In discussion environments, at times you will need to lead a group (of peers or students) in discussion. This provides an opportunity to practice the skills and dispositions needed.
3. Online Collaborative Writing Responses (15%)
This assignment will call for you to write collaboratively with you students in class using ICTs such as Wikipedia, Blogger, and Google Docs. You will work on four collaborative writing responses with your peers during the semester. These writing sessions will be conducted in place of the online discussions and DD responsibilities for the week. The rubrics used to assess this assignment are available on the Google Doc containing class rubrics.
4. Defining Media Literacy (20%)
You are to identify a concept of media literacy and produce a “viral video” to place online sharing the findings of your research to the general educator. This video should be of high quality, and still represent scholarly research. Your video will be uploaded to the 6YC IT-DML Wiki and 6YC IT-DML YouTube Channel.
5. New Media Challenge (20%)
For this assignment you will use media literacy currently available online, along with your growing skills in the use and development of online assessments to build a new media challenge. This challenge will ultimately be uploaded to the 6YC IT-DML Wiki for the purposes of being fully available online to educators. You should approach this using a Critical Literacy perspective and include the appropriate theoretical perspectives you also chose to guide your work. You may work collaboratively on this project, but the resultant project should represent your collaborative efforts.
6. New Media Learners (20%)
The final project for this class calls for you to complete a scholarly paper/project of your own design (with guidance from the instructor) in which you make a contribution to the research base on new media literacies and their place in the classroom. You must use your experience as a classroom teacher, your experiences in this Program, as well as your growing experience working with media literacies to develop an informative paper/project that details an aspect of media literacy, and its pedagogical affordances. This paper/project will be uploaded to the IT-DLE Wiki.
[1] CCCT: Connecticut Teacher Technology Competencies 2001
[2] ISTE NETS-T: International Society for Technology in Education, National Educational Technology Standards – Teachers 2008
Course listed above is part of the IT&DML program. All materials uploaded by Ian O'Byrne.
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