This paper highlights the results of a project, in which a group of students, who were enrolled in an African American film criticism course at a large university in Southern California, participated in a community engagement project that incorporated visual and media literacy skills acquired in the classroom setting. The parameters of the project…

Living in an image-rich world does not mean students (or faculty and administrators) naturally possess sophisticated visual literacy skills, just as continually listening to an iPod does not teach a person to critically analyze or create music. Instead, "visual literacy involves the ability to understand, produce, and use culturally significant…

Examines four commonalities of media education in the United States. Outlines the four ideological perspectives that in fact guide media education in the United States: celebration, protectionism, cultural criticism, and educated consumerism. Suggests what all of this means for the future of media education in the United States and what will be…

This guide is designed to promote discussion of any photograph with students, whether encountered in the classroom, in textbooks, or in other school materials. The guide contains a one-page handout which uses Dorothea Lange's photograph "White Angel Breadline" to discuss 10 photographic elements: aesthetic elements, punctum, title,…

Argues that educators should train themselves and students to understand and cope with television's power. Describes an inventory of viewing and reading habits, then discusses how three principles of teaching television are expressed in class activities. Outlines a unit that takes students from television as "just entertainment" to active,…

This book is a practical, accessible guide for parents on the use of television with children in today's media-focused world. It offers parents practical techniques and strategies to take control of the types of programs and amounts of television their children watch. Parts 1 and 2 of the book contain views on parenting in general and some…

Over 350 surveys were distributed to public and private elementary and secondary school teachers to assess the current state of media education and to determine if changes have occurred given the increase in educator awareness of media education benefits, media literacy advocacy groups, media education resources, and changes in technology.…

Investigates impact of instructional practices involving media literacy education across the curriculum by examining the work of four different teams of ninth-grade teachers. Shows that students' media literacy skills were highest where media education activities were integrated across all subject areas, where both analysis and production…

Argues that communication scholars and media educators in the United States can gain theoretical and practical insights by closely examining young people's media comments and by acknowledging their complex and dynamic lives. Offers an ethnographic analysis of young adolescents' comments about television. Analyzes their comments in relation to the…