The dissemination of good practices in MLE requires a more rigorous definition of their characteristics, including criteria and indicators to measure their quality. This article -- after reflecting on the meaning and function of identifying good MLE practices -- presents a systematic framework of 35 indicators for good MLE activities in Italian…

Media literacy educators talk about the importance of developing essential social skills, such as collaboration, by using video production in the classroom. Video production with disadvantaged youth can also play a role of art therapy, as students use their creativity to come to terms with traumatizing pasts. This paper offers an account of a…

As states are moving toward comprehensive sexual health education, educators require engaging and effective curricula. This pre-post study (N = 64) examined the feasibility of a comprehensive, media literacy education program for influencing adolescents' sexual health and media literacy outcomes. After the program, participants were more…

This study assesses the psychometric properties of a newly tested self-report assessment tool for media literacy, based on the twelve new media literacy skills (NMLs) developed by Jenkins et al. (2006). The sample (N = 327) consisted of normal volunteers who completed a comprehensive online survey that measured their NML skills, media exposure,…

The youth media movement, which now has a place in countless venues, communities, and scholarly discourses, reflects an evolution of practices pioneered in the 1950s and 1960s as amateur filmmaking increasingly became a reality in American families and schools. In this paper, we examine the films of Robert J. Clark, Jr. as a representative early…

Why is it important for us to consider the history of media literacy? Beyond forging connections of the past to the present, exploring the history of the field can deepen intellectual curiosity and understanding for those who work in media literacy education, ignite interest in others, and drive investigation into understanding the relationships…

This article describes and reflects upon efforts to generate greater support for media literacy and critical thinking within the strategies and programs of the Federal government in the early 1990s to about 2005 primarily among agencies with an interest in youth substance abuse prevention. Beginning with their personal reflections on discovering…

The Elizabeth Thoman Archive at the Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island, has the last complete kit of one of the milestones in the early chronology of media literacy, the 1972 Media Now curriculum. This curriculum was the first of its kind, using self-contained lesson modules that were part of a larger series…

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…

"New media" does not change the essence of what media literacy is, nor does it affect its ongoing importance in society. Len Masterman, a UK-based professor, published his ground-breaking books in the 1980's and laid the foundation for media literacy to be taught to elementary and secondary students in a systematic way that is…

This essay is a personal reflection on the implementation of "Creating Critical Viewers," a national media literacy program sponsored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), an industry association, in 1995. The television industry's decision to develop a media literacy curriculum in the 1990s was a powerful…

Contemporary propaganda is ubiquitous in our culture today as public relations and marketing efforts have become core dimensions of the contemporary communication system, affecting all forms of personal, social and public expression. To examine the origins of teaching and learning about propaganda, we examine some instructional materials produced…

The growing popularity of social network sites (SNS) is causing concerns about privacy and security, especially with teenagers, since they show various forms of unsafe behavior on SNS. It has been put forth by researchers, teachers, parents, and teenagers that school is ideally placed to educate teens about risks on SNS and to teach youngsters how…

This study of media literacy education at all levels of the educational system considered faculty perceptions of student media literacy competencies, the extent to which media literacy is addressed in class, and the extent to which faculty members consider media literacy education to be important. Data suggest that despite the research and policy…

This qualitative study explores how adolescent high school students in an AP English class used multiple forms of media (the internet, digital video, slide show software, video editing tools, literary texts, and writing) to respond to and analyze a contemporary novel, "The Kite Runner". Using a multimodal analysis framework, the author explores…