"Learning isn't a way of reaching one's potential, but rather a way of developing it" - Anders Ericsson

Media and Communication

MEDIA LITERACY AND THE DIGITAL AGE

Course Description

This course is designed as an introduction to mass communication in the digital age and how it shapes our thinking. With a specific focus on Media theory, students will practice analyzing, evaluating, and researching the effect on audiences, culture, and society past and present. Through historical context, application of knowledge, and in-depth culminating assessments, students will understand that communication is the core of our society and how it significantly impacts our daily lives into the digital age.

Essential Questions

What makes communication effective?
How do different cultures, ages, genders, races, or social class have an effect on communication?
Why is it important to be visually literate?
What moves us to communicate through digital and non-digital media?
Has the development of the internet and social media caused a change in the way we communicate (quality, quantity, style etc.)?
What is the role of media in our society, and how can we become responsible consumers and producers of news and information in the digital age?
What roles do confirmation bias, stereotyping, and other cognitive biases impact how we interpret events, news, and information?
What is the role of social media in the traditional news cycle, and how does it influence public opinion and the press?
Is new technology always better than that which it will replace?
How has technology transformed how we see ourselves and others?
What factors shape our values and beliefs?
How do our personal experiences shape our view of others? (How are people transformed through their relationships with others?)

Course Outline

Throughout the semester students will read and view from a variety of mediums including but not limited to online resources, magazines, newspapers, texts, and handouts. They may also view/listen to contemporary audio/visual media sources and clips in order to support the texts read in class, inspire for writing materials, and use for discussion in class. Units, texts, literature, and visual media included but not limited to:

UNIT 1: COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY

- - Being Human and the Communication Process
    - Maslow’s pyramid
    - Culture
    - Non Verbal Communication
      - Touchscreen – Marshall Davis Jones and other various poetry
    - The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media
    - Emoji’s as new hieroglyphics
  - Understanding Generations
    - Media History Timeline
      - Excerpt: Writing on the Wall – Social Media the First Two Thousand Years
    - Simon Sinek – Millennials in the Workplace
    - Media History Research and Interview Project
  - How Media has changed our perceptions
    - Influence on education
  - How media and technology have impacted our relationships
    - Microcheating

UNIT 2: WHO CONTROLS THE MESSAGE

- - Censorship and the First Amendment
    - Gatekeepers
      - The Truman Show
    - Banned Books
      - A Letter to the Chairman of the Drake School Board – Kurt Vonnegut
    - Media Ownership and Bias
      - Follow the Money: Media Ownership Research Project
      - Understanding Political Bias
    - Understanding the Power of Print
      - Watergate – All The President’s Men / The Post

UNIT 3: IMAGERY AND ADVERTISING

- - Photography
    - Understanding perspectives, manipulatives, and vocabulary
      - The Compulsion to Photoshop
      - Historical Photo Recreation Project
    - Photojournalism
      - How to Create a Photo Essay
      - How Technology Has Changed Photography
  - Psychology and the Visual Society
    - How to Analyze an Advertisement
      - Create Your Own Ad Project
  - How Does this Impact how we see ourselves? How we see others?
    - Body Image
      - Dove Pure Beauty Campaign
    - Gender Roles

UNIT 4: THE POWER OF BROADCAST CULTURE

- - Radio – Past, Present, and Future
    - War of the Worlds – by George Orwell, radio broadcast
    - Podcasts
  - Power of Projection
    - Television, Cable, and Democracy
      - Government Regulation
      - Television and Politics
        Nixon vs Kennedy debate
        Romney vs Obama debate
    - Race, Gender, Class, Bias
  - Television and the American Life
    - Technology and the Change of a Viewing Habits
    - Broadcast News vs Infotainment
    - Product Placement and the Economics of Television
  - 1984 – George Orwell
  - The Veldt – Ray Bradbury

(Portfolio research choice topic start at the beginning of Q2)

UNIT 5: MUSIC, MOVIES AND THE IMPACT OF IMAGES

- - - Your brain on music
    - Sound of Silence performed by Disturbed, Paul Simon and other various musical artists
    - Tool – Lateralus
    - How YouTube has Changed the Music Industry
    - How Music Impacts Emotion
      - Soundtrack to Your Life
      - The Significance to Music and Sound to Film
    - Early technology and the Evolution of Movies
    - How to Read a Film

UNIT 6: DIGITAL MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND CULTURAL CHANGE

- - How does media influence our perceptions of the world?
  - How does media affect our identify as people?
  - Development of the Internet and the Web
    - The Deep Web
  - Rise of Social Media
    - Social Network
      - How Facebook changed the world
    - Hiding Behind Screens
      - How have relationships changed as a result of social media
      - Catfish documentary
  - Evolution of Man - Nomophobia

UNIT 6: DIGITAL MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND CULTURAL CHANCE CON’T

- - Technology
    - Black Mirror – Nosedive and other appropriate episodes
    - Google assistant
    - AI
    - Amazon Go
    - Hololens
    - Deep Fake technology

- - Privacy
    - Freedom vs Security
      - What freedoms are we willing to give up?
      - Terms and Conditions May Apply documentary
      - The Circle film

UNIT 7: REFLECTION

- - How has media changed society?
  - Critical Analysis of the Media – portfolio project due at the end of semester
  - How have you become media literate?
  - Thanks for the Memories / Year in Review

English Department Competencies

By the end of this class, students will be able to:

READING: Think critically about mass media and critique and evaluate messages and the effect on the audience (individual or society)

WRITING: Develop and deliver accurate and well organized messages in various forms of writing and oral presentations

RESEARCH: Evaluate the influence of mass media on the individual and society based on class discussion, investigation, and/or research

LISTENING: Apply fundamental principles and concepts related to mass media and SPEAKING communication to analyze the intention of the message and present knowledge in VIEWING various forms of discussion, presentation, and/or research