Media Literacy

          What is Media Literacy? How does it affect citizens? Media Literacy is the practice of turning consumers into thinkers and creators of media. It is important for citizens to ask themselves with the media, who is it targeting, what interests does it represent and what are they trying to have the audience purchase?

Media can be found in social network sites, movies, TV shows, YouTube videos, newspaper articles and online blogs. It’s important for citizens to know which articles and sites are reliable and ethical.

            There are a lot of news articles and advertisements recently appearing on Facebook. It is interesting to read the information in the posts. Some of the posts, appear entirely true, but after analyzing the information and looking up for the credibility, it turns out the advertisement is false.

            There was an article about the “Yellow Stone Volcano” on the verge of erupting. I remember reading the news article on Facebook. It seemed true and actually occurring. It wasn’t until I asked myself “why haven’t I heard this on the local news, on the radio or through any other credible news sources?” I search on Google for “Yellow Stone Volcano Erupting” and quickly found all of these other sites to have information on the Volcano. I almost believed the information, until I noticed the URL addresses.

The information and website was a hoax. If I didn’t know the steps to take to researching the website and thinking about the information being given, I could have spread false information or looked media illiterate to others.

Another example is the weight –loss add featuring “Beyoncé.” This is an advertisement that explains Beyoncé’s top two secrets of losing weight in a month. It is top secret and Beyoncé has sued the media company for giving out her secrets.

From the headline it’s a hook for citizens that are feeling over weight and want to lose weight immediately. The advertisement seems real, has credible sources, doctor’s approved the information and product that is trying to be sold. It also has other citizens with before and after pictures plus their testimonial video of how the product works.

As soon as I saw the advertisement ended with a purchase for the product, I knew this could be a hoax. I only knew this from my parents telling me about media literacy when I was younger after getting junk mail.

It’s important for students to understand what is in advertising and how it is created. Students need to analyze, evaluate, ask what effects the advertisement has on others, what is the audience being targeted and the message that is coming across.

A great website for teachers and students to use is teachinctrl.org. This website gives teachers lesson plans on “teaching Digital Citizenship.” There are many topics that are discussed through this website. One of them is Media: Between the Lines, this lesson gives two videos for students to watch. One is on the five facts for advertisement and the other is a tutorial video of real photos and enhanced (photo shop) photos. These videos are introductions to the lesson and activities.

          Media surrounds our way of life and influences us. Students need to be aware of the influence it could have and understand what to look for. Some students could be the creators of this media. It is important for them to remember what is the message they are sending and how will others interpret it.

            For further study, I plan on using the teachinctrl.org website with my students and children. I would like to introduce this video to more parents and have them be aware of media literacy. As a team we can make sure our students are media literate and a safe digital citizen.

Cyberbullying

            What is Cyber bullying? Is it the same as bullying?  Cyber bullying is a particular type of bullying that spreads faster and further to more people than traditional forms of bully because it involves the use of technology devices. It can occur any time during the day or night, whenever people are connected online. Despite its difference from traditional bullying, cyber bullying can make students feel the same as if they have been bullied: uncomfortable, sad, angry, helpless and embarrassed.   

Bullying occurs in a face-to-face situation with another student from the same school. In contrast, cyber bullying can occur online with many students from the same or different school. Cyberbullying happens even if a student posts a negative picture or a comment about another student only once. Even though it’s the first offense, because so many people see it, the potential for humiliating the target of the cyberbullying is very great. 

It’s important for parents, staff members and students to be aware of the consequences of cyberbullying and how positive approaches towards cyber bullying can be effectively used. When students know how to positively interact with each other on a social media site, through a text messaging and any other technology device, they are more likely to use it appropriately, thus reducing the potential for cyber bullying to occur.

The use of peer mediators at a school can reduce the number of bullying situations. Students will listen better to their own peers than their parents, teachers or other adults. They want approval and acceptance from their peers. Students think adults find technology frightening and not safe and tend to not listen to their point of view on issues.

I found the Cyber Savvy Survey and the Commonsense Media cyberbulling materials to be extremely helpful on understanding what cyberbullying is and how to create a prevention program in a school. I do not have an issue with cyberbullying at my school. However, it is not the best approach to wait until something happens to talk about an issue. I plan on sharing the survey from the Cyber Savvy Program with my colleagues and administrator. I would hope we would give the survey to the students and analyze the data. From the data we would decide on our next steps of training. I would like to see older youth come and present to the younger youth about cyberbullying. The students would learn from the older youth, how cyberbullying is the same than bullying as well as steps they can take to reduce cyberbullying in their lives.

I also plan on sharing the question and answer survey on cyberbullying from the commonsense media website with parents, students and staff members who don’t understand what cyberbullying is. These questions and answers inform what is crossing the line towards cyberbullying. The questions also gives suggestions about how to analyze and develop solutions to cyberbullying if you are a parent and your child is being bullied or they are initiating the bullying. 

Digital Citizenship Curriculum

          Are you an educator that would like to teach your students about digital citizenship? Do you have very little time to find materials, educational videos and create lessons? Here is a program that will answer all of your questions and solve your problems.

            Common Sense Media is a non-profit organization that gives educators easily access to digital citizenship curriculum. At the website commonsensemedia.org educators can sign up for free and use the curriculum.  The website makes it very easy for educators to find the right lesson for their grade level. Through the scope and sequence tab, educators can choose material depending on their grade level whether they teach elementary, middle or high school.

            The website lesson plans go into detail of how to introduce the lesson and each step of the lesson. It also gives educational videos for students to watch during the lesson and kid friendly programs to use. There are paper-based activities for educators to use, if students have limited access to technology in their school.

            The best part that I enjoyed from this website was the “educate families” section. This gives many materials to educators to help host a parent night and educate families on how to be a digital citizen. I liked how there are different themes and activities to choose from for parent nights.

            I haven’t seen many districts focus on digital citizenship. I think Common Sense Media is a great way for districts and teachers to integrate digital citizenship into the common core states standard.

            I plan on using this curriculum in my class and hosting a parent night before the end of the school year. I think it is important for students at a young age to learn how to be a digital citizen. I also think it’s extremely important for parents to have an understanding of what is means to be a digital citizen.