Connect to Compete initiative aims to boost digital literacy
Best Buy’s Geek Squad will provide in-person digital literacy training and Microsoft will provide an on-line equivalent as part of a private-public “Connect to Compete” initiative announced today. Also participating in Connect to Compete will be a range of non-profit organizations, including One Economy, which will head up the initiative, as well as several other career-related companies such as CareerBuilder.com andMonster.com, which will provide additional support resources.
“Digital literacy refers to the skills necessary to seize the opportunities [created by] broadband,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who announced Connect to Compete in an address in Washington today. “If you’re not digitally literate, you’re at a significant disadvantage in the work force.”
[read more from Connected Planet]
Steven Spielberg Joins the Board of Directors at the Jacob Burns Film Center
Director Steven Spielberg has joined the board of the Jacob Burns Film Center, a nonprofit cultural arts organization dedicated to independent film exhibition and promoting 21st-century literacy.
“For the past 10 years our goal has been to transform education to equip children to succeed in the digitally and globally connected 21st century. It is very gratifying that Steven Spielberg not only recognizes the importance of our work but wants to join us in redefining literacy in America,” said Stephen Apkon, founder and executive director of the JBFC, in a statement.
Mimi Ito: Kids’ Digital Media Literacy Is Important Cultural Anthropologist, Mimi Ito, gives us an excellent summary of just why it is important to engage children with digital media from elementary school onwards…She asks at the beginning:
“So, my question is this: Why do we assume that kids’ socializing and play is not a site of learning? And, on the flip side: Why do we assume that schools can’t have a spirit of entertainment and play as part of what they are doing?”
It is great to see someone asking the “why” question and challenging our core assumptions about education – how it should be and what it should be like, especially when it is made off the back of a solid 3 year study that engages and talks with children and students about how they learn and their experiences [read more and watch the video Wired.com]
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| More Publishing Opportunities
The Journal of Media Education is now accepting article submissions for the January issue. If you have an article regarding any area of media education and would like to be considered for publication, please submit your articles to[email protected].
The deadline for consideration for the January issue is November 15. JoME also welcomes book reviews, website reviews, faculty internship/development reports and other articles dealing with the broad area of media pedagogy.
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| Mark Your Calendars
Media & Learning Conference 2011 in Brussels
The programme for the Media & Learning Conference 2011 is now finalised and features a terrific line-up of speakers and activities, you will find the latest press release attached and we invite you to visit the c onference programme online: http://www.media -and-learning.eu/programme. Media & Learning is aimed at practitioners and policy makers who want to find new and effective ways to use media to enhance the learning process. It is organised in collaboration with the Flemish Ministry of Education and takes place in the Flemish Ministry of Education Headquarters in Brussels on 24-25 November. [learn more]69th Annual New York State Communications Association (NYSCA) Conference This year’s NYSCA conference takes place October 21-23, 2011 in the Hudson River Valley, just as the fall leaves are turning.The conference theme is: Communication Connections: Contributions and Collaborations between Distanced Groups. NAMLE members and friends from all disciplines or professions are invited to submit proposals for papers, panels, round tables, and visual communication displays. We hope that there will be a number of NAMLE sessions. Please send proposal abstracts of 300 words to [email protected] by JUNE 1, 2011. Students are invited to send completed papers by June 1 to be included in the student paper awards process (awards at the undergrad, masters, and PhD level). Renee Hobbs will be giving a keynote address: Down with the Silos: How digital and Media Literacy Embraces Interdisciplinary Connections Across Campus and Community. Conference participants will receive a copy of Renee’s white paper, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action, courtesy of the Aspen Institute. [learn more]
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| Passioned: Meet our Members
“We launched CyberWise this past summer after conducting research and attending conferences related to media literacy and digital technology and realizing there was a need for a bridge between those who are doing remarkable research and discovery and educators who are fighting the relentless uphill battle of trying to reform our 21st Century educational system, as well as parents and legislators who may lack basic media literacy knowledge and skills. One of the most valuable assets we offer are easy-to-understand “CyberWise Guide” video tutorials and in-depth companion guides on vital topics such as What is New Media?, Digital Citizenship and how to use presentation and social media tools such as Prezi, Glogster, Twitter and more into the classroom….”[learn more]
– Cynthia Liebermann
Want to recommend an M-Passioned NAMLEmember who should be in our next feature? Contact Annelise Wunderlich at[email protected]. ···························································· |
| Media Literacy Resources
Digital ethics curriculum released by researchers at Harvard and USC Everyone is talking about the opportunities and risks of new digital media, especially for young people. Research suggests that young people often lack mentorship in their online lives, especially from adults who are savvy about the ways of the web and can offer them guidance into what it would mean to take an ethical course through their digital lives. Many young people want to do the “right thing” online, even as they are confronted with a range of dilemmas, but may need some help identifying good courses of action. In an effort to address this gap, researchers at Harvard, MIT and USC spent three years developing a casebook of curricular materials called, Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World. Our Space is a curriculum designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments such as Facebook, YouTube, online games, and blogs. The curriculum contains role-playing activities and reflective exercises that invite youth to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people online, and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These are raised in relation to five core themes and units in the curriculum: identity, privacy, authorship and ownership, credibility, and participation. All curricular units and lessons are free and available for download. [learn more]
Free Training EnglishEdu is offering a free onsite A Level English Language Student/Teacher Workshop to the person making the most significant contribution to best practice / teaching and learning ideas and activities on their new blog. [learn more]
LAMP (“Learning About Multimedia Project”) Launches “LAMPlit” resources “All of us here at the LAMP know that it is easy to get confused by all the information out there about media-what it can and can’t do, how to use it and how to figure out what’s right for you. With that in mind, we created our free LAMPlit resource guides to help you find your way and make smart choices. New guides are always in the works, so check back often to see what’s new, and please feel free to email us with your comments and suggestions.” [learn more]
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| Employment Opportunities
Taylor Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia The Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia seeks to fill the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor professorship in the Department of Media Studies. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D., serve currently at the level of advanced associate or full professor at a research university, show evidence of innovative and effective teaching, and have produced a substantial and excellent record in one or more of the following areas of study: journalism in the new media environment; media policy; critical analysis of digital media culture; impacts of social networks. [learn more]
Tenure-Track Position in Journalism Studies at Concordia University The Department of Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec invites applications for one tenure-track position in Journalism Studies. Candidates must be able to contribute to the department in three areas: teaching, research and administrative service. Specifically, candidates must be able to teach both academic and production courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Ideal candidates will have a PhD in a related field, at least five years of practical journalism experience, university teaching experience and a research portfolio in at least one of the following areas: media law, media in Quebec, new journalism forms, political economy, journalism history. [learn more] ···························································· |
| Marketplace Feature
Media Literacy: New Agendas in Communication by Kathleen Tyner
This volume explores how educators can leverage student proficiency with new literacies for learning in formal and informal educational environments. It also investigates critical literacy practices that can best respond to the proliferation of new media in society.
Offering contributions from scholars on the forefront of media literacy scholarhip, this volume provides valuable insights into the issues of literacy and the new forms of digital communication now being utilized in schools. It is required reading for media literacy scholars and students in communication, education, and media. |