The idea of "connecting" is explored in this multimedia educational kit art for elementary schools. The Connecting series features a teacher's manual, six teacher's guides, and three videotapes based on six primary themes. These themes are: "Rhythms and Patterns"; "Change and Transformation"; "The World Our Minds…

In April 1997 in the United Kingdom (UK), "Teletubbies," a television program designed for young children, debuted. Unexpectedly, it developed a cult following among college students. In April 1998 "Teletubbies" debuted in the United States (US) on PBS. A study compared alternative readings and deconstructions of…

This paper outlines the fourth-year film appreciation course at Rand College of Education in Johannesburg, South Africa, designed to develop a greater critical awareness in students so they are able to distinguish between good and mediocre film and video material. Some attempt is made to establish what qualifies material to be regarded as…

"Crosses on the Lawn," the television program featured in this videotape and teaching guide, covers the causes and effects of the issues raised by racial hatred, and it reveals attempts to heal the wounds of bigotry. The fictional town of Springdale, home of the two main characters, Chaz and Chris, one white and one black, becomes a…

By joining bodies of research in media theory, cultural studies, and critical pedagogy, this book offers a vision of learning that values social empowerment over technical skills. An inquiry into the existence and range of models equipped to cultivate critical teaching and learning in the Internet-supported classroom, the book argues that media…

Based on Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that all works of art lend themselves to critical reviews; critical reviews consist of opinions and support for the opinions; and a critical review may compare and contrast a work in one medium to the same work in…

Endorses the television series entitled "Culture Shock" that views controversial art as an artifact suggesting that the arts, and controversies surrounding them, can help viewers think critically about the issues of past and present societies. Focuses on "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," the painting "Olympia,"…

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,…

Discusses information literacy skills as a way to handle information overload. Explores the critical Internet viewing of 1,693 students in grades 7-9 who responded to a survey. Discusses the results on students' beliefs about information accuracy, their information evaluation strategies, and the importance of Internet information validity.…

A high school film teacher studied how students recognized messages in film, examining how film education could help students identify and analyze racial and gender stereotypes. Comparison of students' attitudes before and after the film course found that the course was successful in raising students' consciousness. (SM)

Decision cases have been used in the USA for both classroom and extension education within agriculture and natural resources. Use of cases has sometimes been limited by the extensive amount of time that may be required to assign and analyze conventional, text-based cases. Availability of video decision cases, which are visual and do not…

Films in English are extremely challenging for those studying English as a foreign language. In this study, an attempt was made to make an English film more comprehensible by asking subjects to read an abridged version of the novel the film was based on before seeing the film. Subjects reported that reading the book first increased…

The ubiquity of documentary films in social studies courses, along with their potential to influence what students learn, clearly show that documentary films matter in social studies education. While the high rate of documentary film usage by social studies teachers indicates that they are amenable to bringing new films into their classrooms, they…

Within the scholarly debate about the value of visual literacy is the belief that visual literacy bestows the skill of critical viewing, or conscious appreciation of artistry along with the ability to see through manipulative uses and ideological implications of visual images. Critical thinking is commonly viewed as argument skills, cognitive…

A study of Channel One, the 10 minutes of television news programs and 2 minutes of commercials in classrooms, described the opinions and evaluative comments of participant teachers, librarians, administrators, and students. Individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted at eight secondary schools (four in Florida and four in…