Module 1: Media Awareness

• The mass media are carefully crafted messages that present a particular sense of what the world is and how it works. While all of us have our own view of the way the world is “constructed”, based on our experiences, many of our notions are influenced by what the mass media show us.
• Each medium has its own forms and conventions. Language, design, sound, lighting, camera angles, etc. are used to construct meaning in a particular way.
• Each media message has its own biases and ideology. It is important to recognize these values and biases in order to respond critically.
• Media messages often have commercial implications. Most media production is undertaken as a business with a goal of making a profit. This can influence what is presented in the mass media.
• The mass media are responded to and interpreted in different ways. No individual or group is entirely alike any other. Each audience will react to and interpret media messages in a different way. The informed viewer, listener, and reader analyzes the media message and tries to understand and appreciate how and why a particular interpretation is made.

Foundational Objectives:

Students will:

• Recognize and appreciate the role of mass media in communication, in contemporary society, and in their personal lives
• Recognize the codes, forms, and conventions of the various mass media
• Recognize the ways in which the various mass media shape their messages, and construct a sense of what the world is or how it works
• Analyze and evaluate the various mass media, including their sources, intents, and underlying values
• Recognize the role and power of advertising in the mass media
• Extend and apply their speaking, listening, writing, reading, viewing, and representing abilities
• Extend and apply their representing and viewing abilities by designing and creating a media text

Specific Learning Objectives

In this module, students will:

• communicate in various formats for various audiences and purposes
• respond personally and critically to a range of media
• listen to analyze and evaluate
• write to express understanding
• work co-operatively and contribute positively in group learning situations
• relate language and literacy development to the mass media environment in which they live
• read to find meaning and interpret
• attempt to understand an author’s purpose and intentions
• define popular culture and mass media
• identify the functions of and principles behind mass media
• recognize the impact of media communications
• recognize bias and fallacies
• recognize how stereotypes can lead to prejudicial views and discriminatory actions
• recognize the connection between the media and marketing strategies that make popular culture a business
• identify fads and the needs they address in a culture
• identify the social, economic, and political dimensions of consumer trends
• explore how technological developments shape society
• evaluate the reliability of information communicated through the mass media
• collect and organize quantitative information into tables, graphs, or charts and analyze this information to determine a conclusion
• understand how statistics can be used to support an argument or claim and be aware that the same statistical figures can lead to seemingly different conclusions
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Lessons

Bias

Camera Shots

Challenging Hate Online

Defining Pop Culture

Free Speech and the Internet

Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!

How to Analyze the News

Hype!

Images of Learning: Secondary

Individuality vs. Conformity

Marketing to Teens: Introduction

Marketing to Teens: Marketing Tactics

Marketing to Teens: Talking Back

Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads

Marketing to Teens: Alternate Ads

Marketing to Teens: Gender Roles in Advertising

Marketing to Teens: Gotta Have It! Designer & Brand Names

Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate

The Front Page

Bias in the News

Fact Versus Opinion

Perceptions of Youth and Crime

Popular Music and Music Videos

The Privacy Dilemma

Television Newscasts

The Function of Music

Suffragettes and Iron Ladies

Thinking About Hate

You Be the Editor

Student Tutorial (Licensed Resource)

MyWorld: A digital literacy tutorial for secondary students

Module 2: Exploring the Medium of Television

Foundational Objectives

In this module, students will:

• Recognize and appreciate the role of mass media in communication, in contemporary society, and in their personal lives
• Recognize the codes, forms, and conventions of the various mass media
• Recognize the ways in which the various mass media shape their messages, and construct a sense of what the world is or how it works
• Analyze and evaluate the various mass media, including their sources, intents, and underlying values
• Recognize the role and power of advertising in the mass media
• Extend and apply their speaking, listening, writing, reading, viewing, and representing abilities
• Extend and apply their representing and viewing abilities by designing and creating a media text

Specific Learning Objectives

• respond personally and critically to a popular medium
• write to express understanding
• read to find meaning and interpret
• speak to clarify and extend thinking
• recognize factors that interfere with effective listening, including personal biases
• recognize bias and fallacies
• understand the importance of social responsibility and personal integrity in the use of language and media
• recognize the underlying assumptions of mass media as they apply to television
• describe briefly the historical and technical development of television
• evaluate the popularity and nature of television
• access information from a variety of sources
• examine critically their own experiences with television
• learn the language and conventions of television
• interpret and evaluate a television production
• identify the persuasion techniques used in television
• produce a text for television.

Lessons

Bias

Camera Shots

Comparing Crime Dramas

Crime in the News

Crime Perceptions Quiz

How to Analyze the News

Hype!

Perceptions of Youth and Crime

Popular Music and Music Videos

Scripting a Crime Drama

Television Broadcast Ratings

Television Newscasts

Viewing a Crime Drama

Violence on Film: The Ratings Game

Exploration of Other Media and/or Advertising

Foundational Objectives

Students will:

• Recognize and appreciate the role of mass media in communication, in contemporary society, and in their personal lives
• Recognize the codes, forms, and conventions of the various mass media
• Recognize the ways in which the various mass media shape their messages, and construct a sense of what the world is or how it works
• Analyze and evaluate the various mass media, including their sources, intents, and underlying values
• Recognize the role and power of advertising in the mass media
• Extend and apply their speaking, listening, writing, reading, viewing, and representing abilities
• Extend and apply their representing and viewing abilities by designing and creating a media text

Exploring Advertising

Students will:

• use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and produce media texts
• respond personally and critically to print, visual, and oral advertising
• explore connections between language use, theme, and meaning
• attempt to understand an author’s purpose and intentions
• speak to clarify and extend thinking
• recognize advertising claims and techniques
• examine advertising in various media for various techniques, appeals, and claims
• read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts, and graphs
• trace the history of advertising as a force behind the mass media
• examine the impact of advertising on personal and social values and behaviours
• recognize how stereotypical views can lead to prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory practices
• make and justify decisions
• recognize ethical issues in advertising
• use a variety of resources to assist their learning
• produce a print and non-print advertisement for a product or service.

Lessons

Advertising and Male Violence

Kellogg Special K Ads

Don’t Drink and Drive: Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking Campaigns

Marketing to Teens: Introduction

Marketing to Teens: Marketing Tactics

Marketing to Teens: Talking Back

Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads

Marketing to Teens: Alternate Ads

Marketing to Teens: Gender Roles in Advertising

Marketing to Teens: Gotta Have It! Designer & Brand Names

Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate

The Price of Happiness: On Advertising, Image, and Self Esteem

The Pornography Debate: Controversy in Advertising

Sex in Advertising

Exploring Radio and the Recording Industry

Students will:

• use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and produce media texts
• speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
• listen to understand and learn
• listen critically and attentively
• respond personally and critically to radio and recordings
• write to express understanding
• analyze the conventions and forms of radio
• recognize the scope of radio programming and its influence on their lives
• make and justify decisions
• recognize the close relationship between radio and the recording industry
• research the history of radio and related technology (e.g., records, audio cassettes, CDs, digital tape)
• interpret and evaluate a radio production
• produce a radio program.

Lessons

Popular Music and Music Videos

The Broadcast Project

The Function of Music

Exploring Print

Students will:

• use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and produce media texts
• write to express understanding
• read to find meaning and interpret
• speak to clarify and extend thinking
• listen to understand and learn
• respond personally and critically to print media
• recognize the role of newspapers, magazines, and mass market paperbacks in their society
• analyze the conventions and forms of the newspaper, magazine, and mass market paperback
• trace the history of newspapers, magazines, and mass market paperbacks
• pose questions and seek clarification
• compare and evaluate the content of a variety of newspapers, magazines, and mass market paperbacks
• read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts, and graphs
• explain the role of advertising in newspapers and magazines
• understand the importance of social responsibility and personal integrity in the use of language and media
• prepare an article for a newspaper or magazine
• analyze the publishing industry and book marketing strategies.

Lessons

Bias

Magazine Production

The Front Page

Bias in the News

Fact Versus Opinion

Don’t Drink and Drive: Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking Campaigns

Political Cartoons

You Be the Editor

Exploring Film and Video

Students will:

• use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and produce media texts
• speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
• listen to understand and learn
• respond personally and critically to film and video
• describe the role film and video play in their lives
• realize that mass media enrich and broaden the experiences of life, including one’s personal and social understanding and responsibilities
• explain the conventions and language of film and video
• trace the developments and stages in the history of film and video
• evaluate the effectiveness of a film or video
• attempt to understand a filmmaker’s purpose and intentions
• compare movie genres
• discuss the economic and cultural dimensions of film and video
• compare the television experience and the movie experience
• learn to access information from a variety of sources
• prepare a short film or video.

Lessons

Camera Shots

Cinema Cops

Movie Heroes and the Heroic Journey

Scripting a Crime Drama

The Blockbuster Movie

Violence on Film: The Ratings Game

Exploring Photographs, Posters and Billboards

Students will:

• respond personally and critically to photographs, posters, and billboards
• learn to access information from a variety of sources
• speak to clarify and extend thinking
• recognize the underlying principles of mass media as they apply to photographs, posters, and billboards
• examine the role of photography, posters, and billboards in contemporary society
• explain the conventions of photography and visual advertising
• trace the developments and history of photography, posters, and billboards
• evaluate the effectiveness of photographs, posters, and billboards
• compare the use of visual images in various media
• prepare a photograph, poster, or billboard display.

Exploring Emerging Communication Technologies

Students will:

• apply the underlying principles of media studies to emerging mass media
• discern the messages and impact of emerging mass media
• speak to express understanding
• attempt to understand an author’s/producer’s purpose and intentions
• identify the functions of and principles behind emerging technologies
• evaluate the reliability of information communicated through emerging media
• learn to access information from a variety of sources
• evaluate new technologies.

Lessons

Challenging Hate Online

Don’t Drink and Drive: Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking CampaignsICYouSee: A Lesson in Critical Thinking

Free Speech and the Internet

Thinking About Hate

Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!

Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate

What Students Need to Know about Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy