Week 1 Response

Chapter one of Teaching Media Literacy provided a framework for how media literacy should be implemented into the curriculum. It begins by acknowledging the difficulties that teachers will encounter when trying to justify teaching media studies. I think it is only practical that this issue will be viewed by some parents and school officials as being frill learning. The relevance of media studies in the classroom is found in students’ frequent interaction with media outside of the classroom. Students are constantly engaging in MySpace and Facebook websites, blogging, and DVD viewing, so the rationale for bringing media studies into the classroom is even more justifiable. The chapter clearly states that that media studies can teach students to learn in multimodal ways, how to engage and evaluate texts, understand how media constructs reality, and recognize the forces that help to shape media.

The animation cartoon relates to several of the ideas that are discussed in chapter 1 of Beach. The high school girl learns the negative aspects of the media through a personal experience she endures after an interview. It is important that students understand the forces that help shape how they perceive the media as consumers. The high school animation character unveils the some of the hidden truths about the media’s ability to tell the truth and the companies who own them. As teachers, I think it is important that we teach students to have appreciation for the media, but not to be naïve as to never question it.

The Battleground Minnesota video presents students as active participants in the media. The purpose of media is not only for consuming, but also for active participation. Shakademic uses the media to motivate young voters to become more involved in politics, while the animation character uses the media to broadcast the real side of her story. As teachers, we can show students how to consciously consume media.

I agree with Beach that parental involvement is necessary in order to incorporate media studies into the curriculum. It will take both teachers and parents to teach students how partake in meaningful engagement with all the media sources. Students should understand and have a reason for their use of media tools, especially the ones created by them. The personal blog does not have to be academically associated, but the student should have an established purpose. Parents can assist their children in developing their thinking process during media consumption. By providing homework prompt questions, teachers can ensure that parents understand the critical thinking that is trying to be fostered through media studies. Once parents understand the objectives of media studies, they will become more concerned about how the media is shaping the perceptions of their children. Both children and parents will be forced to think more critically about these ideas.

It is often difficult to think about routine daily tasks such as TV viewing, film watching, social networking, and even music listening beyond the means of leisure engagement. These simple activities offer a space for authentic learning about real world people and events. Media studies provide the opportunity to explore the truths and false realities of this constructed information. Students can continue to learn the basic skills through these more engaged methods instead of being confined to prescribed textbooks.