ACROSS THE GENERATIONS
WITH MEDIA LITERACY
An online discussion series that explores digital and media literacy education as a vital part of lifelong learning, for people of all agesÂ
Parents, teachers, students, educators, school leaders, college faculty, researchers, media professionals, and community activists are invited to join us for a webinar series that explores the development of media literacy competencies across the lifespan, from birth to old age. Each session will include a featured speaker and time for small group discussion and dialogue. Join us for a single session, or participate in the whole series!
ACROSS THE GENERATIONSÂ WITH MEDIA LITERACY
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1. WHAT MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION WITH PRESCHOOLERS REVEALS ABOUT THE FOUNDATIONS OF MEDIA LITERACY FOR ALL AGES
Tuesday, November 1, 12 - 1 PM EST
Featured Presenter: Faith Rogow
Developmentally appropriate media literacy education for toddlers and preschoolers is a real thing! And examining how we instill early habits reveals the essence of lifelong media literacy for us all. (Hint: it’s based on our sense of wonder rather than our anxieties about media.)
2. BUILDING KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD WITH MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATIONÂ
Tuesday, November 15, 12 PM EST / 11 AM CST
Featured Presenter:Â Kristin Ziemke
For elementary aged learners, interacting with print, media, digital and each other IS literacy. Young learners natural curiosity invites an opportunity to build awareness for media messages, comprehend how information is shared and create their own messages to tell their story. In this session, we learn how to weave ongoing media literacy education into our daily conversations, read alouds, and routines in order to teach kids to read the world. Â
3. FITTING IN, STANDING OUT, AND BUILDING AN IDENTITY: MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS AND MEDIA LITERACY
Tuesday, November 29, 12 PM EST
Featured Presenter:Â Troy Hicks
At the same time they are trying to fit in with their peers, tween and early-teenage youth are also working to create their own identities and stand out amongst the crowd. Media messaging — from the social media they consume to the advertisements that are targeted at them — play on this tension, forcing our youth to make choices about how to build an identity while not standing too far away from their peers. In this session, we explore the tensions that youth face as well as teaching strategies to help them become better media consumers and creators.Â
4. MEDIA LITERACY IN HIGH SCHOOL: FOCUS ON CIVIC EDUCATION
Tuesday, December 13, 2022Â 12 PM EST
Featured Presenter: Adam Maksl
In high school, students learn to deconstruct media messages and benefit from access to scaffolding and frameworks to build their critical thinking skills. Students also are discovering their creative capacities as media makers and gain confidence in self-expression when they have authentic audiences who encounter their multimedia creative work. Increasingly, media literacy comptencies of analyzing and creating media are components of civic education, where, through discussions of news, journalism, and controversial issues, students learn to participate in the public sphere. But what are the barriers that limit how students can exercise these competencies in their increasingly polarized communities?Â
5. MEDIA LITERACY GOES TO COLLEGE
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, 12 PM EST
Featured Speaker: Theresa Redmond
Join Appalachian State University on the #fdoc (first day of classes) of the new spring semester and learn how to increase student engagement, participation, and active thinking through media literacy inquiry and expression. This session focuses on media literacy pedagogy in colleges and universities. Gain insight for designing curriculum, activities, and assessments to enliven student-centered and timely media literacy learning.
6. MEDIA LITERACY FOR PARENTS
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 12 PM EST
Featured Speaker: Alicia Haywood
Parents bring their own life experiences and background knowledge together to develop an understanding of "media literacy" regardless of whether they use that term or not. Learn how interviews with parents reveal some important insights, tensions, and paradoxes for parents, who are themselves navigating a complex media ecosystem as they seek to support, protect, and empower their children, who have unique developmental needs as members of a family.
7. MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION FOR MID-CAREER FOLKS
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 12 PM EST
Featured Speaker: Renee Hobbs
It's been claimed that older adults were responsible for a significant share of the so-called "fake news" crisis. How might digital skills and knowledge intersect with media literacy competencies for adults as they navigate a rapidly-changing media environment? Learn how mid-career folks manage the more-or-less continual learning curve in their use of information, entertainment and persuasion.
8. MEDIA LITERACY FOR SENIORS
Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 12 PM EST
Featured Presenter: Päivi Rasi-Heikkinen
For older adults, the use of digital technology usage generally declines with age, putting older people at the risk of being excluded and isolated. Learn more about how people over the age of 75 use digital media and communication technologies in relation to their health and well-being and brainstorm strategies to help the elderly population get opportunities for participation in the public sphere.
9. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE
Featured Presenter: Yonty Friesem
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 12 PM EST
In this concluding hourlong Zoom meeting, we will review, reflect upon and engage in an intergenerational dialogue about media literacy. What are the core ways that media literacy competencies are learned at home? We bring together families and talk with presenters about the common threads and challenges for embedding media literacy concepts and instructional practices into the fabric of family life. We invite you to join your exploration of the affordances and challenges of practicing media literacy as a way to connect with our family, community and colleagues. At the end of the online meeting, we hope to have ideas and recommendations for advancing intergenerational dialogue via media literacy.
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ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Troy Hicks is Professor of English and Education at Central Michigan University and Director of the Chippewa River Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project. A former middle school teacher, he has received numerous awards including the Michigan Reading Association Teacher Educator Award and the Central Michigan University Excellence in Teaching Award. He is an ISTE Certified Educator, a trained facilitator in digital storytelling through StoryCenter, and an affiliate faculty member with the Media Education Lab. Website: https://hickstro.org/ Email: hickstro@gmail.comÂ
Faith Rogow Ph.D. (@InsightersEd) is an independent scholar, consultant, author of the groundbreaking book, Media Literacy for Young Children: Teaching Beyond the Screen Time Debates (NAEYC 2022) and co-author of The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World. As a media literacy education innovator in the U.S. she served as the founding president of NAMLE and an original editorial board member of the Journal for Media Literacy Education. https://insighterseducation.com/ Email: faithrogow@gmail.com
Kristin Ziemke is a teacher, staff developer, and co-author of Read the World: Rethinking Literacy for Empathy and Action, Amplify: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom and Connecting Comprehension and Technology. Recognized as an international expert in literacy, inquiry and technology, Kristin works with schools and organizations around the world to develop learning experiences that are student-centered, personalized and authentic. Website: KristinZiemke.com Email: KristinZF@gmail.com
Päivi Rasi-Heikkinen (Ph.D., M.SSc.), is a Professor of Education with the Media Education Hub at the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Education, Finland. Päivi has 20 years of experience in research and development projects in the field of media literacy education. She is an expert on older people’s media literacy education. Website: https://paivirasi.webnode.page/ E-mail: paivi.rasi-heikkinen@ulapland.fiÂ
Theresa Redmond is an award-winning teacher, widely-published scholar, and creative media maker. She brings a unique blend of credentials and the inquisitive spirit of media literacy to all she does. Her primary role is Professor of Media Studies at Appalachian State University where she is an expert in media literacy, curriculum and instructional design, educational technology, and the arts. Website: http://theresaredmond.com/Â Email: redmondta@appstate.edu
Renee Hobbs is the Founder of the Media Education Lab, an online community that advances the quality of digital and media literacy education through scholarship and community service. She is Professor of Communication Studies and Co-Director of the Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy at the University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media. Website: https://mediaeducationlab.com Email: hobbs@uri.edu
Adam Maksl is an associate professor of journalism and media at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana. He teaches courses focused on digital journalism and researches news and media literacy. He is also the Faculty Fellow for eLearning Design & Innovation within Indiana University’s eLearning Design & Services unit, where he is charged with promoting and supporting innovative teaching and learning, especially in fully online courses, across all Indiana University campuses.
Alicia Haywood is a media professional and media literacy activist who helps people better understand their relationship with media. She launched The iSpeakMedia Foundation as a platform for advancing media literacy education with communities that need it most and played an instrumental role in launching Media Literacy Week in the United States in 2015.
Yonty Friesem is an Associate Professor of communication and founding director of the MA in civic media at Columbia College Chicago. Yonty provides professional development for media educators in their role as the Associate Director of the Media Education Lab. Yonty's publications in academic and professional journals include theory of empathic dialogs via media they call digital empathy, evaluation of various civic media programs, and explorations of implementing digital and media literacy in schools.