In recognition of the 2024 edition of Global Media and Information Literacy Week, PressReader is publishing a three-part series of blog posts on media literacy education, with a particular focus on teaching media literacy skills to elementary- and high-school students.
In the first installment, we looked at why K-12 educators, including teachers school librarians, should incorporate media literacy instruction into their curricula and lesson plans. This time, we'll explore some of the resources available for them to do so.
See also:
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Here’s how teachers can partner with librarians to teach media literacy at school
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Teaching media-literacy skills should be a year-round priority for educators
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How libraries can support media literacy in an age of misinformation
Finland pioneered media literacy education
Finland is often held up as an example of media literacy done right — and with good reason. In that Nordic country, media education was introduced into the elementary curriculum in 1970 and into high schools in 1977.
According to a June 2024 report from the UK-based Internet Matters, which makes the case that "like reading, writing and numeracy skills, media literacy should form a core basis of education for all pupils in England":
Finland has a long history of teaching media literacy skills, and the Finnish school system is the cornerstone of this effort. Media literacy is taught at all levels of school — starting in early childhood education and continuing through primary and secondary levels. The strength of this approach is reflected in the population’s resilience to mis- and disinformation. Finland is one of the most media literate populations in the world, consistently topping the European Media Literacy Index.
Other countries are starting to catch up
If other nations have lagged behind Finland's example, they are starting to catch up.
Canada, for instance, was the first country in North America to require the teaching of media literacy in schools, with each province mandating media education in its curriculum.
In the United States, education policy is decentralized, meaning that media literacy education is left up to each state.
In 2021, Illinois became the first state to mandate it, requiring all high-school students to participate in a unit on issues such as “the purpose of media messages and how they are constructed”.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation in September 2024 that, according to EdSource "will incorporate artificial intelligence literacy and media literacy into the state’s curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for K-12 students".
For educators and library professionals living in states or countries that have not mandated media literacy education, teaching these essential skills presents its own set of challenges. Fortunately, there are a number of media literacy resources out there, and many of them are available for free.
Establishing a common frame of reference
We covered the why of media literacy education in our first installment, but we can expand on it a little. In part, we teach media literacy to establish common ground in an increasingly fragmented world.
As veteran journalist Alan Miller, founder of the News Literacy Project, observed, “We’ve lost any sense of a common narrative, of a shared reality. We not only can’t agree on what the facts are, we can’t even agree on what a fact is.”
Matthew Johnson, Director of Education at MediaSmarts, agrees. He recently told PressReader:
It's impossible to discuss important issues unless we have a common ground of facts that we can agree on. It's also essential that we learn to recognize how different issues or news stories are framed by what's included and what's left out, what's emphasized and what's minimized, and the language or images that are used. That's because when we debate issues, fairly often we're debating how to frame an issue — whether to see something through a frame of public health or one of personal freedom, for instance. If we're talking from different frames, we'll never convince each other or reach common ground.
Start by asking the right questions
One important aspect of media literacy is critical thinking — and that starts when we teach students to ask the right questions.
As Chris Sperry, Director of Curriculum and Staff Development at Project Look Sharp, told PressReader, "We need our students to continually ask essential questions about the sourcing, accuracy, credibility, and biases in mediated messages, but also to reflect on their own thinking — and recognize our tendencies to favor information and sources that confirm our beliefs and to discredit sources and information that contradicts those beliefs. That metacognition will become more and more essential in a future fueled by algorithm-driven truths."
Five key questions
To get students thinking along these lines, introduce them to these five key questions recommended by the Center for Media Literacy:
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Who created this message?
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What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
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How might different people understand this message differently than me?
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What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
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Why is this message being sent?
Teach media literacy in a range subjects
As we noted in our previous installment, educators can introduce elements of media literacy into a number of different subjects, helping to create what Internet Matters calls "a strong and broad education in critical thinking, online safety and digital citizenship".
"Through English and History pupils should gradually develop skills to critically assess, evaluate, create and communicate online media — both safely and responsibly," the organization suggests, while in STEM subjects they can learn "how to assess statistical information, and how the design of digital technologies shapes what users see online (for example, the role of recommendation algorithms in presenting and disseminating information)".
Bring media literacy to life by having students create media of their own, through online blogging platforms or even an old-fashioned school newspaper. When they see firsthand what goes into media creation, they'll begin to understand the challenges of presenting fair and balanced reportage.
Connect students with trustworthy sources
As we'll explore further in our next article, digital media literacy and news literacy are essential for supporting strong institutions, enabling societies to hold those in power accountable, and helping to reduce inequalities. One key tool to help K-12 students improve their media literacy is providing equitable access to accurate, ethically reported journalistic sources.
School libraries can offer access to trusted journalism with tools like Pressreader, which provide free, digital editions of newspapers and magazines — both current and back issues. Engaging with a wide breadth of sources from across the political spectrum allows young readers the opportunity to do “lateral reading” and corroborate claims that may seem dubious with alternative sources.
After all, the most harmful and isolating ideologies are often born from echo chambers. Opening patrons’ eyes to the wide range of thoughts, ideas and perspectives available in high-quality journalism can make a world of difference.
A toolkit for teaching media literacy
Because we believe that knowledge is power, we here at PressReader have developed our own Media Literacy Toolkit [this link needs to be updated to the new one] for use in the classroom or school library, or at home. We hope you will find it useful in encouraging students to take a critical look at the messages they read, see and hear on a daily basis.
The toolkit includes a number of interactive activities, including:
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Evaluating news: In this activity, students look at newspaper coverage of a recent front-page event and evaluate the information it provides. By exercising analysis and critical thinking skills, they improve their media literacy and gain an understanding of the vital role the press plays in informing the public.
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Exploring author bias: It’s important to consume media with an awareness of the author’s own unique perspective and biases. Most journalists try to keep their personal beliefs out of their stories, but sometimes, they sneak in anyways. In this activity, students will dig deep into one writer’s background to see if any bias has made its way into their story.
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How to spot fake news: Fake news is no longer a matter of the occasional hoax. There is growing evidence that disinformation has the power to shape public opinion and even sway elections. As more people get their news on social media platforms, it is increasingly vital that students gain the digital literacy they need to verify sources and spot fake news or images, which often appear indistinguishable from reliable sources. In this activity, students will look for clues in a story, video or photo that can help them determine whether or not it’s real.
Other resources for teaching media literacy
We have cited the work of the following organizations in this article. Each of them offers a variety of materials that teacher-librarians and other educators can use to help shape a media-savvy generation.
The Center for Media Literacy
Per its website: "Dedicated to promoting and supporting media literacy education as a framework for accessing, analyzing, evaluating, creating and participating with media content, CML works to help citizens, especially the young, develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture."
Internet Matters
The website of this UK-based organization dedicated to keeping kids safe online has an entire section dedicated to resources for schools, including lesson plans for a range of topics and interactive activities.
MediaSmarts
This Canadian organization offers resources for parents and teachers. "We offer printable activity sheets suitable for younger children and also make our workshops freely downloadable, so libraries can put them on for parents and general audiences," Johnson told us.
The News Literacy Project
Among the News Literacy Project's resources and services for educators are an online learning platform, a free weekly newsletter, professional development opportunities and a variety of classroom materials.
Project Look Sharp
The not-for-profit media literacy initiative at Ithaca College provides free resources to support educators to integrate media analysis into all grades and subject areas. This includes nearly 900 free media decoding lessons searchable by keyword, subject, level and media type.
How can media literacy education prepare K-12 students for life beyond the classroom in our digital age? We'll explore this and other questions in the third installment of this three-part series of blog posts.
