CML is pleased and proud to present this Special Report, Confronting the Challenges of a Participatory Culture (Fifteen Plus Years Later), with Henry Jenkins as Editor. Henry is the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at the University of Southern California – but we know him best as a strong and faithful champion for media literacy world-wide.
In this issue, we celebrate the passage of media literacy legislation in states around the country with special focus on California and Washington. We interviewed two individuals who played (are playing) pivotol roles in this effort -- Marilyn Cohen, a top media literacy researcher and advocate from Washington State; and Jennifer Howeter, from the California Department of Education.
Media literacy education requires the use of media in the classroom so it’s important for educators and administrators – as well as students and parents – to have a basic understanding of the structure and purpose of legal frameworks addressing intellectual property, particularly regarding copyright. This issue includes interviews with copyright experts Renee Hobbs, professor of communication studies, and David Sohn, copyright lawyer. The MediaLit Moments activity offers a simple way to introduce the concept to students.
The representation of gender in media has long been a subject of fascination as well as critical analysis and change management for those advancing and practicing media literacy. In this issue of Connections, we highlight two organizations addressing these issues worldwide. Promundo, founded in Brazil in 1997, promotes gender equality and violence prevention by engaging men and boys in partnership with women and girls. The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) teams with more than 100 countries to keep accurate data on gender representation in the news.
Part 2 of our look at the similarities and overlap of Media AND Information Literacy. This issue includes three interviews with librarians representing public libraries, maker spaces, and higher education who offer first-hand accounts of how libraries and librarians are reinventing themselves to meet the varied needs of today’s learners. Read the interviews with Susan Broman, LA Public Library; Mya Stark, LA Maker Space, and Spencer Brayton, Blackburn College, IL.
Part 1 was published in the May 2017 issue of Connections.
The boundaries of classrooms are beginning to soften; students’ prior knowledge is more likely to be acknowledged and honored; the need to prepare students for lifelong learning – and to meet them where they are – all are indicative of a movement towards the type of pedagogy that media literacy fosters and delivers. This issue includes interviews with education entrepreneurs from: School on Wheels, Los Angeles; Ace Preparatory Academy, Indiannapolis; Da Vinci Charter Schools, Southern California.
This issue continues our discussion of the power shift in the media ecosystem, and what it means to be a citizen in a digital age. CML interviewed two digital literacy advocates – Kimberly Brodie, Founder/CEO of The Digital Peace Project, and Alan Simpson from iKeepSafe.
CML is sad to inform our readers of the death of Elizabeth Thoman. Thoman was a pioneer and visionary who founded the Center for Media Literacy in 1989.
This issue focuses on the 2016 presidential election, where technology is going and the challenges that we face in teaching about it. CML interviewed two media literacy advocates – Stephen Balkam from Family Online Safety Institute and Tara O’Gorman, a teacher from a media literacy magnet school in New York. Also includes resources and MediaLit Moments Activity on Fake News. This is Part 1 of a series on Citizenship in the Digital Age.
This issue continues our theme of Children and Media Literacy. This month we publish an article Media Literacy Education: A Preschool Imperative for Building Resiliency by a panel of four experts who engaged in an online and offline commentary, which they edited collaboratively.