Media Literacy Resources

Discover Media Literacy Tools and Resources for Your Classroom

Created by Drs. Tracy McNelly & Jessica Harvey | Saint Vincent College

We are living in a world with the largest digital landscape in history. Everyone now has the capacity to post information, true or not, to a variety of social media platforms. This is why Media Literacy education is more important now than ever. Research shows that our current students are easily fooled by fake news and have a hard time critiquing information found online. Moreover, there is a lack of media literacy education for prospective and practicing teachers, making it challenging for educators to integrate media literacy instruction within the classroom. We hope this page of media literacy tools will help future and current teachers find good resources to help teach students how to navigate the digital landscape and become critical consumers of all types of media.

KQED Teach: This resource offers free and hands-on learning opportunities for teachers who are interested in incorporating digital media into their classroom. “Educators can build skills in digital storytelling, data visualization, and critical media use to support all curriculum areas. These skills allow educators to facilitate learning environments where their students can create digital content, develop their communication and technology skills, and engage in deeper learning that encourages critical thinking.” Additionally, through education modules, teachers have the opportunity to earn micro-credentials and become PBS Certified Media Literacy Educators. https://teach.kqed.org/course/finding-evaluating-informationhttps://edu-landing.kqed.org/certification/

Media Education Foundation (MEF)

The mission of MEF is to produce and distribute “documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media.” The organization has produced various films on topics ranging from health, race, gender, and politics. Trailers for each film can be viewed on the website and preview copies can be ordered for free to review, however, there is a cost if you would like to order a film for your class or library. The website does include many different handouts and class activities centering around media literacy education, as well as educational discussion guides for their films.http://www.mediaed.org/

Media Education Lab: The mission of the Media Literacy Lab is to “improve digital and media literacy education through scholarship and community service.” The website includes research articles produced by the lab on digital learning, children, and media. Additionally, educators can find a variety of different resources for media literacy education, including videos, quizzes, curriculum, and links to media literacy education resources. http://mediaeducationlab.com/

Media Smarts: Based out of Canada, Media Smarts is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “provide leadership in advancing digital and media literacy in Canadian schools, homes and communities; and contribute to the development of informed public policy on issues related to media.” The website includes links to educational games, digital issues, research, and resources for teachers.  The resources and lessons for teachers can be located by specifying grade, resource type, topic, and media type.

http://mediasmarts.ca/

Media Literacy Clearinghouse: Created by Frank Baker, a media literacy education consultant and one of the prominent scholars in the field of media literacy, this website contains a variety of resources for educators interested in media literacy education. Included are media literacy lesson plans for subjects ranging from math and science to social studies and art. The website also provides links to books and other resources on media literacy and education. http://frankwbaker.com/

Center for Media Literacy (CML): The CML is an educational organization that “works to help citizens, especially the young, develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture.” The organization has monthly newsletters that provide useful  information for parents and educators, as well as a variety of media literacy resources and research-based papers located on their website. Media literacy curriculum across a range of subjects is available, however, some are only accessible at a cost. http://www.medialit.org/

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE): NAMLE is a “national membership organization dedicated to media literacy as a basic life skill for the 21st century. [Their] vision is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today’s world.” The organization’s website includes information about media literacy, links to articles published in the Journal of Media Literacy (which is published by NAMLE), and membership details. In addition, there is a link to resources including media literacy lesson plans for educators, videos, and articles. http://namle.net/

Common Sense Education: Common Sense Education is a part of Common Sense Media. Through Common Sense Education, teachers can find a K-12 digital citizenship curriculum with out of the box lesson plans, information about teaching with technology, help finding educational technology tools as well as reviews on these tools, and professional development.  https://www.commonsense.org/education/

NewseumEd: NewseumEd is a part of Newseum, which is located in Washington, DC. Its mission is to increase public understanding of the importance of a free press and the First Amendment.” NewseumEd is a free online resource that provides a plethora of topics, tools, lessons, artifacts, videos, and training (virtual courses) about digital and media literacy. (Grades 3-Adult) https://newseumed.org

Mind Over Media: Mind Over Media is a “crowdsourced educational platform” that contains examples of propaganda across a wide range of topics. Teachers can use this site to help students understand propaganda and recognize it in various media formats. Both teachers and students can upload examples of propaganda they find and teachers can create their own gallery space to house media they select for use in their classrooms. The site includes lesson plans on virality, sponsored contents and propaganda ethics. Teachers can download the entire Mind Over Media curriculum. to https://propaganda.mediaeducationlab.com

Media Literacy Now: The mission of Media Literacy Now is to prepare students to be “thoughtful, safe, and effective consumers and creators of media.” In addition to resources about media literacy legistralation and news, the site provides educator resources and a free learning tool, Learnics (learnics.com).  https://medialiteracynow.org

Media Power Youth: The mission of this organization is to provide professional development and curricula to build children’s media literacy knowledge and critical thinking. On the educator page, this site provides a media literacy curriculum for grades 4-6 and 6-8. Curriculum materials have a cost. https://mediapoweryouth.org/educators/

Digital Resource Center: Center for News Literacy: Developed at Stony Brook University, this site provides a full 14 week news literacy course that is appropriate for students in grades 6 and up. Teachers have access to a teachers’ guide and course packs, which contain Google Drive files of lesson plans and resources. For teachers that want an abbreviated version of the course, the site offers The Secondary School 5-day News Literacy Sequence that include everything from PowerPoint presentations to student handouts. Teachers can also access case studies and teacher-created lesson plans. https://digitalresource.center/splashpage

iKeepSafe: The mission of iKeepSafe is to provide a “safe digital landscape for children, school, and families by supporting the protection of student privacy, which advancing the learning in a digital culture.” They provide a variety of educator resources about digital security including the Be Internet Awesome, which they created in collaboration with Google. Be Internet Awesome is a full curriculum including 5 lessons on digital safety and citizenship. iKeepSafe also introduces educators to Faux Paw the Techno Cat. These fun books and videos teach safe and healthy use of digital devices. Educators also have access to a variety of professional development.  https://ikeepsafe.org

Project Look Sharp: Project Look Sharp was developed at Ithaca College and provides access to over 425 standards-aligned lessons and activities that integrate media literacy across the K-12 curriculum. From the website, educators can access curriculum kits browsable by content and grade level, lessons, professional development, and resources, such as videos and handouts. https://www.projectlooksharp.org

Cyber Civics: This site was created to teach adolescents in grades 6-8 critical thinking and ethical decision making about digital media. It uses problem-solving tasks, role playing, and hands-on activities. There is a cost for this program and curriculum. https://www.cybercivics.com

InCtrl: InCtrl offers free digital citizenship lessons for grades 4-8. Educators can download detailed lessons that contain hands-on activities, vocabulary terms, discussion questions, and videos. https://teachinctrl.org

Connect Safely: Connect Safely is a nonprofit based in Silicon Valley, California whose mission is to educate users of technology about safety, privacy, and security. The site contains access to research-based safety tips, educators guide books on various topics, a media library and more.  https://www.connectsafely.org

News Literacy Project: News Literacy Project offers several resources for educators including professional development and various classroom activities. NewsLitCamp and Newsroom to Classroom both connect educators with practicing journalists who can visit the classroom in person or virtually. Checkology is a free virtual classroom for students in grades 6-12 that helps students master news literacy skills. The Sift is a newsletter that brings “teachable moments in new literary” to educators. https://newslit.org/educators/

Copyright and Creativity: This site provides resources for teaching copyright and fair use for grades K-12, as well as free professional development for teachers. Each lesson provides brief animation as well as lesson slides, pdf files and Google Suite files. https://www.copyrightandcreativity.or

The Lamp: The mission of The Lamp is to “teach youth, parents, and educators to comprehend, create, and critique media and technology.” The site provides some free and some paid resources for educators. http://thelamp.org

Facebook Digital Literacy Library: Facebook designed a series of interactive lessons that help students better and more safely navigate the internet and become critical consumers of digital information. https://www.facebook.com/safety/educators/

Lamp Platoon: This is an initiative by THE LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project). By unpacking media messages, it encourages critical thinking about media. The site provides access to advertisements and descontructs each ad by providing a critique.  Teachers can also use the Media Breaker with students where students create their own videos critiquing media messages. http://lamplatoon.thelamp.org

White Ribbon Week: This is a school program that helps elementary students make good choices about media and technology. Educators can purchase digital or hard copies of the programs in a box. (Elementary) http://www.whiteribbonweek.org

Tumble Home: This organization provides a one week unit called “Resisting Scientific Misinformation” for students in grades 6-12.  The unit will help students think critically about scientific content in the media and to use evidence-based reasoning to determine what is fake and what is a hoax. https://tumblehomebooks.org/services/resisting-scientific-misinformation/

Digizen: This site provides information on digital citizenship. Educators can search lesson activities, training, and advice from experts.  https://www.digizen.org

PBS Arthur’s Guide to Media Literacy: Based on the popular children’s TV show, each media literacy lesson connects to a different Arthur episode. (Elementary) https://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/medialiteracy/

Mozilla Web Literacy: This site provides project based learning modules that teach digital and media literacy skills. https://learning.mozilla.org/en-US/web-literacy

Digital and Media Literacy Education: This site offer research, lesson ideas, news and events about media literacy. The lessons contain teacher directions, handouts and videos. (Elementary and Middle) http://www.discovermedialiteracy.com

ChannelOne News: ChannelOne News offers a variety of articles and lessons on media literacy, including a fun quiz, “Can You SPot the Fake News Story?” https://www.channelone.com/feature/media-literacy/

VIDEOS

Media Education Foundation: Provides educational videos/documentaries and study guides about media, culture and society. (Middle and High School) https://www.mediaed.org

All Sides for Schools: AllSides for Schools provides educators with tools, resources, lesson plans, and information to help students build skills in media literacy, bias awareness, and critical thinking. (Middle School-Adult) https://allsidesforschools.org

The Representation Project: This project uses film to teach issues around media literacy. Each film is accompanied by curriculum materials. (High School and up) http://therepresentationproject.org/educator-school/

GAMES

Be Internet Awesome Interland Game: One of Google collaborations was the development of Interland, a game provides kids with hands-on digital safety practice. (All levels, but we think it fits best with elementary and middle) https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/interland

Checkology: Online game that provides lessons to equips students in grades 6-12 with tools to evaluate and interpret information. (Middle and High School) https://get.checkology.org/

Media Smarts: Media Smarts offers a wide range of online games to introduce students to media and digital literacy. A few are listed below.

  • Co-Co’s AdverSmarts: An Interactive Unit on Food Marketing on the Web (ages 5-8)
  • A Day in the Life of Jos (grades 6-8)
  • Allies and Aliens: A Mission in Critical Thinking (grades 7-8)
  • Data Defenders (grades 4-6)

http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/educational-games

Carnegie Cyber Academy: In this game, students complete missions geared around cyber security topics such as understanding spam, website dangers, protecting your personal information and cyber bullying. (Elementary) http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/about.html

My Pop Studio: This free online game introduces children and adolescents to digital and media literacy. Students get to go behind the scenes to think critically about media creation and messages. Lesson plans and activities enhance the game experience. https://www.mypopstudio.com/index2.php

Digital Passport: Common Sense Education offers six interactive games that teach digital citizenship skills. (Grades 3-5) https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-passport

Digital Compass: Common Sense Education offers an interactive game that teaches media literacy skills. (Grades 6-8) https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-compass

Digital Citizen Kahoots: Common Sense Media created these free Kahoots about digital and media literacy. https://create.kahoot.it/pages/Common-Sense/b33c5462-a96e-4bb5-8afa-5e7842dca80d?j=7484320&jb=291&l=2048712_HTML&mid=6409703&sfmc_sub=171581794&u=136033437&utm_medium=email&utm_source=edu_nl_20191008

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