Reading Renee Hobbs' book Media Literacy is very interesting and I must admit I am learning alot! the definition of media literacy according to her reflects the "acknoledged task of schools to assist the young in interpreting the symbols of their culture". Media texts are the center of our cultural world because everyone watches TV and movies and plays in the internet.

Replacing the classic literature texts or analyzing them next to concepts that students see in the media every day--this helps students apply the critical thinking skills to their OWN culture and they learn best when engaged and motivated. Students are highly motivated by pop culture. AN article in the latest Alan Review says that "young people absorb each new technology effortlessly....cyberspace is their habitat, and if we in older generations don't join them there, we will be superfluous. Discounted. Quite literally out of it." The author says that "we must accept that exploring a Web page or a blog IS reading, blogging or posting comments IS writing, and chatting and instant messaging ARE reading and writing....IF we teach safe conduct online, cyberspace offers astounding opportunities for creativity, learning, and development."

This leads me to a wonderful field trip my technology in the classroom took last WEdndesday. It was amazing to actually see this media literacy program at work and succeeding too. Chris Sperry, the instructor at this wonderful alternative school in Ithaca, NY, is teaching media literacy to high school students and it works great no matter what level people are at. The program is called Project Look Sharp and it is looking at literacy in a different form than classic texts. Kids are bored by all the teaching of literary elements, but when you teach them in relation to movies or video games, kids can come alive and start to think about these techniques like characterization, theme, and flashback. Their attitude changes and suddenly they are thinking critically and enjoying it because they are engaged in something that they can wrap their minds around: tv, movies, video games, the Web.

Kids need to learn who is feeding us all this information and what is the motive behind media. We, as a nation, are consuming media at a rapid pace and so what we need is to learn how to decipher fact from fiction, who is trying to sell us something, and who is being genuine. WIth the world wide web, the gates or walls as Friedman says have come crashing down, in regard to where info is coming from and who is hosting what.

So let's help our future generation learn to deconstruct what is coming at us from all angles and teach them how to think critically in the world we live in. It is the most essential thing they will need to take with them when they leave school and what they will use the most in their life: their minds.