If you asked a teacher of any content area if they think higher order thinking skills are essential, what would they say? Educators know the importance of critical thinking, as well as evaluating and synthesizing new information. The topic of media literacy is perfect for classrooms that value higher-order thinking skills. So I’m super excited about the special free resources on media literacy from my friends at Participate!
This week is Media Literacy Week and Participate has a lot of fun in store for you. If you aren’t familiar with Participate, their online platform hosts communities for educators. You can take part in discussions and enroll in courses to earn badges. The Participate platform also lets you connect with teachers around the world and take ownership of your professional learning.
For Media Literacy Week, Participate has a free community you can join. They will host a variety of discussions you can take part in each day as well as a free webinar. Michael Hernandez hosted the webinar in early November and you can watch the recording using the link below. Keep reading to learn more about these special events. You’ll see how easy it is to take part in exploring media literacy this week!
Watch the webinar recording here!
Media Literacy in Today’s Classrooms
Here’s what Michael Hernandez, a fellow Participate Course Author and Apple Distinguished Educator has to say about the importance of media literacy:
In our world swirling with fake news and social media propaganda, the importance of teaching media literacy in schools has become a hot topic among educators. But how do we make our students ‘media literate’ when our pedagogical plates are full, and we haven’t been trained how to do so? It turns out that teaching media literacy isn’t so different from what we’ve already been doing in our classrooms.
Every educator teaches analysis and critical thinking, whether it’s literature, social studies or math. Every student is expected to demonstrate their knowledge through written, verbal or visual means, like essays, lab reports and powerpoint presentations. This is the core of what media literacy is: to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using different forms of media.
In an age where most of our information and communication comes from some form of digital media, it has become even more crucial that we prepare our students to ‘read’ and analyze digital texts so they can be successful citizens beyond our classrooms.
Free Media Literacy Week Events for Teachers
In this blog post from Participate, you’ll find out everything going on in their free Participate Media Literacy Community this week. Starting Monday, November 5th, you can jump into a discussion in their community space. Each day you’ll see new prompts for discussion. Then on November 6th, Michael Hernandez will host a live webinar. It’s all about media literacy in the classroom and you can watch it here!
What if the term media literacy isn’t in your curriculum? Well this topic is part of our interaction in online and offline spaces all day, every day. There is an abundance of cross-curricular connections, and I know you’ll learn a lot from the community this week!
Head over to the Participate Media Literacy Community to see the discussion in action. Or watch the special live webinar event by visiting the recording page!
