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…

German approaches to media literacy education are concerned with the questions, how the variety of media can be used in a meaningful way for learning and teaching and what educational tasks result from the extensive use of media. Considering these questions there are various conceptual ideas, research and development projects as well as…

The digital world is full of both possibility and peril, with rules of engagement being hashed out as we go. While schools are still "hesitant to embrace new technologies as a backlash from the significant, and largely ineffectual, investment in classroom computers as an instructional panacea during in the mid-1990's" (Collins and Halverson 2009),…

Classroom teachers have been encouraged to incorporate more multimedia production in the classroom as a means of helping students develop critical media literacy skills. However, they have not always been well trained in how to evaluate the work students create; many teachers struggle to know which criteria to use in assessing student work. This…

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…

The new media literacies (NMLs) are a set of social skills and cultural competencies that students and teachers need to acquire in order to fully participate in the new media environment. NMLs shift the focus of traditional literacy from individual expression to community involvement. They offer ways of both thinking and doing that recruit the…

A decade into a new millennium marks a coming of age for media literacy education (MLE). Born from teaching the critical analysis of media texts, MLE has evolved into helping individuals of all ages "develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in…

The field of media literacy education is maturing, as evidenced by the quality of presentations of research and practice shared at the 2010 World Summit on Children and Media in Karlstad. In this article, we offer our reflections on the opportunities and challenges faced by media literacy educators as we build our global community network, develop…

The 5th World Summit on Media for Children and Youth held in Karlstad, Sweden in June 2010 provided a unique media literacy experience for approximately thirty young people from diverse backgrounds through participation in the Global Youth Media Council. This article focuses on the Summit's aim to give young people a "voice" through…

Media literacy education in the United States is actively focused on the instructional methods and pedagogy of media literacy, integrating theoretical and critical frameworks rising from constructivist learning theory, media studies and cultural studies scholarship. This work has arisen from a legacy of media and technology use in education…

The growing time pressure that teachers face actually comes in two forms, both of which need to be resolved successfully in order for media literacy education to gain a real foothold in U.S. schools. First, teachers constantly face the challenge of trying to fit all of the content and engaging activities into the school day and school year,…