Journal 8

Media Smarts: From Consumers to Critics and Creators

By Ken Ellis

This artical is about how the average student spends 6 hours plugged into some type of media each day. Yet only spends an average of 50 minutes doing homework. Still most teachers believe that the written word is the only way to communicate in todays world. Electronic media is what is influencing todays digital generation. Teachers need to get on the wagon.
Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) is an organization that helps spread the word of media literacy as an essential life skill. Media literacy can mean everything from the basics of graphic design to critical analysis of advertising images and news broadcasts. It can mean differnt things to different people.
Another group helping out is the Media EducationFoundation. They are offering fifty videos and free educational materials that foster critical examinations of mainstream media and advertising.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, students work as interns at local radio stations. Youth Radio conducts an after-school programs for students. Students learn rodio-broadcasting skills, DJing, journalism, and web production.
Just Think offers programs and curriculum packages for the classroom. For example, "Flipping the Script: Critical Thinking in a Hip-Hop World" is designed to help teachers teach media-literacy concepts and production skills around the theme of hip-hop culture. The AMLA and Just Think are getting together on a three-year research project to study the efficacy of teaching media literacy in the classroom.
Nellie Greogian, the study director says, "interviews of participating teachers strongly indicate that the program has resulted in increased interest and engagement of students in core curriculum subjects as well as improved overall academic performance."
George Lucas Educational Foundation chairman, George Lucas things we should change English class to Communications class. Teach both grammatical rules and English grammer along with graphic arts and film.
Until then, teachers will continue teaching English for an hour a day and students will continue playing with their own meida devices for six hours a day.


I thought this artical was very interesting. I couldn't believe how many hours the average kid plays computer games or just on the internet. I think it would be great to teach a communications class over the regular old English class. I mean if you think about it, why do we learn English? So we have a better way to communicate with people. A better way to get our point across so people understand us. Well that is what communications is. If we can teach students more than one way of communicating to get their point across, then we have done our job.


Question 1)

What are other forms of communication besides writting?

In the artical, they talked about the radio. That is another form of media we can us to spread the word. Movies are another way to communicate what we are trying to say.



Question 2)

How can teachers bring media into the classroom

Clearly students are already using 6 hours of some sort of media today. Ask them! Get involved in what your students are intrested in. Yes, students love to play video games. Go online and find an education video game that they can play when they get home. Keep their minds working all the time.