1. Maximizing the
Power of Media
for Teaching
21st Century Skillsa
Renee Hobbs
Professor, Temple University
Founder, Media Education Lab
Iowa Council of Teachers of English
October 13, 2011

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Ignore
10. Ignore
Engage
11. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
12. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
13. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
14. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
15. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
16. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
Computer Literacy
17. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
ComputerLiteracy
News Literacy
18. Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
ComputerLiteracy
News Literacy
Digital Literacy
19. One Expansive Conceptualization
to Unite Them All
Key Concepts
20. Key Concepts
Authors
&
Audiences
21. Key Concepts
Authors
&
Audiences
Messages
&
Meanings
22. Key Concepts
Authors
&
Audiences
Messages
&
Meanings
Representation
&
Realities
23. One Expansive Conceptualization
to Unite Them All
Key Concepts
24. One Expansive Conceptualization
to Unite Them All
Learning Process
Key Concepts
25. Learning Process
Comprehend and
Make Sense of All Sorts of Texts
Use Technology Tools Well
Gather Information Independently
ACCESS
26. Learning Process
Ask Good Questions
Evaluate the Quality & Value of Messages
Explore Context in Meaningful Ways
ANALYZE
27. Learning Process
Use Multiple Modes of Expression
Reach Authentic Audiences
Manipulate Content and Form in Relation to Purpose and Audience
COMPOSE
28. Learning Process
Activate Multiperspectival Thinking
Predict Consequences and Use Hypothetical Reasoning
Examine Issues of Power and Responsibility
REFLECT
29. Learning Process
Connect the Classroom to the World
Strengthen Leadership and Collaboration
Develop Integrity and Accountability
ACT
30. Digital and Media Literacy
REFLECT
ACCESS
ANALYZE
CREATE
ACT
31. Literacy
REFLECT
ACCESS
ANALYZE
CREATE
ACT
32. Are you helping students to develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century?
33. ACCESS
Find information on a topic & examine the quality of source material
34. ANALYZE
Analyze a media message using five critical questions
35. COMPOSE
Create a remix
36. REFLECT
Discuss the ethical dimensions of a media message
37. ACT
Respond to a social or political issue using the power of communication
38. Literacy
REFLECT
ACCESS
ANALYZE
CREATE
ACT
39. SOURCE:PBS, New Learners of the 21st Century
40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. THE REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER
LARISSA PAHOMOV
When reading a novel in class, I'm thrilled if students become invested in the fates of the characters, but later I will expect students to balance that visceral connection with a more removed consideration of issues like authorship, theme, and audience.
In this unit, however, I was surprised (and a little frustrated) at how students flat-out avoided answering a question that was posed to guide their conclusions: What do these portrayals show us about society's attitudes towards courtship/dating?
Many students wrote about the movie characters as though they were real people, and their conclusions spun the themes they had identified into commentary resembling relationship advice. At best, students pointed out how their modern film showed more equality between the genders than "Shrew," but these comparisons were also using the texts as stand-ins for real world examples.
46. In a way, this trend was its own response to the questions posed at the beginning of the unit -- there is no division between the text and the people who consume it, because the audience either considers the text to be real, or at least an adequate facsimile thereof, and award it as much value and influence as they would any "real" personal experience.
This discovery terrified me. Didn't students know how many of these films were callibrated for profit, not honesty? But I knew that we were hitting up against one of the most basic understandings of Media Literacy. Students had been trained to approach written fiction in a particular way, but little or no suggestion had ever been made to them that the same methods could be applied to the fiction they watched.
I felt like Marshall McLuhan was in the room, shaking his head at us. I keep coming back to one of his aphorisms: We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us." What will it take for students to deconstruct visual media the same way they do books? And if film is a tool, what function does that tool serve? The best literature inspires the soul as well as gives us something to sink our critical teeth into. Here's to hoping that students can eventually have that same experience with film in the classroom.
47. Key Concepts
Authors
&
Audiences
Messages
&
Meanings
Representation
&
Realities
48. CONTACT NOW:
Renee Hobbs
Temple University
Philadelphia PA
Email: renee.hobbs@temple.edu
www.mediaeducationlab.com
49. BEGINNING IN JANUARY:
Founding Director
Harrington School of Communication and Media
University of Rhode Island
Email: renee.hobbs@uri.edu
www.mediaeducationlab.com
50. Videos and More Resources Online:
http://mediaeducationlab.com