Early media theorists can help us to link the past and present of media literacy to pose new questions and gain new knowledge. Historian, author and Librarian on Congress Daniel Boorstin (1914-2004) played an important role in increasing public awareness of the constructed nature of media representations. Connections are explored between…

The ways people have publicly discussed and written about media literacy in the past have great bearing on how citizens, educators and learners are able to think about and practice their own media literacy. Our concepts of media literacy have evolved over time in response to changing contexts of media studies and educational discourses as well as…

The proliferation of digital and networking technologies enables us to rethink, restructure, and redefine teaching and learning. Transmedia storytelling takes advantage of the rapid convergence of media and allows teachers and learners to participate in rich virtual (and physical) environments that have been shown to foster students' real…

This article discusses how online fanfiction communities, their members, and their literacy practices are portrayed within popular and news media discourses. Many media literacy scholars believe these youth media subcultures practice complex and sophisticated forms of "new media" literacy. However, when educators attempt to incorporate these…

The recent protests across the Middle East, generally referred to as the largest civic uprising enabled by social media platforms and mobile technologies, are actively reshaping how one thinks about citizenship, community, and participation in the 21st Century. Within these new spaces have emerged voices--largely those of everyday citizens--that…

In 2005, the author and several colleagues were awarded a five-year grant to create the Center of Excellence for the Advancement of New Literacies in Middle Grades at the College of Charleston. From 2006-2011, they have worked collaboratively with over 200 middle school teachers in underperforming local schools to assist them in stimulating their…

An important challenge for media literacy education in the next decade will be to cultivate a commanding voice in the cultural conversation about new and emerging communication media. To really have a stake in the social, economic and educational developments that emerge around new digital media in the U.S. and globally, media literacy educators…

NAMLE was founded (as the Alliance for a Media Literate America) 10 years ago with a mission "to expand and improve the practice of media literacy education in the United States." There have been many successes since then, and some disappointments. The expansion of media literacy education into schools has fallen into the latter category, with…

This essay reviews the progress achieved in media literacy education over the past decade and emphasizes the importance of assessment, interdisciplinarity in furthering developing the field. The author says that it's nearly impossible to predict what may be possible for the future of the field over the next 10 years. In another publication, she…