If you are an educator of virtually any grade, anywhere in the world, it is likely that you’ve thought about the impact of today’s media messaging on the next generation. With the dawn of AI and social media algorithms that too often promote false news, it’s no wonder that 91 percent of Americans have reported feeling concerned with the spread of inaccurate information. And while young people are often considered to be ‘digital natives’ they need just as much, or more, guidance on how to safely and responsibly navigate the daunting world of today’s media.

The Importance of Media Literacy

Media literacy, or the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication, is one of the most critical skills for today’s young people to master.

Consider any issue in the world today – climate change, migration, habitat loss, or wealth inequality just to name a few. There are massive amounts of information, and misinformation, about these topics floating around both online and in print media. Once students leave the classroom door, they are bombarded with messaging spewed from internet giants, political actors, and big corporations, that all have an interest in manipulating young minds.

The ability of students to fully understand and tackle the issues of their time relies on their ability to sort through this never-ending content – to decipher fact from fiction, to gather information from trusted sources, and to learn to communicate in ways that are not only powerful, but responsible.

Teaching Media Literacy

So how do we teach students to be responsible media citizens? The answer is that media literacy must be explicitly taught in classrooms. Groups like Media Literacy Now equate teaching students about media literacy to teaching them how to drive a car. When young people learn to drive, they spend hours taking classes, shadowing adults, and practicing before they take the wheel on their own. Teaching students to navigate media sources should be no different. Students must receive instruction and be given ample opportunities to practice before we can expect them to be successful at navigating the often confusing and overwhelming world of modern media.

Media Literacy Classroom Resources

The good (real!) news is that the word is out. Most educators, and even many policy makers, agree that boosting media literacy needs to be a classroom priority.  In recent years, there has been a burst in education groups and state legislatures working to increase media literacy in schools. And while there is still a lot of work to be done, starting small and making changes in your own classroom can go a long way.

So with that in mind, we will spend the next two months focusing on getting more media literacy resources into the hands-on K-12 teachers.

• We will share some of our PopEd lessons that support students becoming savvy media consumers.
• We will spotlight the work other education groups who have great resources for teaching about media literacy.
• Our blog will be full of posts that dive into various aspects of this issue, including the state of media literacy education in the U.S. and teaching students how to spot fake news.
• And as always, we’ll host a free webinar, Media Literacy Skills for Solving Real-World Problems, to share some favorite lessons in real-time and answer your questions. We hope you will join us! Register today.

Follow along on all of our channels – Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn – to stay up to date with all the great media literacy content we’ll share!

Test Your Media Literacy

To kick things off, try out this fun, quick media literacy quiz from the News Literacy Project. Test your knowledge on confirmation bias, the guidelines for using anonymous sources in reporting, and your ability to spot hidden advertisements. It’s a perfect way to see how your own skills measure up (you may be surprised!), and a great way to jump-start a conversation with your students.

Image credits: Smart phone (1420092251 by bymuratdeniz); Boy on computer (Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash)