Media Literacy

Why we need to learn how to incorporate media literacy into every classroom...

Since our world is becoming more and more invested in technological advancement, we as future educators need to ensure we are providing our students with the best education possible. As stated in the TedTalk below, we want to reduce the use of addictive media behaviour and promote the use of productive media usage.

Digital Citizenship

Our society is driven by our technology, making it very difficult to become an effective member of society without the proper technological devices and skills. The internet provides us with common information in many aspects of our world; news on politics, culture and the environment. Incorporating this knowledge into our classrooms is easy to do, however, providing our students with an understanding of digital citizenship is necessary before they can properly use all the tools offered. An understanding of internet safety and appropriate internet etiquette is needed for students to be effective and safe on the internet.

As of 2019, Google has teamed up with The Net Safety Collaborative and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, to bring Internet Safety to the new technology-driven generation.

Using an online world called Interland, students, parents and teachers have access to incredible tools and resources that can ensure they are being digitally literate while using the internet. Interland invites students into an online land with four separate levels, each focusing on a different aspect of internet safety. The site combines online gaming, resources and tools that are easy for everyone to use. The gaming aspect of the site ensures that students have enough internet safety knowledge before providing them with a certificate.

This resource is an effective and engaging learning activity, as it keeps students motivated in their learning through gamification. I believe there are a variety of ways that this resource can be brought into my classroom. I would introduce this website to the beginning of my first media literacy unit, as it will prepare my students for the use of the internet that our media literacy units may require. I would use a week to inform my students about the safety we require while using the internet and ask students to complete one level of the game each day.

Critical Analyzation (Real vs Fake News)

Due to the fact, that our world is overpopulated with news articles, understanding what real or fake news can is difficult. Not only are our students seeing the news in the newspaper or on television, but through social media posts and online advertisements; this can make it difficult for anyone to decipher what they should and should not believe. The Ontario curriculum asks students to reflect on the strengths and strategies that they see in media creations; this overall expectation asks students to critically think about the information that they obtain through the media.

Credder is an online website that rates the creditability of daily news. The websites hired reviewers give news articles “newsworthy” percentages, based on their belief of whether it is a credible or non-credible source. The higher the percentage given, the more credible the source is believed to be.

Although we can critically analyze the site and think about the biases that may be held by the site's reviewers, we can also see the benefits of the website. Bringing this website into our classrooms is an amazing resource as it allows students to find credible articles to read from, as well as allows students to submit articles for review if they feel critical about them.

As a future educator, I believe there are many interactive and engaging ways this resource can be brought into the classroom and curriculum. For example, students can explore the website, finding an understanding of the use and purpose of article review. From there, they can start their blogs, reviewing a new article every week and defining the credibility of the source they analyze. In addition to developing critical thinking skills through this activity, students will also address another overall expectation of media creation through the use of a blog.

Creation of Media Texts

As addressed by the overall expectations of the Ontario Language Curriculum, by the end of grade six, students should be able to create media texts for different reasons and topics. Online tools such as Google Blogger, Google Sites and WordPress promote students to express themselves and explore the technological world around them through media creations of their own.

Looking specifically at Google Blogger, students can create a blog that introduces their ideas and thoughts; as well as allows them to support and discuss other views and concepts through links, videos and images. As stated in the previous section of my blog, introducing students to blogging can be simple and effective. Any topic can engage students to keep notes, express their opinion and participate with the online blogging world. For example, when incorporating a novel study into an elementary school classroom, students may find it intimidating or boring to discuss each chapter they have read. Students, instead of having common whole-class or small-group discussions, can bring their thoughts to the online world and blog about their thoughts and feelings about each chapter read. Students from there can provide links to their blogs and interact with their classroom peers and others in the online world.

References

[TedX Talks] (2012, September 5). Media Literacy: Mind Versus Mindful: Peter Komendowski at TEDxDesMoines. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FwCUCquFsE

[Google] (2017, June 6). Interland: Play your way to Internet Awesome. [Video File]. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJj2U7XuHdo

Interland. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/interland.

Credder. (2019). The Review Site for News Media. Retrieved from https://credder.com/.

Create a unique and beautiful blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.blogger.com/.

Ministry of Education. (2006). The Ontario Curriculum: Language 1-8. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf