Quote: "In summary, given the marginalization of media literacy standards/curriculum in American schools, teachers need to be able to justify the inclusion of digital tools for teaching both print and digital literacies in their classrooms. It is therefore important that teachers, particularly new preservice teachers entering the profession, learn to formulate purposes for use of digital tools to teach print and digital literacies. As teachers increasingly find that employing digital tools in their classrooms does enhance students’ use of both print and digital literacies, they will have the evidence to push for further inclusion of digital tools for teaching media literacies in American schools."
Response: I find it disheartening that the Common Core Standards are missing critical media literacy components. This article has "hit home", since I use digital media tools in my classroom. I often have to defend the use of these tools to my colleagues, but my standardized test scores portray the overall outcome of using these tools. However, many don't believe that the above average and high 5th grade test scores in RLA and Science are related to digital media tools. I want my students engaged and ready for the 21st Century, and if I don't provide this instruction, students are missing out on relevant skills. The quote above mentions justification, and stating purposes for using digital tools, I need to become much better at stating purposes and formulating responses to colleagues. Maybe I should just have a "planned" statement ready!
Reference: Beach, Richard. "An American Perspective: Justifying Uses of Digital Tools to Foster Critical Media Literacy." The Journal of Media Literacy 57. Web. 5 Nov. 2011. <http://journalofmedialiteracy.org/index.php/past-issues/5-school-20>.
Quote: "When I speak to my colleagues about using new social media, many educators fear that crossing the digital divide weakens their claims to authority and traditional means of power. For me, social networking provides a means of connecting with students through multimodal interconnectivity in new and exciting ways. Whereas traditional pedagogies reinforce individualized learning within classroom walls during school time, social media encourages continuous collaboration and shared knowledge beyond the classroom walls through global and local hyperlinks, blogs, and web-based content. To keep students engaged in Class 2.0, educators must learn to harness the power of the integrated web to stimulate enhanced global interconnectivity in the digital age."
Frechette, Julie. "Learning Beyond the Classroom Walls: Keeping Students Engaged in Class 2.0." The Journal of Media Literacy . Web. 5 Nov. 2011. <http://journalofmedialiteracy.org/index.php/past-issues/5-school-20/98-learning-beyond-the-classroom-walls-keeping-students-engaged-in-class-20>.
I applaud you for continuing with your media literacy components within your classroom. I didn't know either that the common core standards left them out, which is sad. Hopefully, things will start improving as we attempt to change the traditional, educational settings in school.
ReplyDeleteYou make good points. How would you go about getting these included in the core standards? Changes in the way the State Departments think, will have to come first before those changes can be well received in the schools.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you are still teaching critical medial literacy skills in your classroom, even though they're not included in the common core standards. I'm guessing you have to work extra hard to create lessons that both meet the standards, and include the media literacy aspects as well. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you are already using these tools in your classroom. Many teachers still believe that 'drill and practice' techniques are necessary to prepare for standardized tests. These practices are outdated and it's time we incorporate today's literacy styles into our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteGreat quote by Julie! I had no idea the common core did not include media literacy! How disappointing! Hopefully more teachers will recognize that including critical media literacy will support student learning in all content area as well as improve their general literacy skills!
ReplyDeleteMaybe we shouldn't think of critical media literacy as content but as a strategy!?