“Teen’s junk food diet caused boy to go blind.” “Even one diet soda a day may triple your risk for developing dementia.” “Dark chocolate may help prevent some forms of cancer.” These are just a few of the health news headlines (or click bait?) that we consume on a daily basis. But they rarely reflect […]
To commemorate the 4th annual U.S. Media Literacy Week in the United States (Nov 5-9), I will host and moderate a special screening of “Adam Ruins Everything” (truTV) on Election Day (Tuesday, November 6th) at Montclair State University. This is a partnership between the COMM+MEDIA Research Collaboratory (which I founded) and the National Association for Media […]
To commemorate the 3rd Annual National Media Literacy Week (Nov 6-10) PLAY executive director and professor in the School of Communication and Media Vanessa Domine hosted a screening of Joni Siani’s documentary film Celling Your Soul (Bullfrog Films) in the new Presentation Hall in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. The film takes viewers […]
On November 3, 2016 I was honored to moderate a We The Voters “political party” for undergraduate students in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Thanks to my faculty colleagues (Marylou Naumoff, Joel Penney, and Marc Rosenweig) for their contributions. We screened two films (How to Master Debate and Mediocracy). Students engaged in a […]
I am so excited to be a part of Right from the Start in the Digital Age launched by FHI 360 this week—during the inaugural Media Literacy Week in the United States. “Right from the Start” is a national initiative focusing on children in grades PreK-3. It aims to encourage good digital citizenship and to […]
From November 2 to November 6, the U.S. will celebrate the very first Media Literacy Week. The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), noting the lack of resources available to parents through traditional school curricula, hopes to raise awareness about the importance of media literacy and its essential role in schools today. Canada and […]
The launch of the very first Media Literacy Week (#MediaLitWk) in the United States is being held November 2-6, 2015. The mission of Media Literacy Week is to highlight the power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today. Sponsored by Trend Micro and hosted by the National Association for Media Literacy […]
This time of the year, many parents worry about their kids’ safety at school. Tragic and violent events, like those that occurred at Columbine High School more than a decade ago, or more recently at Sandy Hook Elementary School, have fueled intense public debate over the effects of media violence among children and within schools. […]
The answer to the question, “Do teachers assign too much homework?” depends upon who is asking/answering the question. Teachers might think they don’t assign enough, given their mandates to raise student achievement. Parents might think teachers assign too much homework, especially since time may be spread thin in the home with other extra-curriculum and family […]
The good folks at the Family Online Safety Institute asked me to write a Back-to-School blogpost for their Digital Backpack series. What’s the one thing that I wish all parents and educators understood? That media literacy is much more than technological proficiency. In less than 800 words, I provide the ABCs of media literacy (Access. […]
What a great weekend in Philadelphia with media and information literacy educators from across the globe—convening for the 2015 NAMLE/MILID conference. The theme this year was “Celebrating Connectivity Across Cultures” and the Modern Media Makers (M3) youth media production team worked around the clock to develop some thoughtful pieces of media. I am particularly fond […]
Interested in joining me to learn more about media literacy & media use in the classroom? I am very excited about the eclectic program I’ve assembled of some of the best and brightest media literacy scholars, educators, practitioners, activists and artists around.
I recently crafted the blog healthyteens.us as an extension of the ideas in my new book, Healthy Teens, Healthy Schools. My goal is to create a collaboratory for ideas on how media literacy education in particular can cultivate healthy teens and healthy schools. I invite you to contribute. Here’s why: Widespread obesity, poor nutrition, sleep-deprivation, and highly digital and sedentary lifestyles are just a few […]
Rather than simply use technology to support instruction, I firmly believe that media technologies exist to transform teaching and learning in a reciprocally innovative relationship between teacher and student (both of which are learners). With that said, many teachers are swimming (some even drowning) in a sea of curriculum standards that have been imposed upon them. I […]
My second book, Healthy Teens, Healthy Schools: How Media Literacy Can Renew Education in the United States (in press, Rowman & Littlefield) is intended for educators across levels and contexts in the shared responsibility of building critical media health literacy among adolescents. While the topic of health in the U.S. is predominantly framed as an individual […]
After living the past twelve years in the realm of teacher education and technology, I elected this year to return to my communication roots. For the one course I am allowed to teach (as Department Chair), I chose to go outside of the College of Education and Human Services into the School of Communication to teach CMST […]
After an interesting semester of online teaching both undergrad and graduate pre-service teachers, I am intrigued by the recent discourse on digital content curation. This emerging role intersects public relations, communication and media arts, information literacy, media literacy, news literacy (and others). Currently, curation is a highly relevant topic within my current role as teacher educator. When […]
Last week I had the privilege of delivering a guest lecture in Christopher McKinley’s “Introduction to Communication and Media Arts” course among 135 undergraduate students. My 25-minute presentation emerged as quite the scholarly love letter to the late Neil Postman, who was my doctoral advisor in media ecology at New York University from 1995-1998. My lecture is […]
In 2011, I wrote an article titled, “Building 21st-Century Teachers: An Intentional Pedagogy of Media Literacy Education” that was published in a special issue of Action in Teacher Education. The question I posed was, “Are we helping preservice teachers develop a repertoire of technical skills and pedagogical strategies in the service of democratic practice?” In […]
I am teaching a three-week intensive online course (Integrating Technology Across the Secondary Curriculum) at Montclair State U. late summer (August 11-August 28). The course will be held within Canvas and will provide participants with hands-on experiences in creating educational and instructional technology environments that are student-centered, collaborative, inquiry-based, and emphasize critical thinking. The course explores […]
Who better to reflect on the 2/19/14 screening of “Eyes Wide Open: This is Media” than a media-savvy pre-service teacher in attendance? A special thanks to Melissa McHugh for her blogpost and also for live-tweeting the event. By Melissa McHugh | Graduate Student | Master of Arts in Teaching | Montclair State University Last week I […]
Thanks to a grant from the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) and pivot tv, Montclair State University‘s College of Education and Human Services hosted a free screening of the 22-minute documentary “Eyes Wide Open: This is Media” on Wednesday, February 19th in University Hall 1050. A panel of communication and education professionals discussed digital and […]
This past week I had the privilege of conducted a brief 45-minute professional development session at a high-performing K-6 elementary school in northern New Jersey. In my initial consultation with the principal, we identified several areas of need. Yet, the one area that troubled him the most was the lack of authentic inclusion in classrooms […]
Jim Burke of Participant Media gave an excellent keynote address this past July at the National Association for Media Literacy Education Conference in Torrence, California. Participant Media brought us great films such as Lincoln, Food, Inc., and The Help. Not only do I admire Jim for his charisma and sense of humor, but he’s a former school teacher and principal […]
This past week I had the privilege of conducted a brief 45-minute professional development session at a high-performing K-6 elementary school in northern New Jersey. In my initial consultation with the principal, we identified several areas of need. Yet, the one area that troubled him the most was the lack of authentic inclusion in classrooms […]