Illinois enacted the nation’s first public school media literacy law just shy of two years ago. Since then the press has mostly ignored it, teachers have struggled to figure out what it requires, educators have received little training and no one is checking to see if students are learning to be more media literate. I’m the first journalist who has deeply looked into … [Read more...] about A student reporter gets the first look at Illinois’ struggling media literacy law
media literacy
After COVID-19, media literacy was on a ‘back burner’
Teachers came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, then they heard about the Illinois’ media literacy requirement. Raquel Bliffen, an English teacher at Mt. Vernon Township High School, said her reaction to the new requirement may have been tainted by her whole mindset since COVID-19, which is “kind of like one more thing.” “I kind of felt a little burnt out at that … [Read more...] about After COVID-19, media literacy was on a ‘back burner’
‘Teaching through experience and learning from reactions’: a first-hand look at the implementation of Illinois’ pioneering media literacy program
A windy 27 degrees covered Bedford Park, IL as airplanes from nearby Chicago Midway Airport flew above John Hancock College Prep High School. The bell rang to start the day. In the year following a new Illinois law that requires instruction of media literacy at the public high school level, the state’s educators have been learning and relearning how to implement this … [Read more...] about ‘Teaching through experience and learning from reactions’: a first-hand look at the implementation of Illinois’ pioneering media literacy program
Reopening of St. Louis Holocaust museum institutionalizes media literacy education
This spring, historian Amy Lutz invited this curious media literacy educator to visit the unfinished work space being meticulously prepared for a highly-anticipated re-opening of St. Louis’s Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in November. Wearing a hard hat, glasses and closed-toed shoes for safety did nothing to diminish first impressions of the permanent exhibit … [Read more...] about Reopening of St. Louis Holocaust museum institutionalizes media literacy education
Illinois’ pioneering media literacy program lacks resources, oversight
In the year since Illinois’ pioneering media literacy requirement went into effect, experts, teachers and the state have scrambled to define what media literacy means and how to implement the new law without additional funding, professional development or clear standards. Illinois became the first state in the nation to require instruction of media literacy at the … [Read more...] about Illinois’ pioneering media literacy program lacks resources, oversight