New Media Curriculum
I went to school in the suburbs. Despite being a well funded and well regarded school, we had a severe lack of media studies. The only media we used often in the classroom was film, and rarely at that. I was blown away when I came to the University and found a plethora of media studies courses to take. After spending a good deal of time in these courses, I strongly feel that some basic media studies curriculum should be stressed in the general Language Arts classroom.
Students are currently being bombarded with more media messages than ever before, both by choice and by chance. Kids spend more time with media now than they ever have before. Students spend much more time with digital media than they do with so-called 'traditional' media (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) There are many skills that are important to decoding media messages that are no longer covered in the classroom. By redesigning the language arts curriculum to better refelct the media literacy that is needed today, our students can leave our school better prepared to deal with the world around them.
-- Students can aquire a host of new skills that are necessary for both the work world and their everyday lives. Writing skills for email and digital texts have become extremely important in the workplace, as well as basic communication in our everyday lives. Incorporating these skills in general writing instruction would be very easy and require few resources.
-- Students need to develop skills to decode media messages. The number of advertisements children see is at an all time high, and advertisers are constantly coming up with new ways to encourage us to consume. By teaching advertising literacy, students can develop critical thinking skills as well as learn more about persuasive writing.
--Students learn a great deal about themselves when studying media. They can learn the way media influences them to make certain decisions about their life.
Generally, media studies can be incorporated seeemlessly into an already developed language arts curriculum. Adjusting assignments and lectures to include aspects of both traditional and 'new' media requires just a small amount of reorganiztion and effort for a very important outcome. Students need these skills, as much as the more 'basic skills' to be a productive and aware citizen. School does not exist in a bubble outside of the influence of the media, we should incorporate media studies as part of the basic curriculum.
Students are currently being bombarded with more media messages than ever before, both by choice and by chance. Kids spend more time with media now than they ever have before. Students spend much more time with digital media than they do with so-called 'traditional' media (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) There are many skills that are important to decoding media messages that are no longer covered in the classroom. By redesigning the language arts curriculum to better refelct the media literacy that is needed today, our students can leave our school better prepared to deal with the world around them.
-- Students can aquire a host of new skills that are necessary for both the work world and their everyday lives. Writing skills for email and digital texts have become extremely important in the workplace, as well as basic communication in our everyday lives. Incorporating these skills in general writing instruction would be very easy and require few resources.
-- Students need to develop skills to decode media messages. The number of advertisements children see is at an all time high, and advertisers are constantly coming up with new ways to encourage us to consume. By teaching advertising literacy, students can develop critical thinking skills as well as learn more about persuasive writing.
--Students learn a great deal about themselves when studying media. They can learn the way media influences them to make certain decisions about their life.
Generally, media studies can be incorporated seeemlessly into an already developed language arts curriculum. Adjusting assignments and lectures to include aspects of both traditional and 'new' media requires just a small amount of reorganiztion and effort for a very important outcome. Students need these skills, as much as the more 'basic skills' to be a productive and aware citizen. School does not exist in a bubble outside of the influence of the media, we should incorporate media studies as part of the basic curriculum.
posted by Justin at 1:38 PM
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