Media Literacy Institute 2025
In the AI age, media literacy education has never been more important. This course addresses the pressing need for students to develop media literacy skills, including critical thinking and deeper insights about the media messages they consume and produce each day. Media literacy promotes inquiry into stereotypes, representation, biases, ethical challenges, and other concerns that must be…
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Civic Engagement and the Impact of Artificial Intelligence
The Civic Engagement lecture series is an ongoing series with an overarching goal to highlight individuals who use their time and talent to create space for others to be civically engaged in unique ways. The April panel, Civic Engagement and the Impact of Artificial Intelligence, will focus on the opportunities and challenges of generative AI as a tool for public information. DATE: Monday, April…
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April Virtual Round Table
Join us for our first ever graduate symposium virtual round table! Our graduate symposium consists of students from around the world, who are conducting graduate research on media literacy. After refining their research focus with our executive director, Yonty Friesem, as a part of an informal, six-month virtual media literacy course, they are now ready to share their research with the Media Ed…
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Fact Checking (Previously) Invisible History
Fact Checking (Previously) Invisible History: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance ProjectIt is important to study and understand our history. This is true for events sometimes perceived as “hard history,” which involved unjust, discriminatory treatment and even violence between different groups and individuals. Researching and fact checking these historical events presents unique as well as…
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Media Literacy: Critical Thinking for an AI World
MEDIA LITERACY Critical Thinking for an AI WorldStarting April 12, 2025 Work with a team of Palestinian and American educators to create a media literacy program for Palestinian young adults to build resilience and critical thinking skills WHY IT MATTERSIn today's digital age, navigating the complexities of media is crucial for everyone. Media literacy plays a crucial role in building resilience…
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Bioneers 2025
Misinformation, “Truthiness,” and Critical Thinking: Seeing Through the Madness by Enhancing Media Literacy for All One of the most disconcerting trends in modern political discourse is the increasing feeling that there is no “shared reality” between opposing sides on many issues. In a world facing so many wicked problems simultaneously, the growing inability to collectively discern fact from…
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February Virtual Round Table
Join us for our first ever graduate symposium virtual round table! Our graduate symposium consists of students from around the world, who are conducting graduate research on media literacy. After refining their research focus with our executive director, Yonty Friesem, as a part of an informal, six-month virtual media literacy course, they are now ready to share their research with the Media Ed…
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Free Speech in an Era of Digital Platforms
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 TIME: 10:00-11:00 AM ESTLOCATION: Online. Free …
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Digital Literacy and Fandom Culture
Read here about our full webinar series on Leading from the Library.In this webinar, we'll discuss how interest and participation in fandom culture contributes to the development of digital literacy skills. Drawing on principles of connected learning and the Virginia Tech Digital Literacy Framework, participants will explore how learning…
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Media Literacy is for Everyone
In response to the enthusiasm and excitement around our last event in October, we are excited to officially invite you back to Rhode Island PBS for the next event in the recurring series, “Media Literacy is for Everyone”. DATE: Tuesday, February 11 TIME: 5:00 - 7:00 PM ESTLOCATION: Rhode Island PBS, 50 Park Ln, Providence, RI We're dedicated to the process of building relationships, identifying…
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Digital Authorship Graduate Course
Digital Authorship (EDC 534) is offered in the Spring of 2025 semester by Professor Renee Hobbs. It is one of four required courses in the Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy. The course is offered fully online in an asynchronous format for Anytime Learning.DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS JANUARY 20, 2025 ABOUT THE COURSE: The course examines how AI tools can be used for creative expression and…
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Book Party, Media Literacy in Action, 2nd Edition
Join Renee Hobbs for a book party to celebrate the publication of Media Literacy in Action, 2nd edition!DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 2025TIME: 12 PM - 1 PM ESTLOCATION. Online. REGISTER HEREHelp students…
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Together We Rise: The Next 100 Days
Together We Rise: The Next 100 Days Co-Creating Connections and Possibilities in a Time of Transition The program continues! Join us for reflection and fellowship. This weekly webinar addresses themes of social connection, political transition, stress reduction, and media literacy. Sessions include guest speakers, guided discussions, and mindfulness practices. We are co-constructing the support…
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Participatory Storytelling and News
Participatory storytelling is reshaping news and public discourse, driving both polarization and civic engagement. Join us for “Participatory Storytelling and News” as we unpack insights from Kate Starbird’s research on misinformation and modern media ecosystems. Drawing on the Tech Policy Press December 2024 podcast interview with Starbird, this session explores how educators can better…
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AI ChatBot Ethics
AI-powered chatbots are reshaping how we interact online, but they also raise pressing ethical and practical concerns—especially for parents and teachers. Join us for AI ChatBot Ethics as we examine how children and teens engage with these tools, from companionship to questionable information sources. Drawing on the BBC TechLife podcast “Dating a Chatbot” and recent high-profile stories, we’ll…
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Surviving Election Season & Beyond
Media Literacy for Concerned Citizens Disinformation, political ads, and scams…oh my! Is it safe to turn on your TV or go online these days without fear of the things that go bump in the night? Media literacy is a practice that can help you tame the media monsters, providing you and your loved ones the questions to ask about the many media messages we receive each day to identify bias,…
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Media Literacy Theory of Change Model
Introducing the Media Literacy Theory of Change ModelJoin media literacy researchers Erica Austin and Shawn Domgaard to learn about a new theoretical model, published recently in Communication Theory, that conceptualizes how media literacy activates both cognitive and affective components of the message interpretation processes along with skills that can be taught, engaged, and adapted as a…
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What's New at Project Look Sharp
As we start the school and academic year, we are thrilled to have the founder of Project Look Sharp, Dr. Cyndy Scheibe, to discuss how Project Look Sharp's website provides a plethora of resources to critically analyze media texts for students in grades K-12 and post-secondary courses. In this session, Cyndy will introduce how to use the website and then showcase the Project Look Sharp approach…
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Teaching the Conspiracies
A 2-Week Deep Dive Micro-Credential Course for Emerging and Established LeadersBuilding upon the success of the first micro-credential course "Teaching the Conspiracies" in February's MediaEd Institute, we are thrilled to offer a new follow up with four new modules of online professional learning experience…
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Perception, Fear, and Media: Roots of Polarization
Perception, Fear, and Media: Roots of PolarizationA 2-Week Deep Dive Micro-Credential Course for Emerging and Established LeadersBuilding upon the success of the February's MediaEd Institute, we are thrilled to offer a new online professional learning experience for educators who want to advance their…
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Teaching Media Literacy: What Works
Teaching Media Literacy: What WorksTuesday, June 4, 2024 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm Sponsored by the Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles…
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The Media That Makes Us
This webinar series features participants of the MediaEd Institute and their final projects. Learn more about the MediaEd Institute Here. In this presentation, Erin James will share a slide deck that can be used to teach media literacy to middle schoolers. With an emphasis on girls, their adolescent identity and self-…
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Revising The Media Literacy Critical Questions
The Media Literacy Smartphone was build on a long history of critical reflection of media messages. The Media Education Lab is improving the resources for practitioners of media literacy in K-12 and post-secondary education. And in order to update them, we look to redesign the critical questions for analyzing a media text to support learners and educators of all ages. Join us as we examine the…
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Using Media Literacy to Confront Glamorous Illusions
The Blank Space of Vaping PreventionUsing Media Literacy to Confront Glamorous IllusionsStep into the "Blank Space" where vaping's glamorous illusions take center stage. In this keynote address, we unravel the urgent and insidious dangers of vaping, as influenced by the deceptive allure perpetuated through social media influencers. Envision a new era in tobacco prevention, where we will…
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How to be a Courageous Citizen in a World of Weaponized Words
DATE: Mar 12, 2024 TIME: 9:00 - 9:30 AM Eastern Time (US and CanadaLOCATION:…
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Postcolonial Media Studies
In this 8th and final webinar, we discuss ‘Postcolonial Media Studies: Possibilities, Challenges and Limits of an Emerging Discipline’. Speakers Radhika Parameswaran’s and Sangeet Kumar’s talk will explore how the emerging sub-discipline of postcolonial media studies can illuminate different aspects of our discipline. We will explore the possibilities and limits of postcolonial theoretical…
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What Conspiracy? Media Education in/and the Mirror World
Read here about our full webinar series on Inequalities and Media Education. One of the most striking outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the spirited and public opposition to vaccinations and vaccine mandates. The gradually fraying line between virtual and offline “real” worlds increasingly…
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MediaEd Forum
Join us for the 17th MediaEd Forum!We've changed the name of the Northeast Media Literacy Conference (now in its 17th year) to reflect the growing global diversity of our online knowledge community!Conference Theme: Confronting the ChallengesFriday & Saturday, January 12-13, 2024 ONLINE VIA ZOOM…
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Media Literacy Matters
Renee Hobbs is thrilled to be a featured presenter at the European Digital and Media Literacy Conference in Brussels, which puts the many faces of digital and media literacy in the European spotlight during the Belgian EU presidency. February 27 - March 1, 2024Brussels, BelgiumThe conference is focused on showcasing and exchanging initiatives, tools, projects and practices that can be integrated…
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Media Literacy in Action, 2nd edition 2025
The blurring of entertainment, information, and persuasion is reshaping work, life, and citizenship. As a result, our relationship to media has never been so important nor so complex. By asking critical questions about what they watch, listen to, read, and use, students can be better prepared to be responsible communicators who can use a variety of formats and genres for self-expression and…
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Create to Learn
Create to Learn helps learners create multimedia texts as they develop both critical thinking and communication skills. Written by Renee Hobbs, one of the foremost experts in media literacy, this book introduces a wide range of conceptual principles at the heart of multimedia composition and digital pedagogy. Its approach is useful for anyone who sees the profound educational value of creating…
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The Library Screen Scene
PUBLISHED JULY 15 from Oxford University Press order your copy now!In the past two decades, several U.S. states have explored ways to mainstream media literacy in school…
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Exploring the Roots of Digital and Media Literacy through Personal Narrative
Explore the multidisciplinary nature of media literacy education It's been said that the lack of scholarship about the history of media literacy has been a source of some of the conflicts and debates among scholars and practitioners. Media literacy stands at the intersection of the fields of media studies and education, and these scholars have divergent perspectives on the past, present and…
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Teachers Guide, Media Literacy in Action
This Teacher’s Guide will help you get the most out of the new textbook by Renee Hobbs, as it offers practical guidance on using this textbook in the classroom. Whether you are an experienced teacher or teaching media literacy for the first time, this guide…
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Deconstructing Disney
Deconstructing DisneyThis fun, intergenerational workshop explores what we love and hate about Disney films, characters and brands from the past and present. If you’re a kid, teen, parent, educator or anyone who works with youth, you will learn how people’s knowledge, beliefs and attitudes can be harnessed and expanded for deeper learning through simple instructional strategies. Discovering how…
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Librarians on YouTube
Librarians are often challenged to connect with their communities (learners, fellow educators, and the public) with limited time, among competing priorities, and especially recently, across distance. Among many creative approaches to engagement, YouTube offers a fresh approach for librarians to build connections beyond the physical spaces of the library and outside of formal learning environments…
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Pushing Back
This guide is designed to help high school educators build learners’ skills in both analyzing and creating media messages, helping learners better understand how media affects them, and how to make healthy lifestyle decisions that will improve the quality of their lives.FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROGRAMSThe Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs participated in the…
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Internet: Indispensable or Evil?
OverviewIn these four lessons, students use the episode Adam Ruins the Internet (Season 2, Episode 12) as a starting point to discuss the role of the Internet in modern culture and learn about media policies that shape people’s online…
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Digital and Media Literacy: A Process of Learning
Digital and Media Literacy: A Learning Process …
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Understanding Implicit Bias: The Power of Reflection
Developed by Elizaveta Friesem, Media Education LabLESSON 1: Edward Adelson’s Checkerboard IllusionLESSON 2: The Implicit Association TestLESSON 3: Considering the Consequences of Implicit Bias OverviewDOWNLOAD THE LESSON PLANS HERE Students develop a better understanding of their own…
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All About Media
It's never too early to be smart about media!Give emerging readers the tools to learn about media, evaluate it, and understand it. Readers will learn essential critical thinking concepts along with important topics such as understanding how to find sources and how to properly source, privacy and Internet safety, evaluating ads and news reports, and determining the differences between facts,…
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Discovering Media Literacy
Visit the website Discover Media Literacy to see lesson plans for staff development programs with teachers, along with videos and student work samples linked to our book!…
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Students Taking Action, Not Drugs (STAND)
The STAND (Students Taking Action, Not Drugs) project invites young people to use the power of mass media to design, create and deliver meaningful messages to help other teens resist drug use. This online curriculum includes nine lesson plans to help your students make public service announcements (PSAs) that can be aired or displayed to a large national audience. The STAND project combines the…
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