Monday, October 13, 2014

A Reflection on Information and Media Literacy

“It’s almost like safe sex,” said Graber. “You teach them how to be safe before they go out there, so that hopefully they’ll understand what can happen with private information if you’re not careful”

The article, “Students Learn Cyber Skills At a No-Tech School" by Francesca Duffy, stresses the importance of teaching students about safe and proper online behavior. At the Journey School in Viejo, California, technology takes a back seat to hands-on and art-based activities. The K-8 charter school had acknowledged the need for students to use technology for the good and for their learning. The Cyber Civics program includes but is not limited to digital citizenship in the 6th grade, information and research literacy in the 7th grade, and media literacy in the 8th grade.
Diana Graber, a cyber civics teacher, shares how the exercises they implement in class are meant to challenge students to fully consider the information they post on the web.

Since the internet has been the preferred medium of information, I feel that Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy are necessary in the education system. As teachers, it is our responsibility to produce critical thinkers who have the skills to interpret and make wise choices about what is seen and heard.

Discussion Questions:
  1. What are some of the Core Principles of Media Literacy Education in the United States?
  2. What can be done to further media literacy in our education system?
  3. In the CNMI, what standards and benchmarks are available for teachers in media literacy?

2 comments:

  1. Still working on that digizens...any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved the quote! Lets hope they learn more safe computer skills than safe sex skills.

    ReplyDelete