Media Literacy teaches students how to build the critical thinking, writing, and reading skills required in a media-rich and increasingly techno-centric world. In a world saturated with media messages, digital environments, and social networking, concepts of literacy must expand to include all forms of media. Today's students need to be able to read, comprehend, analyze, and respond to nontraditional media with the same skill level they engage with traditional print sources.

A major topic in Media Literacy is non-traditional media reading skills, including how to approach, analyze, and respond to advertisements, blogs, websites, social media, news media, and wikis.

Students also engage in a variety of writing activities in nontraditional media genres, such as blogging and podcast scripting. Students consider their own positions as consumers of media and explore ways to use non-traditional media to become more active and thoughtful citizens. Students learn how to ask critical questions about the intended audience and underlying purpose of media messages, and study factors which can contribute to bias and affect credibility.

The course content is based on The National Association for Media Literacy Education's Core Principles of Media Literacy Education, as well as aggregate state standards and research into best pedagogical practices.

Length: One Semester

0.5 credit language arts

*At EOS, students must take Media Literacy and Creative Writing together if they need an additional 1.0 ELA credit.