Media Literacy in the 21st Century

As educators, we are starting to appreciate that we no longer live solely in a print-centered world.  We are surrounded by a culture filled with visual images and messages.  In the 21st century, "texts" and "literacy" are not limited to words on the page.  Text and literacy can apply to still and moving images, such as photographs, television, and film.  Today, in the 21st Century, being literate also means understanding wikis, blogs, nings, digital media, and other new and emerging technologies.
K–12 educators need to start realizing the benefits of teaching students with and about nonprint media, what is today recognized as an important part of "media literacy."

Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, valuate and create media in a variety of forms - from print to video to the Internet.  Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as we as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression needed for citizenship in a democracy.

How can you TEAM with your Curriculum Technology Partner to provide 21st Century literacy experiences.
Check out the following link to discover more about what it means to be literate in the 21st Century.

http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/literacy-21st-century-hope-and-promise

Stay tuned for future topics such as:  Searching images on Google and 21st Century Learners (Goal Setting, Inquiry, Critical Thinking) 

21st Century Schools

TEAMS?

What does that mean?  We hear about Professional Learning Communities, Response to Intervention, Differentiation, Formative Assessment, Flexible Grouping, Targeted Growth, the list goes on..... what is this all about?  

Bottom line, working together to help our student learn!

I am inviting you and your TEAM to consider planning with your Curriculum Technology Partner.  Let's consider ways we can enhance learning while strengthening 21st Century Skills.

In the 21st Century:

• The teacher's primary role will no longer be as a dispenser of information.  Teachers will be an orchestrator of learning and help students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom.
• The 21st century will require students to generate knowledge, not just memorize information.
• Schools will need to create a “culture of inquiry”, where students ask and solve problems.
• Our learners are far more than a young person who is sent to school, spends a specified amount of time in certain courses, receives passing grades and graduates.  

To meet the needs of our learners:

• We must maintain student interest by helping them see how what they are learning prepares them for the real world.
• We must instill curiosity, which is essential to lifelong learning.
• We must be flexible in how we teach and group students.
• We must excite learners so that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.

So I invite you to imagine a school in which the students – all of them – are so excited about learning that they can hardly wait to get here.  Imagine having fewer “discipline problems” because the students are so engaged in learning that those problems disappear.  Imagine having parents excited to tell you about the dramatic changes they are witnessing in their children.  Imagine students showing enthusiasm and desire to work on projects, research, and write after school and on weekends.  Imagine your students making more than targeted growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills and more!

It is possible.  It has happened, and is happening, in schools across the country.  It can happen here too.

I invite you...... to consider the possibilities.