MediaSmarts Tags - Television

Level: Grades 5 and 6

Overview

This teaching unit helps students to become more aware of the language and techniques used in print advertising, as well as the impact of advertising on their daily lives. The unit will focus on three key media literacy concepts: construction of reality, representation, and audience.

Learning Objectives

To enable students to:

Despite a few attempts, air is still free – but airwaves aren't: on January 25th, 2008, the U.S. government began auctioning off rights to frequencies in the 700 megahertz spectrum. These frequencies, which until now have been used to carry broadcast TV signals, are the last important part of the spectrum that will be available for the expanding mobile communications market.

Image courtesy of CTV

Two programs on Internet issues are airing this week. First, a three-part series (from Monday. March 3 to Wednesday, March 5) on CTV News Ottawa (Cable 7, Bell ExpressVu 196, Starchoice 311) on cyber bullying; you can watch the trailer here. Also, on Tuesday March 4 TVO's The Agenda is airing a discussion on how being online changes the way we socialize.

Surely you've heard of Inspector Spacetime, the cult British TV series that's run (with interruptions) since 1962. It has a tremendously active, engaged fanbase that's created blogs, videos and music devoted to it. Oh, and one more thing -- it never existed. It was made up as a thirty-second gag on the sitcom Community, as a parody-cum-homage of Doctor Who.

Media educator John Pungente's series Beyond the Screen, airing on Bravo!, now has its own Web site, where teachers can find resources and tips on integrating the series into their classrooms. Father John Pungente, a longtime media educator and founding Board member of MNet, planned the series as a follow-up to his acclaimed Scanning the Movies. Like its predecessor, Beyond the Screen is intended as a way of teaching viewers to “read” movies.

An example of this is the TV series Friends, one of the most successful series of the 1990s and still frequently run in syndication. Researchers found that watching a ten-minute segment of the show had a negative effect on how satisfied young women were with their appearance. [2] Since the segment shown did not have any content directly related to weight or body image, it seems likely that viewing similar shows would have a similar effect.

Level: Grades 11 - 12

Author: MediaSmarts

Overview

To introduce students to the organizations, codes and guidelines that govern the broadcasting industry in Canada and to familiarize them with the regulatory process that exists to deal with complaints and issues within the industry.

Learning Outcomes

Students demonstrate:

Level: Grades 9 to 12

Author: This lesson is based on a series of activities created by Wayne McNanney in Mediacy, Vol. 20, No. 3, Fall 1998, and from TVOntario's Behind The Scenes, Resource Guide For Television Literacy. 1990. Used with permission.

Overiview

Level(s): Grades 7 to 12

Author: This lesson has been adapted, with permission, from Dr. Cecil Greek's Graduate Seminar in Criminal Justice "Crime and the Media" (2001), at Florida State University.