Media Education Week: coming soon

I am passionate about media education and media literacy. Although, of late, I’ve happily drifted down this path of web-based social and participatory software, I have not lost sight of this passion.

It started, I guess, when I was a student journalist, first in high school and then later in college, where I minored in journalism. It continued as I advised student publications for three years in the early 90s at a high school in Texas.

And it blew wide open over two recent summers when I completed coursework in Dr. David Considine’s media literacy strand within the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University.

And today, when educators, technologists, parents, and those in mainstream society decry a lack of information literacy, digital citizenship, and ethics among users of the new web, my mind always returns to the overarching principles and paradigms of media education.

I’ve posted about the connection between media literacy and social software before. I invite you to read and comment!

So, in the coming days I hope to devote some space at ThinkTime to celebrate the second annual Media Education Week, Nov. 5-9.

Although the event is sponsored by the Canadian-based Media Awareness Network and is intended to raise awareness within Canadian homes and schools, media education has universal value.

In the United States we have some excellent organizations and resources to advance the practice of media education. Their web site is undergoing a redesign and may not be easily navigable, but the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) sponsors the National Media Education Conference (NMEC) each year.

For online resources, try the Center for Media Literacy (CML), which hosts a vast archive of free and downloadable classroom materials and readings on every aspect of media education, from faith-based studies to health and body-awareness issues to student-produced media.

Why not watch this CML slideshow illustrating the five core concepts of media education and tell me what you think?

technorati tags: Media Awareness Week Media Awareness Network media media literacy information literacy media education

Think on this:

"What if we just ignored the status of students in other countries? That wouldn’t be especially neighborly, but at least we wouldn’t be viewing the gains of children in other lands as a troubling development."

Alfie Kohn

"When I hear people say it's our job to create the 21st century workforce, it scares the hell out of me. Our job is to create 21st-century citizens. We need workers, yes, but we also need scholars, activists, parents -- compassionate, engaged people."

Chris Lehmann