Almost all students in a recent survey (94%) want some media literacy instruction in schools, with 57% asserting that schools should “definitely” be required to teach media literacy, according to an article in Education Week.
Teens are “inheriting the largest, most complex, most frenetic information environment in human history, and they’re getting information in streams that actually impede” their understanding of it, says Peter Adams, senior vice president of research and design for the News Literacy Project, which conducted the survey.
Many teens struggle to judge the accuracy and intent of information they find online, and the difference between advertisements and opinion. Most believe professional news services are as biased as other content creators.
One Pennsylvania teacher conducted a three-week media literacy lesson with middle schoolers and says, “They were so excited to do it. They made posters about scams, and they talked about the news.”
Most students don’t receive media literacy instruction, according to the News Literacy Project. Only three states require schools to teach media literacy.
Teachers need flexibility in lesson planning to address media literacy, says a social studies teacher.
“It can be especially difficult if a teacher has very rigid scope and sequence that’s kind of dictated to them,” she says. She feels fortunate to be in a less rigid district “so it is easier to find places to fit this in.”
A Pennsylvania school district near Pittsburgh use these approaches to help students sort fact from fiction:
- Lateral reading, which encourages using trusted sources to corroborate information from unfamiliar or suspect sources.
- Reverse image searches – looking up an image to get more information about the context of an image posted online.
One more idea:
- Bring professional journalists to the classroom to discuss their work or organize field trips to local newsrooms and TV stations.
Education Week
