New text: Curriculum 21

ASCD has just published "Curriculum 21- Essential Education for A Changing World." I think this new text should be on the desk of every principal. (In fact, many ASCD members will be receiving it during the month of January.) It was edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. (Full disclosure: the book includes a chapter I wrote on media literacy). Happy New Year and happy reading. Frank Baker

Can Games Change Education?

eSchool News reports: As video games continue to permeate our culture, schools and students are increasingly interested in using video games for learning. This interest has prompted universities and neurologists to explore what makes a successful educational game, what the current barriers to adoption are, and how gaming as a whole affects the brain.

Schools Shouldn't Block Social Network Sites

From Slate: Educators should stop thinking about how to repress the huge amounts of intellectual and social energy kids devote to social media and start thinking about how to channel that energy away from causing trouble and toward getting more out of their classes. After all, it's not as if most kids are investing commensurate energy into, say, their math homework. Why not try to start bridging the worlds of Facebook, YouTube, and the classroom?

Visual Literacy: 2009 Photos of the Year

On my website, the Media Literacy Clearinghouse, I annually post links to news organizations' "Photos of the Year." This year is no exception. I like to incorporate many of these images in my workshops in order to explore visual literacy. Since today's students are exposed to more images than ever, and because our world is so visual, I like to include this element in all of my work with both teachers and students. You might also be interested in my visual literacy web site.

Teaching New Media Literacy Can Help Youth Stay Safe Online

Anne Collier of NetFamilyNews is interviewed about the myths and realities of online safety.

Helping Children Find What They Need on The Internet

Excerpt from NY Times story: Sponsored by Google and developed by the University of Maryland and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the research was aimed at discerning the differences between how children and adults search and identify the barriers children face when trying to retrieve information.

How Media Literacy Will Transform Education (JML)

The latest issue of The Journal of Media Literacy (produced by the National Telemedia Council) is one worth reading. The issue explores "School 2.0: Transforming 21st Century Education Through New Media Literacies". How will schools need to change to keep up with the growth of new media? We now have Web 2.0 - what will School 2.0 look like?

The cover features Ken Burns, recognizing the release of his PBS series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." With today's technology, students have the ability to produce and distribute their own videos worldwide. Like Ken Burns, their productions will have a point of view, no matter how benign. Media literacy enables viewers to be more aware and responsible in their use of media. To acquire this issue, click on the NTC link above.

HS Teacher Creates New Film Textbook

The book, "Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media," by Carl M. Casinghino, is slated to be released in February. Details in this news story.

Texting, tweeting ought to be viewed as GR8 teaching tools, scholar says

Carol L. Tilley, a professor of libary and information science at Illinois, says that critics who equate texting with literary degradation are wrong, and that they also overlook the bigger role that texting and its distant cousin, "tweeting," could play in education and research. Details here.

Interest in Videogames grows

From eSchool News. Many researchers say video games can be effective teaching tools to promote student learning, and interest in developing educational games is growing. One researcher found that video games enhance cognitive skills like monitoring several objects at the same time and multitasking or task-switching. "The next step should be [to] take the violence out of action video games and use the same brain-building characteristics in these action video games to make [high]-quality education games," said Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive sciences professor at the University of Rochester.

"Educational Networking: the Important Role that Web 2.0 Will Play in Education."

The author invites readers to download his whitepaper, referenced recently on the Classroom 2.0 blog.

Teaching Students, Not Just Standards, With Visual Literacy

from ASCD: author Lynell Burmark (Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn) blogs about the importance of the visual world of students in this blog post.

Classroom wikis are collaborative tools for young writers

The Boston Globe reports that young writers at a Massachusetts middle school are using online wikis, or collaborative Web sites, to share and revise written work in a group setting. A recent class wiki project featured fall poems written by sixth-grade students who collaborated on revisions to each other's work. Even shy students are empowered to participate, language-arts teacher Neil Kulick said. "The wiki is an equalizer in classroom participation," he said.

Tech is the Talk At NCTE

This School Library Journal article references Commission on Media director William Kist and his new book.

Read About NCTE Media Literacy Award 2009 Recipient

Ohio University professor Guofang Wang has been honored by the NCTE Assembly on Media with its 2009 Media Literacy Award. The award was given at the recently completed NCTE Annual Conference in Philadelphia. You can read about her via her portfolio here.

Mobile Devices In The Classroom

From District Administration magazine: some districts and administrators are realizing the untapped potential of cell phones. It’s part of an “anytime, anywhere” learning movement that leaves laptops and even smaller netbooks behind, proponents say, in favor of more mobile, affordable and reliable handheld devices—from “smartphones,” which can run operating systems such as Windows Mobile and a host of software, to iPods, known more for playing audio and video but adaptable to more interactive applications through new educational platforms.

Research: Comic books can be a valid tool for improving literacy

Critics should stop tugging on Superman's cape -- comic books can be just as sophisticated as other forms of literature, a U.S. researcher says. Carol L. Tilley, a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois at Champaign says children benefit from reading comics at least as much as they do from reading other types of books. Details from UPI.

Teaching The New Writing

Read excerpts from Teaching The New Writing, this innovative guide, in which teachers share their stories, successful practices, and vivid examples of their students' creative and expository writing from online and multimedia projects such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, electronic poetry, and more.

News & Media Literacy Curriculum

The Newspaper Assn. of America (NAA) Foundation, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has developed High Five, a news/media literacy curriculum for middle schools, in an effort to address concerns about student achievement.

Virtual Communities: The WoW Factor (THE Journal)

The online role-playing game WORLD OF WARCRAFT serves many purposes for one daring group of educators, according to this piece in the current issue (November/December 2009) of T.H.E. JOURNAL. The game is part networking, part idea sharing, part academic inquiry--and a total thrill ride.

National Forum on Common Standards- December 2

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) would like to invite you to a National Forum on Common Core State Standards on Wednesday, December 2^nd from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at 101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC. The purpose of this meeting will be to (1) provide an update on the Common Core State Standards Initiative, (2) discuss the process for developing the K-12 standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, (3) outline elements of state adoption of the common standards, and (4) gather your input and feedback on initiative. Additionally, a graphic display of the standards development process is now available here. We look forward to seeing you next month. Advanced RSVP is not required for this event. If you have any questions, please contact commonstandards@ccsso.org or visit www.corestandards.org.(NOTE: as of this posting, it is not yet known if this event will be streamed LIVE or carried by CSPAN)

NCTE New Media Gallery: Don't Miss It

New Media Gallery --Friday November 20 Convention Center/Room 202A, Level 2

9:30am Media Literacy Made Easy: Integrating Media and Technology into an English Classroom

11:00am News Literacy: Helping Students Learn to Read Between The Lines

12:30pm The English Classroom at Science Leadership Academy

2:30pm 21st Century Literacy Education: Report from the Media Education Lab

4:00pm The Deep End of Engagement: Teaching Media Literacy with Graphic Novels

Complete list of presentation descriptions and presenters can be found here.

Online Photo Archive Enables Teaching With Primary Sources

In this brief column from the current issue of EDUTOPIA magazine, the author says that analyzing photographs inspires both visual literacy and critical thinking in students.

History based video games: designed to inspire further study

Game developers, according to the Reuters news service, hope that history-based video games will inspire more interest in subjects as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci and World War II. Recognizing that the games help with technical, critical-thinking and literacy skills, some libraries are including the games in their collections. "My hope is that bringing the idea of these types of characters into more popular culture will arouse some people's curiosities to investigate further and learn more," a game designer said.

Hate reading text online? There IS a better way...

Details can be found in this news story from the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, via Yahoo news.

Drawn Into Manga

Reading manga is different than reading a book, even different than reading comics, but manga can get kids reading. NCTE Commission on Media member Peter Gutierrez is quoted here.

School Librarians Lead the Social Networking Pack Among Educators

Media specialists are more likely to join social networking sites than teachers and principals—and they’re more likely to adopt a variety of content-sharing tools for personal, professional, and classroom use, says a new report.

Teaching The Facebook Generation (Business Week)

A marketing professor at Champlain College writes in Business Week online: young people may seem like social media mavens, and employers may expect them to be, but students need to learn how to exploit digital tools.

Use of Web 2.0 tools increases student collaboration, say educators

More educators in New Jersey are utilizing the tools of Web 2.0 technology, which allows students shared access to content and more collaborative learning. While some educators caution about the downside to the latest technology -- like its propensity for distracting students -- others say wiki pages, classroom blogs, video conferences and online chats help students learn how to be creative and prepare them for college and the real world.

Ed videogames mix cool with purpose

Also of Interest Educators focus on dropout prevention Blackboard works on Google integration Budget cuts threaten Missouri virtual school Study: 2 in 5 teachers 'disheartened' with profession Teens sue district in suggestive pix flap

A growing number of children, reports the New York Times, are playing educational video games as part of their school curriculum, in after-school programs, or via the web from home.

Parents and Students Believe K-12 Schools Must Do More to Prepare Students for the 21st Century

While parents, K-12 students and educators agree that using technology is essential to learning and student success, parents are dissatisfied with the technology skills their children are learning in schools according to a survey report released October 29th by ProjectTomorrow, a national education nonprofit organization, and Blackboard Inc. a global leader in education technology.

Classroom blogging projects provide a forum for continued discussion

A North Carolina language arts teacher is offering tips for teachers interested in incorporating blogs into their classroom lessons. In this blog post, Bill Ferriter writes that it is best to create one classroom blog that is updated at least twice each week. The blog should become an interactive forum where students read, post information on a topic and comment on the blog.

Media literacy: book recommendations

Due to upcoming travel and other commitments, I am sending this early. Each year, around this time, I create a list of books about media and media literacy that might make great additions to your library, personal collection, or as a gift. The list can be found on the home page of my web site under NEW RESOURCES. Happy holidays. Frank Baker

Some teachers say texting might be good for teens

The Charlotte Observer reports: Texting, a favorite and seemingly instinctive activity for teens, has loomed over education and parenthood for several years. Many adults felt like it would mash proper English into the ground and was a distraction from serious learning. The average number of texts by U.S. teens 13-17 has reached 2,900 a month, according to Nielsen, the media and marketing information company. And The New York Times reported in May that physicians and psychiatrists fear texting is taking a toll on teens' sleep patterns and ability to think for themselves. But now some teachers in Charlotte and nationwide are seeking to harness its power and making peace with it. Researchers back this new approach with new evidence that texting teaches some positive language skills, and pragmatists argue that a war on texting is unwinnable.

Twitter entries satirize works of literature

From Reuters news service: Deciphering William Shakespeare plays in school essays apparently was not enough for two university students who have written a book of Twitter entries that summarize and satirize works of literature. "Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter," which Penguin releases next month in the United Kingdom, is an irreverent, profane and sometimes brilliant collection of 20 comments on the ideas and themes in 60-some classics.

More teachers use Twitter as a collaborative tool in the classroom

Education Week and Teacher Magazine both feature stories about teachers use of twitter. Education Week reports: Teachers at one private school in Virginia are using the short-form social-networking tool Twitter in the classroom to distribute assignments and to encourage students to work together. Teacher Magazine reports that some educators are finding that helpful ideas and advice can come in 140 characters or fewer.

Educators Use Online Wikis as Classroom Tools

The Sun Newspaper (Baltimore MD) reports that some classroom discussions are taking place through online wikis, which allow students to respond to questions in real time and view responses from their classmates. Teachers also are using the Web sites in classwork, homework, special projects and professional collaboration.

Study: Games, Video Improve Preschooler Literacy

T.H.E. Journal reports: A new study has shown that educational videos and interactive games can have a positive impact on preschooler literacy when incorporated into the curriculum in a classroom setting. Meantime, the Boston Globe reports despite some concerns about children playing video games, researchers said study data show there may also be benefits, including a potential boost in brain function. They said the games are difficult and involve a large number of mental tasks, forcing players to expand their thinking horizons.

Kids, Homework & Multi-tasking: What do we know?

The New York Times chimes in with this news story: "18 and Under- Texting, Surfing, Studying?" in which NCTE Commission on Media member Renee Hobbs is quoted.

High school allows social networking for educational uses

A North Dakota high school has lifted its ban on social media at school, allowing teachers to use YouTube and Facebook, and giving Twitter access to students and educators. The decision, say teachers and school officials at Century High School in Bismarck, was prompted by the pervasiveness of the media and its usefulness in some classroom applications. "I think we have to adapt to technology," one teacher said. "People are able to connect to it."

Making The Call on Web 'Facts'/ New Software Sorts Out The Consensus From The Contentious

NOTE: this story is not yet on the Christian Science Monitor's web site, but will be posted later this week) Excerpt: Journalism has become less black and white today. From healthcare reform to progress in Afghanistan, commentators on cable news and blogs have refracted "the truth" into many shades of gray. So when someone throws out a statistic, how do you know it's true?To help readers, Rob Ennals a research scientist at Intel Labs in Berkeley, Calif, developed an online veracity alert system for news. The software, called Dispute Finder, sniffs through what you are reading online. If anything smells fishy--perhaps questionable poll results or references to 'death panels'-- his code blows a whistle and says, 'This is disputed, Here's the evidence.'

How Technology Changes the Way Kids Communicate

From the October issue of Parenting Magazine: " Scientists are just starting to study the social effects of these new types of communication, and much of their research focuses on adults and teens, not kids. By poking through those studies, though, it is possible to glean a few likely answers -- and, it turns out, there's much to be hopeful about."

6 Ways K-12 Librarians Can Teach Social Media

Joyce Valenza has advice for her fellow media specialists, in the current issue of Tech & Learning magazine: "there are many retooled learning strategies that teacher-librarians should be sharing with classroom teachers and learners in the 2009–2010 school year."

Beyond Books: What is literacy in a digital world?

According to this cover story in the current neatoday magazine: "....educators across the country are employing an array of digital tools—blogs, wikis, videos, and social media—to tap into their passion for collaborating, creating, and sharing."

Publisher Offers FREE- Media Literacy Graphic Novel

Orca Books, the publisher of MEDIA MELTDOWN, wants you to know that starting tomorrow (October 1) you can download their new graphic novel for free. This is a great way to consider introducing media literacy to your students. And it comes from Canada, which has produced some of the best media literacy materials in North America. Details are on this blog post.

English Companion NING Supports & Connects

Education Week profiles Jim Burke's English Companion NING: if you don't know what a NING is, or what it can do to support your teaching, you must read this.

Comics Can Draw Kids Into Reading

On the occasion of the Disney takeover of Marvel comics, this Utica NY reporter reflects on the power of comics as literacy. He says: "Comics or graphic novels can be used to entice the reluctant reader to the pleasure of a good story."

Digital books replacing texts in schools

PRI (public radio) report on why a prep school in Massachusetts replaced its library books with digital versions, and colleges are moving to electronic textbooks.

Afterimage: Special Issue of Media Literacy

Afterimage, a journal of media, media arts, reviews and criticism, has a new issue devoted to media literacy and related issues.

Training is key to schools' digital media use

eSchool News reports: Panelists at Capitol Hill briefing said teachers need adequate staff development to leverage digital media's potential for education

Media in the New Core Standards Curriculum

The draft of the Core (common) Standards for Reading, Writing, and Speaking and Listening has been posted, and elements of media can be found in the document. Look at page 18 (4-b) and a reference that says:
"At the core of media mastery are the same fundamental capacities as are required offline in traditional print forms: an ability to access, understand, and evaluate complex materials and messages and to produce clear, effective communications. Media mastery does, however, call upon students to apply these core skills in new ways and contexts. Media enable students to communicate quickly with a large, often unknown, and broadly diverse audience. Whereas in the past, students may have had days or weeks to digest new information and formulate a response, the online environment pushes students to exercise judgment and present their responses in a matter of minutes."

Literacy Accountability in a New Media Age

A middle school teacher's commentary in the current issue of Education Week urges his fellow educators (and test producers) to consider the kinds of texts young people attend to today. "Reading video, images and other multimodal texts," he says, "demands just as much critical thinking and analysis as a challenging excerpt from Moby Dick."

Report: Technology may be a distraction for young people

From BBC News: The results of a study by British researchers suggests that the excessive use of technology is disrupting students' learning. The study looked at the habits of 267 pupils ages 11 to 18. Of the respondents, 39% felt that texting had damaged their writing and spelling skills; 84% said that they had copied content from the Internet to complete schoolwork

The 21st Century Skills Movement (ASCD)

Since 2002, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills ahs been the leading advocacy organization in the US, focused on infusing 21st-centruy skills into education. The Framework for 21st Century Learning, the result of a concensus among hundreds of stakeholders, describing the skills, knowledge and expertise students need to succeed in work and life. P21 Chairwoman Paige Johnson, writing in the September issue of Educational Leadership, covers the four framework components and describes the types of skills and knowledge for student success in the 21st century.

Media Literacy: Eight Guidelines for Teachers

Jason Ohler's excellent recommendations to teachers are reprinted here from Literacy 2.0 "Orchestrating the Media Collage." NOTE: Ohler is also author of the Corwin Press text: Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity

Researcher believes games and Facebook can build memory

According to this BBC News report, Sudoku and Facebook may improve your ability to recall and use pertinent information, while texting and Twitter may dull your wits. University of Stirling psychologist Dr. Tracy Alloway has studied "working memory" and advocates mental exercises that form connections between pieces of information. A complex war game, for example, forces the brain to remember and plan ahead. On YouTube or Twitter, however, "your attention span is being reduced," Alloway says.

New recommended books: teaching in the 21st century

21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times: This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of what twenty-first century teaching and learning can achieve.

The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching In The New Media Age demonstrates how pioneering teachers have successfully integrated screen-based literacies into their instruction. This book includes:
-Real-world activities and lesson examples with assignment sheets, assessments, and rubrics
-Ideas on fostering collaborative learning using blogs, wikis, nings, and other interactive media.
-Tips on Internet safety, blogging etiquette, protected blogging sites, and more
-Blog entries from classroom teachers

Has The P21 Movement Succeeded?

The National Journal's education blog poses this question. Read what some experts and others are saying and post your own reactions here.

Graphic novels; reading, but in a different way

The cultural critic for the Chicago Tribune defends graphic novels especially after reading the latest one: a version of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Obama TV Speech Controversy & Media Literacy

It seems to me---whether your students watch or not---here is a great media literacy/teachable moment opportunity. Here are a few questions that might be considered--by both teachers and students:

1. Where did you first hear about the President's speech?
2. What have you read or heard about what he is planning to say?
3. Who is his primary audience? (Might there also be a secondary audience ?)
4. Where in the curriculum might you discuss the importance of American education?
5. What technique/word(s) did the President use in his speech that might be persuasive, influential?
6. What does the President hope to gain by giving this speech? (or how about the networks broadcasting the speech?)
7. What does the President hope students will do after hearing, reading, viewing the speech?
8. Survey your classmates: what did they "take away" from the speech?
9. What line or slogan might be memorable?
10. How did the news media cover it? Compare and contrast two or more versions (newspaper, radio, magazine,online news source, TV, etc.) Did they leave anything out?
11. Where might you go to read the entire transcript?

Frank Baker, Media Literacy Clearinghouse

Teachers need to educate students on how to use social media

Students are using Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook for "informal learning," according to Larry Magid, an Internet safety advocate who encourages teachers to build on that interest by using social-networking sites in their formal classroom lessons. In this blog post, he writes that it's also important to teach students how to behave properly on those sites and be good digital citizens.

Does the future of schooling lie with video games?

From the current issue of The Economist: Since the beginning of mass education, schools have relied on what is known in educational circles as “chalk and talk”. Chalk and blackboard may sometimes be replaced by felt-tip pens and a whiteboard, and electronics in the form of computers may sometimes be bolted on, but the idea of a pedagogue leading his pupils more or less willingly through a day based on periods of study of recognisable academic disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, history, geography and whatever the local language happens to be, has rarely been abandoned.

Abandoning it, though, is what Katie Salen hopes to do. Ms Salen is a games designer and a professor of design and technology at Parsons The New School for Design, in New York. She is also the moving spirit behind Quest to Learn, a new, taxpayer-funded school in that city which is about to open its doors to pupils who will never suffer the indignity of snoring through double French but will, rather, spend their entire days playing games.

Advice on Downloading Videos to Support Instruction

Edutopia's latest column (October 2009) on incorporating those web streamed videos into instruction: "Teachers all across the country are finding that judiciously chosen videos help students engage more deeply with the subject matter, and recall the information they've learned longer." (NOTE: I have created a database of streaming videos related to the teaching of media literacy. Take a look at these too.)

Ad Literacy 101: What Parents, Educators and Kids Need to Know

The writer, who has expertise in understanding children and advertising, says new skills are required of young people in a world where advertising continues to permeate their radar. He asks: So what are these skills? And how do you teach them? Well, they're collectively referred to as Advertising Literacy, and they're intended to make your child a more informed and empowered "reader" of, and critical thinker about, consumer messages. I'll take you through five key Ad Lit skills, make suggestions for helping your kid to understand them, and provide some resources for continuing from there.

Wikipedia to color-code untrustworthy text

From eSchoolNews.com: Starting this fall, you'll have a new reason to trust the information you find on Wikipedia, Wired reports: An optional feature called "WikiTrust" will color-code every word of the encyclopedia based on the reliability of its author and the length of time it has persisted on the page.

“Cool Tools for Schools” and “Getting Tricky with Wikis” - Two Recommended Resources

As an educator interested in creating engaging wikis, you’ll want to keep resources like “Cool Tools for Schools” and “Getting Tricky with Wikis” handy for your Web 2.0 needs.

Great Advice for Teachers: Media Literacy in the 21st Century

This Scholastic blog contains good advice for educators on the importance of media literacy in a 21st century- web 2.0 world. After stating the obvious ("Being a literate consumer of media in the 21st century will require significantly higher levels of discernment since the number of 'trusted sources,' and those that 'appear to be trustworthy,' have accelerated and are continuing to grow as more and more people learn how to manipulate and message through new media.") the writer goes onto to offer advice to students as both consumers and producers of media.

CSPAN Annonces 2010 StudentCam Competition

C-SPAN is pleased to launch our 2010 StudentCam competition. StudentCam is an annual video documentary competition for middle and high school students that asks them to think critically about national issues. This year, C-SPAN is giving students a choice. Students can select between one of two themes: 1) One of our country's greatest strengths; or -2) A challenge the country is facing. Rules and other information can be found here.

Teacher's Cartoon Part of National Program

When Adam Schwartz designed a cartoon for a class project while a student at the University of Alabama in 2007, he never expected it would become the new face of a program to help children at risk of behavioral problems. Details in this news story. Additional details on YouTube and at the Coping Power website.

Graphic Novels: Great Way to Fight Illiteracy?

A former middle school writing teacher says it's past time for other educators to consider the power of the graphic novel to teach reading and writing. Tammy Horn says “Current educational theory suggests that learners are much better able to assimilate information when it’s in a visual form." Read more here.

Business Embraces New Media/Tech--Why Not Schools?

Writing in the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, teacher/writer Jim Fabiano argues that Facebook, iPods and cell phones are not going away, and that schools must stop their continued opposition. Their actions, he says, deny teachers (and students) use of these new and other emerging tools.

Media Literacy & The Fog of War

Two professors at Teachers College, writing in an Education Week op-ed, make a compelling argument for media literacy education in the nation's schools. They write: ".. now, more than ever, we must teach students to read between the lines—to become media critics who understand who controls and shapes the information and images we see."

Virginia Middle School Explores Student Blogging as Teaching Tool

The Daily Press (VA) reports: Passage Middle School in Newport News, Va., will be maintaining class-related blogs written by students and teachers in every classroom. Principal Kipp Rogers hopes the blogs help educators assess student writing assignments. The blogs will be created with Edublog software, which includes content filters. Teachers will view every entry before it is posted and will control who is able to view the blogs.

Project LookSharp Releases New Media Literacy Curricula

Project Look Sharp announces two new curriculum kits are now available free online for educators (and with hard copies available at cost through the Ithaca College bookstore).

Creativity and Aging through the Lens of Film is designed for college level classes (in aging studies, lifespan development, music, film, or media literacy classes). 5 lessons (each containing 4 short clips from popular and documentary films) explore what it means to be creative and how older adults exhibit creativity in a wide range of ways. Weblink: http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/Books_Creativity_Aging/index.php


Critical Thinking and Health: Nutrition and TV Commercials is designed for early elementary grades, and consists of lessons that each about the purpose of advertising (and TV commercials in particular), the types of tricks used in ads, lessons about cereal commercials and real fruit and juice vs. "fruit" snacks and drinks. Incorporating many examples of TV commercials for analysis along with short clips from the Consumer Reports videos "Buy Me That," these lessons reflect current health standards for the elementary grades. Weblinks:
http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/books_Health/Kindergarten%20Lessons/index.htm
http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/books_Health/1st%20Grade%20Lessons/index.htm

Visual Literacy: Comparing Obama Magazine Cover Images

As we all know, the news depends on visual images, as much as the written word, to communicate. With that in mind, I have gathered together three recent current events/news magazine covers, all of which represent President Obama as a doctor. I have created a simple one page handout that you might decide to use with your students. Let me know what you think.

The Relationship between graphic novels and motion pictures

Why do movie sales not translate into comic book sales? (Part 1)

Why don't comic book movies impact comic book sales? (Part 2)

Comic book movies do impact comic book sales(Part 3 of 3)

10 Ideas for Engaging Learners with Cell Phones Even in Districts that Ban Them

Interesting blog post from TechLearning.com. The author says: "with the help of other innovative educational leaders (mentioned in the article), I’ve come up with ten ideas for beginning to incorporate these tools into teaching and learning in meaningful ways."

Using Social Network Tools In Class

From TechLearning.com The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) today released a new EdTechNext report for its members, titled "Social Networking: Personalized Content, Conversations & Communities." The report explores the educational potential of social networking tools and Web 2.0 applications. CoSN's Web 2.0 Leadership & Policy Initiative is designed to assist schools as they adapt to the new reality of the Web 2.0 world where collaborative online tools provide powerful learning resources for students inside the classroom and beyond.

Geeking Out With Digital Tools

From TechLearning.com: Kids these days: they spend a lot of time texting, twittering and instant-messaging. All that hanging out online can’t possibly be good for them.

But what if kids aren’t just hanging out, but “geeking out.” “Geeking out” is the term used by the Digital Youth Media Project, a $50 million study funded by the MacArthur Foundation that concluded that digital media actually can teach kids a lot: technical skills, how to get along with other people, and how to maintain an online public identity. Some kids, the study says, take those skills a step further by geeking out, which is a mode of learning that is peer-driven, but focused on gaining deep knowledge and expertise in specific areas of interest.

No Kindle required: Phones, computers also offer the e-reading experience

This Associated Press news story explores the growing trend of e-reading.

NCTE names 2009 Media Literacy Award Winner

The NCTE Commission on Media has announced that its fourth annual Media Literacy Award winner is Guofang Wan, Professor, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She says: "Since the mid-1990s, media literacy has been the focus of my research and teaching efforts. I have published three books and a dozen of journal articles on media literacy education, and designed a number of curricula that have integrated media literacy education in schools and colleges." She will be presented the award at the upcoming NCTE annual conference in Philadelphia.

Book explores how to reach students immersed in a sea of information

Today’s college students can tweet, text, listen to an iPod, and post photos on Facebook in a matter of seconds. To get through to these multitasking students, teachers must move beyond traditional teaching methods. Such is the motivation for Rutgers scholar Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic to co-edit the book, “Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators.” Details in this NJ newspaper story.

Using Visual Literacy to Help Adolescents Understand How Images Influence Their Lives

This article, from the July/August issue of "Teaching
Exceptional Children," provides educators a six-step strategy to teach adolescents about visual literacy, or how to read images and think critically about what they see. This strategy is designed for students both without and with physical disabilities.

Students gain access to textbooks via iPhone

CourseSmart has developed an iPhone application that lets college students review textbooks and digital notes as well as perform search functions via an iPhone or an iPod Touch. "Nobody is going to use their iPhone to do their homework, but this does provide real mobile learning. If you're in a study group and you have a question, you can immediately access your text," said Frank Lyman, executive vice president at CourseSmart. Details in The Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle newspapers.

Don't Miss: New Media Gallery at NCTE 2009 Philadelphia

You’ve heard of blogs, wikis, and Nings, but you’re wondering how to use them in your classroom? NCTE's Annual Convention (Philadelphia PA) has some exciting possibilities on exhibit at the New Media Gallery, Friday, November 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Room 202A, sponsored by NCTE’s Commission on Media.
Schedule:
9:30am-10:45am Media Literacy Made Easy:Integrating Media and Technology into an English Classroom
11:00-12:15pm News Literacy: Helping Students Learn to Read Between The Lines
12:30-1:45pm The English Classroom at Science Leadership Academy
2:30-3:45pm 21st Century Literacy Education: Report from the Media Ed Lab
4:00-5:15pm The Deep End of Engagement: Teaching Media Literacy with Graphic Novels

Henry Jenkins on Using New Media Tools to Study The Classics

Jenkins, the USC (formerly MIT) media professor describes the role of digital media in cultural transformation, in this video from Edutopia.

Shakespeare & Texting

The Associated Press reports: "Most teenage girls today wouldn't go to the trouble of saying "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" It would be more like "Y R U Romeo?"

Website for NAMLE Conference Materials

For those who were unable to attend the National Assn. of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) conference ("Bridging Literacies") held in Detroit August 1-4, I have created a web page with links to resources, videos, and blog postings. As additional material is made available, I will post it to this site.

Eight Ways to Use School Wikis

Lisa Nielsen, who maintains this blog, writes about school uses of wikis in the current issue of Tech & Learning magazine.

NAMLE unveils new Journal of Media Literacy Education

The National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) unveiled the premiere issue of its Journal of Media Literacy Education Sunday night, August 2, at the NAMLE conference in Detroit Michigan. Volume 1, Issue 1 can be found here. Each issue of the journal is divided into three sections: Articles; Voices from The Field; and Professional Resource (reviews). To access all of the journal, be sure to register (it's free). Follow the link "register" to set up your username and password. Contributions are encouraged. The deadline for submissions for the second issue is October 1, 2009

National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) Conference Convenes

I am sure there are many who wish they could be here, in Detroit, attending the National Association of Media Literacy Education's (NAMLE) annual conference. Saturday, I had the good fortune to be joined by Bill Kist, chair of the NCTE Commission on Media, for a day-long workshop on New Literacies and Media Literacy. Our agenda, and other materials can be found here. Last night, three
organizations were honored with Media Literacy Awards. A press release on those awards is due to be released soon. Renee Hobbs blogged about NAMLE president Sherri Hope Culver's welcome. David Kleeman also blogged about the talk.
I also presented Visual Literacy: Looking At Images In Journalism and Popular Culture. I have posted the PowerPoint here.

Cellphones now teach phonics and animation and more

USA Today carries this AP news report: "Smart phones now have hundreds of applications meant to educate kids — from graphic calculators to animation programs that teach spelling and phonics. And while most public schools don't allow the devices because they're considered distractions — and sometimes portable cheating tools — some school districts have started to put the technology to use." Are cellphones the next pencil and paper? You can post a comment on Teacher Magazine's website.

Digital games: Playing for learning and health

eSchool News reports: Some researchers are recommending that schools capitalize on kids' love of video games to impart healthy behaviors and academic skills.

Teaching Naked: Why Removing Technology from your Classroom Will Improve Student Learning

A university professor writes on the National Teaching & Learning Forum: "simple, new technologies can greatly increase your students' engagement outside of the classroom and thus prepare them for real discussions (even in the very largest classes) by providing content and assessment before class time. The goal, in other words, is to use technology to free yourself from the need to "cover" the content in the classroom, and instead use class time to demonstrate the continued value of direct student to faculty interaction and discussion."

Teacher Cuts & Technology (Wall St Journal)

The Wall St. Journal reports that more money is coming to school districts to acquire technology and to provide professional development for teachers. "At the same time school districts around the nation are bracing for a round of severe belt-tightening as a result of strained state and local budgets, they’re also getting a significant bump in federal funding to make their classrooms more tech-savvy, which they hope will help improve student performance."

Social Media Sparks School Policy Debate

From the Ecology of Education web site: Last year, educational technology specialist Gina Hartman started looking at how school districts outside of St. Charles, Mo., addressed social media. She didn’t find many that had created guidelines on social media use, so she and several colleagues started a wiki on the topic.

NewsTrust Unveils News Literacy Guide

Fabrice Florin of NewsTrust asks that I pass along this new resource: I thought you might be interested in hearing about a news literacy guide we just released on NewsTrust.net, our social news network devoted to good journalism. Think Like A Journalist, by Michael Bugeja, gives news consumers a quick introduction to core principles of journalism, with helpful tips on how to review a story on NewsTrust. This short guide is aimed at people with a general interest in news, but limited time to learn about news literacy. The full guide is up on our site: http://media.newstrust.net/guides

This news literacy guide also include an extensive list of educational resources, for teachers or individuals interested in learning more. We welcome your recommendations for other worthy sites:

http://media.newstrust.net/guides/educational-resources.html

Digital Voice Recorders Turn Students Into Interviewers

Education Week's Digital Directions profiles several schools: "Because of their portable size, low cost, and ease of use, ed-tech experts say the new generation of digital voice recorders make ideal classroom tools."

New iPhone apps classes let you learn, test and earn

USA Today reports: Colleges and universities across the country are taking notice, offering courses in programming iPhone applications to computer-related majors. The courses represent a new path of study for many colleges and universities recognizing the longevity of smartphones and social media, college professors say.

A Kindle For Every Student?

Read about this idea on this New York Times blog..and then let me know if you think this is a good idea or a disaster waiting to happen.

How to Become More Tech Savvy This Summer (Edutopia)

This Edutopia blogger suggests ways for educators to "dip their toes into the water" of Web 2.0--and then consider their application and appropriateness for the classroom.

Adtext: an interdisciplinary curriculum

A new and valuable resource for those who teach with and about advertising.

"March Of Time" Newsreel Series Now Available

The March of Time newsreel series, produced from 1935 to 1967 by Time Inc., is now online in its entirely, courtesy of the HBO Archives. All films are free, but registration is required. They were first shown in movie theaters and on television and were more long-form than typical Hollywood-produced newsreels.

New "News Literacy" Blog

A campaign has been launched to improve "news literacy" levels amongst America's citizens. The Lovejoy Journalism and News Literacy Blog aims to counteract spreading "news illiteracy", which is considered as the "real" and "hidden" threat to journalism and ultimately democracy in the current climate of proliferating news sources. The blog joins two other "news literacy" initiatives--which will be the subjects of a session at NCTE 2009 in Philadelphia.

AASL's Top 25 Web Sites for Teaching And Learning

The "Top 25" Web sites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

Consortium Urges Business to Get Behind Online Safety Education

The best practices guidelines from the PointSmart.ClickSafe (PS.CS) task force on online safety and literacy released July 8 put a heavy emphasis on education and a complaint/response procedure when problems arise. The story, in Broadcasting&Cable online, includes a link to the task force recommendations.

Bringing Visual Literacy into the Classroom

NCTE's weekly blog offers educators a host of resources for incorporating "visual literacy" into instruction. This blog was also referenced. Thanks NCTE !

Cell phones used to deliver course content

From eSchool news: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says schools and colleges should deliver course content to the cell phones that students use to talk and text every day. Some campus officials are listening, and classes via web-enabled cell phones could be mobile learning's next evolution.

Student Media Productions Recognized & Awarded

At the just concluded NECC 2009 conference 28 schools received awards and prizes in Sony Creative Software's second student digital video contest. The Technology in Motion content challenged high school and middle school students to produce a digital video that addressed this year's theme of "community of the future."

Crap Detection 101

Love the title of Howard Rheingold's latest blog entry. An excerpt: "The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception. Learning to be a critical consumer of Webinfo is not rocket science. It's not even algebra. Becoming acquainted with the fundamentals of web credibility testing is easier than learning the multiplication tables. The hard part, as always, is the exercise of flabby think-for-yourself muscles."

Media Literacy Embedded in New P21 Curriculum Maps

Media Literacy is embedded in the new Science & Geography curriculum maps released today by P21 at NECC. According to the press release: "The 21st Century Skills and Science and Geography Maps demonstrate how the integration of 21st century skills into science and geography classes support teaching and prepare students to become effective and productive citizens."

Note: the press release, surprisingly does not provide links to these documents, and finding them on the P21C website is like looking for a needle in a haystack. (I guess they don't care if anyone actually finds these documents) Here are the pertinent URLS:

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/21stcskillsmap_geog.pdf ; (media literacy on page 6)
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/21stcskillsmap_science.pdf ; (media literacy on page 8)

ISTE Unveils the Next Generation of Technology Standards for Administrators

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has launched the next generation of standards for administrators' use of technology.

Why Schools Should Break the Web 2.0 Barrier

In the current issue of THRESHOLD, media/tech guru Will Richardson provides plenty of reasons to drop the firewall at schools.

Digital-literacy program encourages kids to remake social networking in the image of learning.

In the common conception, kids plus social networking equals an online popularity contest conducted in grammar-free instant-messaging lingo -- not exactly an educator's dream world. But the Chicago-based Digital Youth Network, a digital-literacy program funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, has tapped into the networking phenomenon to encourage creativity and learning. Details from Edutopia.

Dueling curricula put copyright ed in spotlight

From eSchool News: A clash over education materials from two copyright awareness organizations has thrust copyright education in the national spotlight, while giving educators and students some new resources for understanding how copyrights work.

TWITTER: Telling a story -- in 140 characters or less

Inspired by the micro-blogging service Twitter, a growing number of authors are crafting stories and poems in 140 characters or less, aiming to take advantage of Twitter's potential as a distribution channel for their creative output, Agence France Presse service reports.
In related stories:
- Two young college students write "Twitterature: Classic Literature in Twenty Tweets or Less" to recreate classic literature in a micro-novel format.
- Two "Ulysees" enthusiasts have come up with the idea of recreating a chapter from "Ulysses" on Twitter.
-In this Washington Post story, one professor says that using Twitter in the classroom teaches students to write concisely.

What should a 21st century classroom look like?

This headline caught my attention, on the cover of the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Education Week's Digital Directions. "The New Classroom Look" says for some schools, the future is now, at least when it comes to incorporating some of the features of 21st-century classrooms.

ALA, Syracuse University iSchool offer course on YouTube

The American Library Association (ALA) has partnered with the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) in an innovative experiment to teach a "Gaming In Libraries" course that is open to both students and the public via the online video platform YouTube. Details here.

Students, Technology & Cheating

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. Here is USA Today's version: One-fourth of teens' cellphone text messages are sent during class, a new survey finds, despite widespread classroom bans on cellphones. Meanwhile, eSchool News reports: Students says using tech to cheat isn't cheating. Get the full story from Common Sense Media--the non-profit that sponsored the survey. The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper chimes in with: More high-tech cheating - and rationalizing.

Using web sites to engage students in summer reading

A Memphis TN newspaper reports that some teachers say students are more enthusiastic about their summer reading lists now that blog posts, book-oriented Web sites and other online submissions have replaced traditional book reports and tests. One English teacher has created a wiki where students post their thoughts on an assigned book, as well as videos and photos.

Digital games in classroom teaching: how do teachers use them?

A groundbreaking new European study, released at a major EU conference hosted by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, sheds light on how teachers use digital games in the classroom for learning purposes. The conference was opened by the European Commissioner for Education and Culture, Jan Figel, underlining the importance of the study. It covers commercial as well as “serious” games. It was carried out by European Schoolnet, a network of 31 Ministries of Education, commissioned by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE). Read more Download the synthesis report and full study.

Should We Teach With & About Twitter?

This Australian web site reports that young people in the UK may soon be learning about twitter and other new and emerging technologies. A soon to be released report says it would require "children to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication. They must gain 'fluency' in handwriting and keyboard skills, and learn how to use a spell checker alongside how to spell". So the question is: do you have any plans to incorporate twitter (or other Web 2.0) tools into instruction? US News & World Report has this report (June 15): Tweeting Your Way To Better Grades--how some students and educators say Twitter actually can be a helpful study tool

Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Students Better Writers

From The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The rise of online media has helped raise a new generation of college students who write far more, and in more-diverse forms, than their predecessors did. But the implications of the shift are hotly debated, both for the future of students' writing and for the college curriculum. Some scholars say that this new writing is more engaged and more connected to an audience, and that colleges should encourage students to bring lessons from that writing into the classroom. Others argue that tweets and blog posts enforce bad writing habits and have little relevance to the kind of sustained, focused argument that academic work demands."

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In the June/July issue of the Atlantic Nicholas Carr poses a disturbing question: “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” More specifically, Carr wonders whether the modern tendency to consume information online, through a constant stream of headlines, e-mails, and blog posts has eroded our capacity for deep, measured thought.

'Dumbest Generation'? Professor/author blames technology

From USA Today: Teens and young adults are more likely in their free time to check their Facebook page than read a book -- and they are dumber for it, says English professor Mark Bauerlein. That is Bauerlein's contention in The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30), which was recently released in paperback. Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University in Atlanta, says Generation Y, ages 16-29, has been shaped by exposure to computer technology since elementary school. The cost, he says, outweighs the convenience. Kids are writing more than ever online or in text messages, but it's not the kind of narrative skill needed as adults, he says. And social networking sites can give young users "the sense of them being the center of the universe."

How Twitter Will Change The Way We Live

Steven Johnson's essay in TIME Magazine online: "Put those three elements together - social networks, live searching and link-sharing - and you have a cocktail that poses what may amount to the most interesting alternative to Google's near monopoly in searching." You might also appreciate: 10 Things Teachers Should Know to Get Started with Twitter

Computer Games Explore Social Issues

This online article is posted on the George Lucas Ed Foundation's Edutopia web site. See previous posts: Video Game: The New Book Report and Educators Use Games to Engage/Reward

Florida online school implements game-based course

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is set to pilot what it describes as the first complete online game-based course for high school students. School officials and the game's creators hope the course will help engage students who struggle in traditional classroom settings. Details here.

How One Teacher Uses Twitter in the Classroom

Teachers are always trying to combat student apathy and University of Texas at Dallas History Professor, Monica Rankin, has found an interesting way to do it using Twitter in the classroom.

Talkin' 'Bout My Digital Generation (Edutopia Magazine)

The June/July 2009 issue of Edutopia magazine offers educators a host of ideas and recommendations for incorporating media and technology into instruction. Start here and enjoy.

Social Networking As Pedagogy

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this essay is in AV Technology magazine (an industry trade pub aimed at those who install and use av equipment.) In any event, the author, a music/technology professor, raises some interesting issues: "To the extent that social networks like Facebook have become a de facto channel for communication between students and instructors, do these networks enhance the level of interaction between students and instructors, or are they simply another distraction? More specifically, are we increasing the level of student engagement by utilizing social networks or does this simply add more background noise, ultimately de-focusing students from the tasks at hand?"

Lights, Camera, Learning/From Watching Newsreels to Making Videos

The June/July 2009 issue of ISTE's Learning & Leading With Technology contains these two essays of interest....(neither of which is posted yet on the journal's web site). In "Lights, Camera, Learning!" the authors note that the professional organizations for science, social studies, math and English language arts are all "devoting extensive thought to ways digital video might be used to strengthen student learning." The Museum of the Moving Image's web site is highlighted in the second essay. Also contained in this issue: Science and Video; Rock N' Roll Video Teaches Math; Telling Stories With Video.

US Senate bill supports 21st-century skills

eSchool News story excerpt: If passed, the bill would appropriate $100 million a year for the U.S. Department of Education to pass on to states that have developed a comprehensive plan for implementing a statewide 21st-century skills initiative and are able to supply matching funds for their initiative.

Reframing Literacy: Justifying The Use of Moving Images In The Classroom

Reframing Literacy is the name of a UK document, produced recently by the highly respected British Film Institute (bfi). For those of us who believe in the power and relevance of moving image education (film, television), this is one important document. I hope you will take time to read it. While I'm at it, if you don't already know about the excellent bfi-produced curricula material, now might be a good time to take a look and consider purchasing some.

Video Game: The New Book Report?

The Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune newspaper reports on one local teacher who is using video games to teach middle schoolers a variety of skills. And while they're playing they're also taking notes, collaborating to write explanations of how the game is played, and preparing a multi-media presentation about the game.

Two Week Long CyberSummit on 21st Century Skills Announced

From Education Week: Is this the new face of policy gatherings in the nation's capital? The Partnership for 21st Century Skills will stage a "Cyber Summit" on 21st-century skills, to be held entirely online from June 1-12. The summit will offer a series of live video presentations, online forums, and webinars on examining 21st-century skills and knowledge (see my colleague Stephen Sawchuck's recent exploration of the issue, as well his follow-up article examining some of the criticism of the movement). Several state schools chiefs, including Steven Paine of West Virginia and Tom Horne of Arizona, are scheduled to participate. The forum will include discussions of professional development, standards, assessments and curriculum, as well as an exploration of state and local practices aimed at promoting those skills.