Newseum Unveils News Literacy Online Website

The following was announced Thursday March 17 at the Center for News Literacy Conference:

The Newseum (Washington DC) has just announced a new online site for teachers.
The Digital Classroom utilizes 12 of the most popular videos (and accompanying resources) from the museum..The videos and resources are designed to bring news literacy, journalism and history to students.
The URL is www.newseum.org/digital-classroom
You will be directed to register where you will be sent a password and a Survey Monkey evaluation. The 12 videos cover the following topics:
the First Amendment, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bias, Edward R Murrow, Getting It Right, The Digital Revolution, News Apps, The Press and Civil Rights, Running Toward Danger, Sources, Watergate, What's News

Resources include: introductions, essential questions, links NCTE standards, links to web sources, and an extensive viewing guide.

Helping Students Deal with Images and News from Japan

Helping Students Deal with Images and News from Japan
by Frank W. Baker (Media Literacy Clearinghouse)

We are all overwhelmed by what we see in the news. For many of our students,

taking the time to help them better understand those images and where they originate is another step toward visual and media literacy.

Images can be frightening and unsettling—on that we can all agree. For your students here are some questions that might help get a discussion started and ease some of their concerns.

1. What did you hear, see, or read about the disasters?
2. Did you understand what you heard, read or saw?
3. Are news people using words/phrases you might not understand?
4. Do you know the source of the news, image or other information?
5. What sources do you currently use to determine what is happening in Japan?
6. How reliable are your sources?
7. Are there other reliable sources? For example, are all of your sources US based; or are you reading sources from Asia, Europe, etc.?
8. How might international sources differ in style and tone from the US?
9. Why might it be important to “turn off” the news?

Online Media Literacy Professional Development Opportunities

Media and Technology Literacies: From Standards to Practice
This online workshop focuses on the construction of standards-based curriculum and supporting uses of technology to achieve educational goals. Participants operationally define the standards and definitions of media literacy and technology literacy from a national (USA) perspective. Participants align and integrate educational standards/goals and media and technology literacies according to the National Educational Technology Standards (ISTE) and relevant state and local standards.
Summer Session (Online) runs May 16-June 3, 2011. [fee structure]

Media Literacy Through Social Networking
This workshop provides a framework for practicing media literacy education online through the uses of social networking tools to acquire digital literacy skills and understanding of media literacy principles. Includes a tour of a social network as an online classroom where participants acquire these digital literacy skills and enact the core principles of media literacy. Participants will create their own online community and customize their media literacy efforts according to their own education, community, or professional context. Summer Session (Online) runs August 8-26, 2011. [fee structure]

Student news programs aim to foster skills, communities

T.H.E. Journal reports: Several schools are using Flip cameras and video-production technology to create school news programs they say are teaching students 21st-century skills, as well as helping fortify their school communities. News and feature segments incorporate cross-curricular skills.

Journal of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)

The Journal of Media Literacy Education has just published its latest issue. NAMLE invites you to review the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to review articles and items of interest. Articles are also available to read and discuss on the JMLE blog at http://jmle.org/blog/

Also NAMLE has announced its 2011 Research Awards. It offers two awards: the Emerging Scholar Award and Established Scholar Award. NAMLE members are encouraged to submit a work of original research (4500-6000 words) on a range of media literacy-related topics. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2011. Winners will be privileged to present their work at the 2011 NAMLE conference and be published in JMLE. For more information visit
http://namle.net/2011/02/24/the-namle-2011-research-awards-submission-deadline-4-15-11/