Double Journal Entry #6 " Learn Critical Thinking through Media Literacy Education"

Quote:  "Summers states, “Teachers who recognize the goal of teaching thinking rather than just imparting knowledge help students make connections beyond the content of the coursework” (2005, pp. 2) She suggests teaching critical thinking by applying it to the study of media literacy. This practice gives students the skills and knowledge needed to “access, analyze, evaluate and communicate” (NAMLE) media messages."

Response:  Creating (designing, constructing, planning, producing and inventing), Evaluating (checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting  and judging), and Analyzing (comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating and finding) are all terms from Bloom’s Revised taxonomy that students must understand, and be able to “do” to be successful on standardized tests.  As classroom teachers, we actually have charts posted in our classrooms with Bloom’s terms, and titled “Must Know Words to Achieve Success on the WESTEST”.   Most WESTEST questions are not based at the beginning level of Bloom’s which includes terms such as recall and identify.  The depth of knowledge required to answer standardized test questions falls in the range of 2-4.  These questions require the use of critical thinking skills such as analyzing, evaluating, judging.   So, why not teach critical media literacy skills instead of  repetitive drilling of facts and trying to” teach to the test “ a few weeks before the actual test date?  

References:
Learn Critical Thinking through Media Literacy Education. (2010, October). In Medialiteracycolloquium'sblog: A Study in Media Literacy. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from http://medialiteracycolloquium.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/learn-critical-thinking-through-media-literacy-education/
Summers, S. L. (2005). Get Them Thinking! : Use Media Literacy to Prepare Students for State Assessments, pp. 2, 8, 9.


Additional Resource: 
 "By this point, you may be asking what does this have to do with media literacy? To educate the students, who are the future of the world and public, educators need to be brought up to speed on the present and future waves of technology that will ultimately distribute and provide news media to the masses. The educators need to be taught, so they can teach the future of the world of the news tools that are available to them. It would certainly be a work in progress, but in the far-off future, it would fix the problems of media illiteracy."     


I found this article relevant due to a current issue in education today.  Educators need more training that is pertinent to what is happening in today's world.

Educating the Educators. (2010, December). In Medialiteracycolloquium'sblog: A Study in Media Literacy. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from http://medialiteracycolloquium.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/educating-the-educators/