Incorporating Media Literacy at the High School

At the beginning of the semester I had very minimal knowledge about media literacy and all that it entailed, beyond interpreting media messages on television and in the movies. When considering pieces for the portfolio assignment I immediately chose to do the participant observer piece. As a future school librarian I thought it would be a good experience. As I started asking around I soon found out that the schools in my area do not have established medial literacy programs. Living and working in a rural community limits my options for observations. I decided to still do the observations in a district that didn’t have a program and just include it as one of my blog entries.

During this semester I have spent 2-4 hours per week in a high school library. The library primarily serves its students for free reading and computer lab usage. The way the library is used is a direct reflection of how teachers incorporate library resources into their lessons. Most of the books that are checked out are for reading classes or to fulfill quarterly book report requirements. The computer lab can only be used if it is reserved for an entire class or if a student has a written pass for a specific assignment.

The librarian eagerly offers her services by teaching students that enter the building about how to utilize the online resources that are available in addition to a short tutorial on the OPAC. Generally these items are merely refreshers because the same resources and OPAC are used at the middle school level. Any other teaching that goes on in the high school library is either done on a one-on-one basis or by classroom teachers when their classes are in the computer lab. There is not a specific class or library program that focuses on media literacy.

After discussions with teachers about the classes they teach and with students about their experiences with media literacy, there are many aspects that are covered. Although a lot is covered indirectly, depending on the class, teacher, or time available not all students are receiving an equal amount of media literacy education. Students are being deprived of essential knowledge that will affect them for the rest of their lives in a digital society. The benefits of media literacy education are evident.

For example, I am currently doing a career exploration project for a final unit with my students. I gave them a guided web activity, much like a web quest, that helped them explore careers that matched their personality and interests. They had a series of questions to answer for each section of the activity so they had something they could look back at for the next part of the project. Many students were able to finish this activity in less than an hour, while others took an entire 85-minute period. Some of the time difference is due to reading levels and efficiency, but that was not the case for all. There are several students that struggle with navigating through websites. At the beginning of the year I gave very detailed direction for web activities, including step by step directions on how to access shared files on the public drive of our school’s network. Simple tasks like finding a document they needed to get started was challenging for some students. These are the same students that are not enrolled in classes that frequently use the computer lab. The second step of the project was to explore careers online without be restrained by the websites of the first activity. This gave them free roam to either explore an identified career more in depth or look at other options. The goal was to finalize three career choices to research and present. They were told up front that the presentations were only for display, but they had to convey to me that they were able to answer all three essential questions (what is the career, why did you pick it, how will you get there) in detail. Since this is a final project they knew I was expecting them to be creative and go above and beyond any other presentations that they had done throughout the year. As soon as we arrived in the computer lab the same two things kept happening over and over. They didn’t know how to search the internet and most of them immediately put any information they found into a power point presentation.

I came to two conclusions after this miserable experience. At the high school level they are so used to being told which sites to use that they don’t know how to weed out the junk on their own. As for only wanting to use power point, this is what is taught at the middle school level and what they are most comfortable using. There are a handful of students that are taking an introduction to business course that have had experience with different styles of presentation. These students are willing to go beyond power point because they have more knowledge, but not all students will take the same business course or any business at all. Where will the others learn about the vast array of presentation styles that are accessible to them?

Of course I have a solution! Every student that enters the high school is required to take a freshmen seminar course. In this course there are several areas that are covered in order to help prepare 9th graders for success in high school. Media literacy is not a formal component of the current curriculum. As both a freshmen seminar teacher and the future librarian at this high school, it could easily be incorporated without disrupting the curriculum in place. Although I believe a media literacy component is key to their future success and will not be questioned by the administration in a district where digital technology is being pushed!

Superheroes teach creativity, teamwork, and proper etiquette

As I write this I can hear my brother in the next room talking to a group of his friends... the last words out of his mouth were "it's time to do some crime-fighting - if you want to hang out, we may have a very good mission coming up for you."

He meets these friends online several times a week to play a "Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game" (MMPORG) titled "City of Heroes." As I read Henry Jenkin's white paper, this game came to mind constantly when I thought about my brother's participation in this game. EmilyZ's post about avatars motivated me to revisit a project I'd abandoned, so here's a slideshow of mixed quality using screenshots my brother has taken over the last few years playing the game to illustrate a few of the concepts from Jenkin's paper:



If the video doesn't embed properly, try going to this link where you should be able to view it separately.

Here are some links directly to the character stories, I don't know that they'll show up properly in a video (they're kind of dark, don't look at them if morbid stories bother you):

Persephone Lee, Mr. Plutonium, Silent Seth (creepy), and Dreameater

Also, the bit of Pokemon-ish music that plays during one bit of the video is from this site, the song is titled "run girl run" and it's a CC licensed song I found on archive.org here.

EmilyZ talked about avatars as expressions of personality. I don't deny that's a really fun part of them, experimenting with "different selves," but some people are more likely to invest the characters with personal meaning and some people are more likely to enjoy investing in a fictional environment that they can explore through a character that doesn't really reflect their own personality. I mentioned some issues with my brothers' female characters here. I find it amusing because it contrasts with his purpose, but other people might find it more offensive or scary. How you play also affects how you react, I suppose.

Also, this game costs $15 a month and requires a computer with a fast internet hookup and pretty decent graphics card, so there are definite barriers to participation in this sort of thing for many people. I'm sure there are more accessible environments out there, but I thought it might be nice to do a more extended tour of one of the more complex ones and it was nice to have the screenshots already there. :-)

Why bother with media literacy?

I’ll admit, when I signed up for this class, I really didn’t know what media literacy was. I had a few ideas (understanding when advertisers use media to sell you something, understanding point of view/bias in news and other organizations, etc.), but I really didn’t know that it encompassed as much as it did. It is definitely more than just technology and tools – it is understanding those tools and the role they play in today’s society. It is the ability to “read” and think critically about print, films, photographs, paintings, YouTube videos, and more.

This all leads to my question – why bother with media literacy? Why should I, someone who isn’t planning to be a school library media specialist but rather a children’s librarian, worry about whether or not the kids I see are media literate? I’d like to try to answer that question, especially since we talked a bit about it in class this week. Also, I think it would be a good exercise to help me justify putting together some sort of series of programs designed to teach kids about media literacy. Any thoughts or additions you have would be greatly appreciated.

On page 196, Tyner introduces the concept of “a democratic education that improves the life chances of all children” through critical literacy, experiential education, and critical pedagogy. This really caught my attention – even though I think that all students have a right to have access to the same education, I had never thought of “democratic education” as a specific thing. It’s more than just public school; it’s access to equal opportunities for learning, and it doesn’t have to be in school. It can be in the public library, it can be at home, and it can be in an after school program.

As someone who grew up with well-educated parents in a very poor community (60% free and reduced lunch – my mom is a teacher and considered rich in the town), I have seen the disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” firsthand as far as the preparation and opportunities many children have been given at home. However, I have also seen the results of what I would consider democratic education based on Tyner’s definition in a school system that somehow manages to attract good teachers despite relatively low pay compared to some of the wealthier towns nearby supported by tourist dollars and ski resorts.

I introduce all of this to explain why it is important that public institutions, whether schools, libraries, community centers, or after school programs, provide media literacy instruction. It is not something that kids naturally just “know,” nor is it something that all children experience at home; we must level the playing field as best we can without simply letting those already familiar with the medium continue to dominate in the classroom (see Jenkins p. 13 for a brief discussion of this issue – the students who have access to technology at home seem “naturally” superior to those who don’t, but it’s really just because they have the access and are more comfortable).

I want to talk further about some of the things that Jenkins said. In particular, on pages 3-4, he states: “Educators must work together to ensure that every American young person has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant, can articulate their understanding of how media shapes perceptions, and has been socialized into the emerging ethical standards that should shape their practices as media makers and participants in online communities.” Instead of a discussion about access to technology and tools, he wants to focus attention on opportunities to fully engage with the technology. Beyond having the technology, schools, parents, and after school programs need to teach kids to think critically about it. Like Jenkins, I think it’s important to differentiate media literacy from simply acquiring the tools. While we need tools and it is difficult to teach about some aspects of media literacy without them, if we focus simply on tools, our purpose may be lost.

So anyway, what can media literacy do for our students?

It teaches the understanding of all types of “text,” from video to print, which we all encounter every day. The internet is currently heavily text-based, but videos and images play an important role, and their prominence will continue to rise. There are charts and graphs to read in magazines, newspaper, and journal articles, there are video billboards, there are photographs and paintings, and there is traditional text. To be literate in today’s society means understanding how to read all of these texts, not just books and other traditional print media.

Teaching media literacy rather than how to use this tool or that tool is also the same idea as teaching someone to fish rather than giving him/her a fish. This is the concept behind the liberal arts computer science major, where you learn the concepts behind programming and learn to solve problems rather than focusing solely on programming in one language or format (obviously you do have to use one programming language when doing your actual programming, but professors usually try to teach broader concepts rather than simply how to program in this language). Teaching someone how to make a video and put it on YouTube is not media literacy – teaching someone to create a digital story and think critically about the process from start to finish is teaching media literacy. (For more about the educational possibilities and benefits of digital storytelling, see the project website my group – including Nell from this class – made for LIS 506 last fall.)

I’m sure there are more reasons, and maybe I need to be more specific, particularly with the paragraph about understanding all types of text, but this post is really long now, so I’ll conclude:

So why bother with media literacy education? In short, because everyone needs to be media literate to participate in society. If we, as librarians and teachers do not teach media literacy skills, not all children will have the same opportunities to become media literate. The ALA Code of Ethics states that we have an “obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations.” If we provide access to that information, we also have to teach people how to use and understand that information. We all need media literacy skills.

Media and It's Harmful Effects?

This morning when I logged on to my email and Yahoo was touting their four “news” stories for the day. Normally I would not have paid too much attention to these stories, but the one titled “Kids’ TVs Linked to Smoking, Low Test Scores” caught my eye. I have been reading the Tyner’s book and in Chapter 7 she describes how the focus of news agencies in past years has been about the harmful effects of TV and other media for kids. In this article written by Julie Steenhuysen, obesity, smoking, and poor academics are linked to the amount of viewing time for kids. Research has shown that parents who use a monitoring device that controls the amount of time their child can watch TV or be on the computer can have a dramatic impact on their body mass index (BMI) and a big drop in viewing hours.

As I continued to explore more, I found quite a few articles, like the NY Times article dated March 4, 2008, that now focus on the harmful effects of having a TV in the bedroom. Instead of writing about the harmful effects of all TV, articles and research are hitting upon how parents are not able to monitor content or amount of TV viewing that occurs in kids’ bedrooms and poor sleeping habits are being formed in kids and adults who have TVs in their bedroom. With the move toward high definition TVs, many family sets are being replaced and the older models are moving to the bedroom.

In the following YouTube clip, Representative Ed Markey discusses some of the harmful effects of TV on kids and the need for the FDA to place some restrictions on the advertising of junk food.



We are familiar with these tales of harmful media and that is what was so refreshing about Tyner’s ideas regarding more focus on an acquisition model for media literacy. Students are engaged with media so we need to build upon this. Having students create their own media for meaningful purposes should be the goal of media education. In the past, teachers have taken what Tyner refers to as the protectionist role with media literacy. Flipping this around will allow students to see that all media has a place or role in communicating ideas to others. Learning to choose the right format for a communication need would be valuable for students to learn. Tyner’s suggestion that honoring some of the past media literacy ideas about advertising should not be abandoned, rather it should be incorporated into the new curriculum. (Who could pass up the fascination with subliminal messages like this?)

Student-centered learning complements Tyner’s media acquisition model nicely. Instead of adding more to the curriculum, students may create products produced in different formats from the past. These products highlight student learning and as well as foster creativity.