Media Arts students develop, and require, a deeper understanding of Media Literacy than others. In my experience, students have an innate ability to tell if something or someone is unauthentic. They are constantly being bombarded with fabricated information and personalities, and so they MUST become media literate at an early age. We can guide them in a new direction in secondary school where the intention is not to simply avoid inauthenticity and biases, but to create media content that voices opinions against them.
In module 2 we talked about theories and strategies in the classroom. Two that I’m very familiar with and that I prescribe to are Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and the SAMR model for technology usage. In the media arts classroom, examples of representation of the multiple intelligences are abundant. Visual-Spatial are the core of media arts. Bodily-Kinesthetic is engaged through hands-on tasks that involve building, creating, developing tech tool skills, and the list goes on. Inter and Intrapersonal intelligences are built through collaboration and personal reflection.
The SAMR model is also one that is directly applicable to the media arts classroom. The question of ‘what should I use?’ is prevalent in a classroom where options like film vs. digital photography or CGI vs. Stop Motion are daily decisions to be made.
The connection I make immediately to a ‘literate’ media arts student is ‘Media Literacy’. Students must learn the practical applications of technology and tools of the media arts industry during the program. They must also continue to study the intent and influence that media arts can have on society. This is outlined, for example, in section ‘B.2 Identity and Values’ of the curriculum document for ASM3M.
B2.2 analyse the ability of media artworks to express historical or contemporary cultural identities
B2.3 analyse the ability of historical or contemporary media art works to influence community or societal values
B2.4 analyse, on the basis of reflection, and document how creating and presenting media artworks has affected their personal values and their understanding of their culture and community
B2.5 analyse how the process of critically analysing media artworks has affected their perception and understanding of different communities, cultures, ideologies, and/or social groups
With my intermediate level classes, we explore biases in news media. One of the coolest sites that I’ve found is called AllSides.com. Here is the About Us:
AllSides is a public benefit corporation serving news consumers here at AllSides™ and providing patented technologies, tools and services to media companies, nonprofits, schools, businesses and other organizations at AllSides.com/services. We expose people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum so they can better understand the world — and each other.
In our news units we will analyze a current news story from a variety of perspectives. ‘All Sides’ provides articles from media sources from left, centre, and right news outlets and everything in between. I’ll attach a graphic that they provide in regards to some media outlets and their position on the spectrum. It is, unfortunately, strictly U.S. based, but is nonetheless a very valuable resource. In a world that is increasingly influenced by A.I., it goes without saying that media literacy skills are more important now than ever before. I think that helping students to both critically analyse and create works of art that contain deeper meaning beneath the surface is integral.
AllSides. "About AllSides." AllSides.com, AllSides Technologies, www.allsides.com/about
Ontario Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: The Arts, 2010. Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2010, www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/arts1112b.pdf
One major area where I find my students lack knowledge regarding media is a basic understanding of credible research and media bias. In my grade 7 and 8 class, we spend a significant amount of time in term 2 focused on a health research paper. Now more than ever, students need to be able to think critically about everything they encounter, especially online. Without these fundamental skills, they are more likely to be misinformed and are more susceptible to manipulation. This is also addressed in the curriculum, particularly under the overall expectation B2. Identity and Values. This expectation requires students to analyze the intent behind media works and how they can contain intent or bias [there is a difference].
For the past 2 years, and activity that I’ve organized, which is hands-on, is called 'Fake News Trash'. I begin by explicitly teaching them how to assess the validity of research, examining authorship, date of publication, and potential agenda. Following this, we play a game where students are presented with physical news articles and, through mild research, they must determine if the articles are real or fake. If they determine correctly, they get the opportunity to crumple and throw the "FAKE NEWS" articles into a trashcan across the room [could possibly be their favourite yearly activity].
To consolidate their learning, we cap off the unit with an escape room challenge. Students work collaboratively in small groups to solve a series of problems. These challenges require them to apply their knowledge of publishing dates, authorship, website navigating, and the interpretation of statistics found within articles to "escape" the room. They love escape rooms, so it’s a no-brainer.
This is what leads into our essay unit.