Media Smart for Teachers
Media literacy skills empower students to access, understand, analyze, evaluate, use, and create messages in every medium, including paper, television, the Internet, cell phones, and PDAs.
Explore the links below to get an overview of the key concepts of media literacy, digital ethics, and online safety, along with ideas for using those concepts with your students.
Media Literacy 101
A ten-part online primer for parents and teachers covering the key concepts of media literacy.
Digital Ethics
Digital ethics is an online primer on teaching ethical, courteous, and productive behavior while using digital media.
Weaving a Web of Responsibilities
A conceptual framework for thinking about how we can teach critical 21st Century skills such as media literacy, internet safety, and ethical online behavior. This framework can help guide administrators, teachers and parents as they consider how best to help children learn these crucial competencies.
Free e-newsletters
Subscribe to Cable in the Classroom’s free electronic newsletters and be sure you always have the latest information on cable’s educational resources, media literacy, and news you can use.
Media Literacy: A Vital and Underserved Need in Schools
Results of a 2006 survey of educators and library media specialists points to the need for more emphasis on media literacy in the curriculum.
Thinking Critically About Media
A collection of essays by a wide variety of respected experts on teaching media literacy at school and at home.
Navigating the Children's Media Landscape: A Parent's and Caregiver's Guide
Written by the American Institutes for Research for Cable in the Classroom and National PTA, this guide helps parents take control of TV viewing and other media activities in the home.
Media Smart Readings
A collection of articles, drawn from the pages of Cable in the Classroom Magazine and Threshold, covering many aspects of media literacy and children's media use.
Awards
Check out Cable in the Classroom’s two awards programs honoring contributions to the field of media literacy.
- The Leaders in Learning Awards honor educators, community leaders, administrators and/or policymakers for demonstrations of vision, innovation, action, and/or transformation in K-12 education. One award category is specifically for leadership in media literacy.
- Cable in the Classroom’s Media Smart Research Awards recognize research in media literacy instruction done by graduate students.
Video Clips - Taking Charge of Your TV
Seeing is believing! These short video clips demonstrate how easy - and how important -media literacy really is.
Learn more about Choice and Control
Learn about the cable industry's efforts to help families use media in a smart way, including through parental controls, choices in programming, and education in media literacy.
Links to Media Literacy Resources
Want to learn more? Many organizations offer resources, research, and background information on media literacy, including tips for teachers, parents, and caregivers. This annotated list of links gives you a preview of what’s available so you can quickly select what will be most useful.
