Media Literacy: Media Literacy Resources/Links

"To be successful in college and in the workplace and to participate effectively in a global society,
students are expected to understand the nature of media; to interpret, analyze, and evaluate the
media messages they encounter daily; and to create media that expresses a point of view and influence
others. These skills are relevant to all subject areas..."
College Board Standards for College Success, English Language Arts, 2006

"The more I grasp the pervasive influence of media on our children, the more I worry
about the media literacy gap in our nation’s educational curriculum. We need a sustained
K-12 media literacy program—something to teach kids not only how to use the media
but how the media uses them. Kids need to know how particular messages get crafted
and why, what devices are used to hold their attention and what ideas are left out.
In a culture where media is pervasive and invasive, kids need to think critically about
what they see, hear and read. No child’s education can be complete without this."
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps (prepared remarks at June 2006 event)

Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers
of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is
the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages. As
communication technologies transform society, they impact our understanding
of ourselves, our communities, and our diverse cultures, making media literacy
an essential life skill for the 21st century.
(The Alliance for A Media Literate America, 2000)

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.
( Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997)

“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 Literacy)

Media literacy refers to composing, comprehending, interpreting, analyzing, and appreciating the language
and texts of...both print and nonprint. The use of media presupposes an expanded definition of 'text'...print
media texts include books, magazines, and newspapers. Nonprint media include photography, recordings,
radio, film, television, videotape, video games, computers, the performing arts, and virtual reality...constantly
interact...(and) all (are) to be experienced, appreciated, and analyzed and created by students."
(SOURCE: NCTE, Commission on Media, Carole Cox, 1994, p.13)

UNESCO Media Education A kit for Teachers, Students, Parents and Professionals

A comprehensive 190 page UNESCO publication with excellent introduction to the all the elements and arguments of contemporary media literacy and media education. The document comprises; a proposal for a modular curriculum, a handbook for teachers, a handbook for students, a handbook for parents, a handbook for ethical relations with professionals and an internet literacy handbook.

Global Media Literacy:
a Curriculum as well as a Way of Life
This Global Media Literacy course is designed to help students and faculty appreciate distinctive international media models and agendas. The course focuses predominately on those media that transmit news and breaking information and uses cross-cultural and cross-regional analysis to assess, analyze and evaluate the stories the media tell.

UNESCO Media Education A kit for Teachers, Students, Parents and Professionals	A comprehensive 190 page UNESCO publication with excellent introduction to the all the elements and arguments of contemporary media literacy and media education. The document comprises; a proposal for a modular curriculum, a handbook for teachers, a handbook for students, a handbook for parents, a handbook for ethical relations with professionals and an internet literacy handbook.
Global Media Literacy: a Curriculum as well as a Way of Life	This Global Media Literacy course is designed to help students and faculty appreciate distinctive international media models and agendas. The course focuses predominately on those media that transmit news and breaking information and uses cross-cultural and cross-regional analysis to assess, analyze and evaluate the stories the media tell.