Media literacy is a set of skills that anyone can learn. In more than a decade of experience with media literacy education, we’ve found that most people – from the youngest kindergartner to seniors – are fascinated by media. Your challenge is to use the media examples in the kits to teach media literacy skills, and to explore important issues.
• Be sure you understand basic media literacy concepts and skills. These provide the context for viewing and discussing the media examples in our kits.
> Start here
• Know how to use the media literacy kits to lead a group discussion. Have easy access to your media examples, and print out the discussion and activity guide beforehand.
> How to use media literacy kits
• Browse our discussion forum to read comments by other media literacy educators.
> Go to the Toolbox Forum
• To display the media examples to a large class or group, connect your computer to a video projector and speakers to deliver a larger image and adequate sound.
> What equipment do I need?
• Preview all media examples before showing them to others. Some of the media examples included in our kits may not be appropriate for everyone.
• Some people tend to rush through one media example after another. After all, that’s what we experience when we watch TV, flip through a magazine or surf the Web. But media literacy is about looking closely at media messages, analyzing them and evaluating them. So, slow down. Select a few media examples and leave enough time for discussion. That’s where the real learning takes place.
• Play the same movie clip more than once. We guarantee you’ll notice more and more each time.
• To teach media literacy skills, ask questions more often than you provide answers. The goal is to get others to analyze and evaluate media messages, not to provide the analysis and evaluation yourself.
• The questions in the discussion and activity guides are only suggestions; as you develop your media literacy skills, you will come up with many more questions yourself.
• We have provided responses to many of the questions in the discussion guides to help you anticipate responses you may receive from learners, and to provide information and analysis. But remember: One of the basic principles of media literacy is that individuals construct their own meanings from media. The responses here are based on our interpretation of the media examples, and you and your group may have different interpretations. That's great! Exploring these differences is an important part of media literacy.
> All Toolbox Tips
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