A fun part of the curriculum that the authors used in their Media Literacy instruction was comparing written creations to the mediation of the same content. The material they used included poetry, such as Robert Frost poems, and short stories, including the work of O. Henry and Arthur Conan Doyle. Many media works are available where the producers…

In Part 1 ("TechTrends" 52.3), the authors described some of the easier kinds of animation such as Claymation, Pixillation, Cut Outs, People Pix, and FlipBook. Of these, FlipBook has the easiest learning curve. Now, in Part 2, they detail their first simple lesson in animation by describing how an entire classroom of students can create a group…

This article provides tips for K-12 educators to help students communicate and create using visual motion media, photography, and technology. One of the most popular and successful techniques in teaching students to create and communicate using media is student-produced animation. Before educators engage students in an animation project of any…

This article aims to help classroom teachers use the educational tool of student-produced media to meet their curriculum objectives. It has been the authors' experience in three decades of utilizing this tool personally and observing other teachers utilizing this tool, across nearly all grades and course content areas, that it is very effective.…

The thirty-third annual International Student Media Festival was held last October in Anaheim. The authors went to see some of the activities, feel the electricity generated by the students, teachers, and parents in attendance, and visit with some of the participants. This wonderful showcase of the best student-produced media in the nation has…

This article aims to help teachers looking for an exciting major unit designed to help their students meet educational standards in these areas: (1) library research skills, (2) preparing and writing a standard, (3) research paper, in this case on a significant figure in world history, (4) writing a creative story, including adaptation of…