African American males are confronted with formidable barriers in their pursuit of quality education, resulting in stark disparities in academic performance, economic opportunities, and social outcomes. Despite numerous educational initiatives striving for parity, African American males persistently bear the brunt of the highest rates of…

Featuring tools, activities, and insightful stories from a CIA analyst and instructor with 30+ years' of experience, this practical and engaging book supports busy educators to teach the lifelong skills of news and media literacy to their students. Based on existing curriculum and teaching standards, this guidebook shows how social studies and…

This activity highlights the concept of cultural hegemony, illustrating it by a reflection on the images of success and successful people portrayed in the media. The purpose of the exercise is to introduce students to this concept, and for them to examine how hegemonic views of others and the self affect the way they conceptualize success and…

While a new medium can enhance communication access by bringing back small group structures or access to local communities, it can also turn communal events such as dining out or drinks with friends into antisocial experiences. The social impact of a medium on the human experience is in part why McLuhan (McLuhan M. [1964b]. Understanding media:…

Monica Williams, a beloved counselor of an urban middle school, is shocked to learn that she is being terminated for a comment she made on Facebook. This case was developed for use in an educational leadership course for students to evaluate an educator's right to freedom of speech in relation to social media. Instructors can use the case to…

Recent contentions about "fake news" and misinformation online has shed light on the critical need for media literacy at a global scale. Indeed, digital stories are one of the main forms of communication in the 21st century through blogs, videos-sharing websites, forums, or social networks. However, the line between facts and fiction can…

This article presents a critical media literacy technique for teaching about the social construction of terrorism. In a post-9/11 context where the human rights of Arabs and Muslims in the United States and overseas are threatened by drone attacks, profiling, detentions, and hate crimes, educators must not shy away from this issue. I use visual…

Think teachers can post what they want on their own time? Think again. Many have lost their jobs over social networking gaffes in recent years. In this article, the author shares what he has learned about how school districts cope with teachers and online social networking sites, and offers recommendations to teachers who want to have an online…

Decades before educators began to draw teaching and learning implications from neuroscientists' groundbreaking findings on brain plasticity, Reuven Feuerstein had already theorized it and developed practices for teaching and developing higher-level cognition and learning for all students, including those with Down syndrome and other learning…

In response to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Donald Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety to review safety practices and make meaningful and actionable recommendations of best practices to keep students safe. The Commission conducted field visits,…

As one of the foundations of persuasion, fallacies should be included in the teaching of persuasive speaking. It is important that speakers avoid misleading their audience as they have an ethical responsibility to tell the truth and avoid misleading information. If discovered, fallacies in messages can damage the credibility of the speaker and…

When students enter college classrooms for the first time they inevitably have preconceived images of professors. According to research on student evaluations of teaching, these preconceptions have important implications in college classrooms. This study explores one avenue through which these preconceptions are perpetuated--popular film. Using…

Media messages are increasingly packaged in ways that blur distinctions between genres. The U.S. Army National Guard's recent campaign incorporating rock stars and popular music to appeal to potential recruits exemplifies this trend, as commercials and music videos become one and the same. Given this increasing trend, critical media literacy…

With new technologies developing so fast, it is difficult for students and teachers alike to keep up to date. Add into the mix skewed media reporting, some creative science fiction films and the unregulated world of the internet, and it becomes increasingly hard to separate fact from fiction. As Australia's largest funding body for stem cell…

This article examines the ways that students and professors imagine the space of higher education and thus shape their relationship to the larger academic community. Data come from a "Lengua Inglesa" program in northern Mexico. The findings reveal that personal and community histories, family networks, media, and migration converge to…