School

La Center Middle School and La Center High School

Facilitator

Lynn Cooke 

Participating Teachers

Tamara Brightbill

MS ELA/Social Studies

Kate Stevens

HS History

School

Skyview High School

Facilitator

Traci Chun

Participating Teachers

Megan Gray

HS Health

Mitch Horn

HS Social Studies

Erika McManus

HS Health

Eric Silvey

HS Social Studies

Tad Thompson

HS Social Studies

Recognizing the media literacy is, by its very nature, an examination of belief, truth, and bias as it relates to information and ideas, it is no surprise that talking about and teaching media literacy can be fraught in our current political-information age. While media literacy advocates seek to help others better understand what is 'true' and 'factual,' those very definitions of truth and facts have become increasingly partisan and relative. The growth of mis- and disinformation and the recent advent of artificial intelligence further muddies the water of information and ideas. 

For educators seeking to teach media literacy, there is a need to recognize that is no longer enough to simply promote information sources, websites, and resources which may be perceived to be objective or 'balanced.' More importantly, there is a need to understand students as complex knowledge constructors who consume, share, and understand information and ideas in diverse ways. Students' beliefs and habits related to information and ideas are formed not only by their peers, but also by their families, home cultures, and social media.

Things to consider

• Seek to meet students where they are vs. where you think they should be. While this is good educational practice in general, it's particularly important when teaching media literacy. 

• Criticizing specific media channels, sources, platforms, or personalities may be counter-productive and alienating to students, particularly if those are familiar to them and/or something that defines the media which their family or peers consume. That doesn't mean that educators should not address bias or inaccuracy in these sources, but it should be done in a way that avoids personally attacking student choices and decisions. 

• Recognize that 'truth' has become an increasingly relative term which may mean something very different to you than to some students. 

• Seek out and use media literacy language which is descriptive vs. evaluative. As an example, use misinformation and disinformation rather than 'fake news' which has developed a range of definitions depending on your point of view.

• Acknowledge that educators themselves consume information and ideas from a variety of sources and from a diversity of viewpoints. In the same way that you need to meet students where they are, you may also need to accept and work with colleagues whose media sources and choices are different than your own. 

Media literacy requires a host of skills and dispositions that include the ability to read, comprehend, and interpret written, visual, or audio information. Even prior to the pandemic, many students struggled with basic literacy and in most classrooms, a sizable number of students were likely to be reading below benchmark. The learning deficits created by the pandemic's impact on schools have only increased this challenge. While audio, graphic, and video sources offer a way to mitigate reading deficits, students who are multilingual (ex. non-native English speakers) or who have experience physical or cognitive disabilities may also struggle to understand and comprehend non-textual information and ideas.

For educators who seek to teach media literacy, there is an increased need to design instruction for learner variability and to create scaffolds to ensure students can first effectively consume media and then employ skills and strategies to interpret and evaluate the information and ideas with which they are working.

Things to consider

• Design instruction with learner variability in mind, recognizing that media literacy is predicated on first understanding the media which students are consuming. 

• Leverage adaptive and accessibility functions and tools in devices, services, and apps.

• Plan to use the same or similar teaching scaffolds which are employed in other instruction.

• Recognize that media literacy requires students to decode, comprehend, and understand what they are reading and viewing as a precondition to being able to examine and evaluate that media for accuracy, bias, currency, etc. 

• Engage instructional support teachers or staff to plan, design, and deliver media literacy instruction (ex. special education, multilingual education, etc.)

Students are unlikely to care about media literacy if they are not authentically curious about the information and ideas with which they are seeking. Cultivating and supporting curiosity among students is often overlooked as an enabling condition for media literacy. While a typical student might spend hours or days researching and seeking information about a desired digital device (game, phone, etc.), they are far less likely to spend the same amount of time, energy, or care with many of the topics that are likely to be assigned in class.

For educators who seek to teach media literacy, there is instructional value in promoting and enabling student choice and agency. Similarly, allowing students to connect their research and inquiry to their own experiences, backgrounds, and history promotes authentic curiosity and relevance.

Things to consider

• Begin research activities by helping students form good questions to guide their inquiry. 

• Allow students choice in what they are researching and evaluating.

• Permit students to collaboratively research together.

• Design lessons and instruction that leverage student funds of knowledge, interests, and backgrounds.

Like the evolution of information access itself, media literacy has changed and continues to do so. Educators need to recognize that traditional ways of evaluating media may not be as effective or relevant given emerging information tools and services. 

An example is the 'CRAAP' method which asks students to evaluate Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. In the same ways in which teacher librarians might evaluate and select materials for a library collection, this checklist asks students to analyze the source itself to determine if the materials meet the CRAAP criteria. In many cases, this requires students to read beyond the webpage or chapter to look for such clues as dates of publication, who published the information, type of domain (.com vs. .org), information about the author, etc. For this reason, this strategy has been described as 'vertical reading' in which the reader scans and evaluates the source itself to determine the reliability or validity of information.

While this strategy is a good starting point, the advent of social media, blogs, and disinformation make vertical reading less useful and effective in evaluating information and ideas. The design and delivery of mis- and dis-information have become sophisticated making CRAAP and other vertical reading strategies less effective, particularly with learners who are still developing their critical reading and viewing skills. Lateral reading has emerged as another valuable approach to media literacy. Additional information about these strategies can be found here.

Things to consider

• The design and delivery of mis- and dis-information has become sophisticated and can often mimic or be confused with known or legitimate information sources.

• News and information from social media platforms often lack information to make vertical reading (CRAAP) effective.

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in both search engines and to create written and visual material found on the web. 

While media literacy has often been associated with student research in ELA or social studies, the skills and dispositions associated with media literacy have become essential to virtually all content areas and subjects taught in K-12 schools. The emergence and growth of mis- and disinformation has created inaccuracies, mischaracterizations, lies, distortions, and fabrications that touch all content areas and can be found in a variety of online platforms. Added to this is the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) which is likely to further complicate students' ability to identify and make use of accurate and authentic information, ideas, and artifacts. In addition to already existing deep fake images, videos, and audio, chat bots will become more prevalent as part of routine internet searching in the future. 

Things to consider

• Promote a 'can I trust this?' lens to all student inquiry and research activities even in subject areas like art, music, and STEM.

• Recognize that media literacy also requires learners to assess what information or concepts are missing or incomplete in the information they learn in class and on their own. 

Given the complexity and rapid evolution of the media landscape, media literacy can no longer be thought of a few lessons taught in library or technology classes. Media literacy instruction must shift from 'compliance' to competency and fluency. This requires both skills and dispositions for students to effectively use and produce information and ideas, both as K-12 students and beyond. In the same ways that reading is a core skill that underpins all learning, media literacy must be seen in the same light. Students must be able to find, understand, and use information and ideas that are accurate, authentic, and current as a foundation for their learning. This means that media literacy, like reading, is necessarily part of all K-12 instruction. And media literacy cannot simply be a single lesson or event, but a sustained effort by all educators. 

Things to consider

• Identify media literacy learning 'guiding questions' which are sustained and revisited throughout the course or school year.

• Use micro- or mini-lessons and activities that promote media literacy thinking and habits.

• Include media literacy standards in lesson planning, ideally connected to other core competencies.

• When appropriate, identify and assess learning targets which support media literacy.