Professional Development

Media literacy represents a powerful opportunity for librarians to serve as instructional leaders and support their colleagues through professional development. However, while teachers are expected to teach their students media literacy skills according to state and national standards, they often do not have formal training in this area (Center for Media Literacy, 2011). In a study of elementary school teachers in North Carolina, Scull and Kupersmidt (2012) found that even one day’s worth of training increased participants’ belief in the importance of teaching their students media literacy (p. 8). Specifically, teachers felt that professional development allowed them to analyze advertisements and other media on a deeper level, which in turn helps them teach these concepts and skills to their students. They also highlighted the fact that the use of media examples, such as images and video clips, were the most “enjoyable and effective parts” of the training (p. 7).

Resources

Center for Media Literacy (2011). Professional development. Retrieved from http://www.medialit.org/professional-development

Scull, T. M., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (2012). An evaluation of a media literacy program training workshop for late elementary school teachers. J Media Lit Educ. 2(3), 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530162/pdf/ nihms390497.pdf

An overview of fair use in teaching media literacy from the Center for Media & Social Impact

Providing Resources

Librarians can serve as leaders in their school by facilitating professional development sessions in their school relating to media literacy. Part of this can include creating pathfinders and directing teachers to helpful resources, such as:

http://www.frankwbaker.com/default1.htm

http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/intfree.html

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

Librarian Janice McDonald (2005) recommends that librarians develop materials for teachers to refer to during instruction, such as a list of essential questions to ask when analyzing media.

Resources

McDonald, J. (2005). A challenge to incorporate media literacy into the library program. Ohio Media Spectrum, 57(1), 32.

Teaching Educators Fair Use

Media literacy cannot be taught without exposing students to examples of different types of mass-market and popular media. As the copyright experts in the school, librarians have a responsibility to promote media literacy by teaching fellow educators about fair use policies for utilizing videos and other types of media that are copyrighted. Renee Hobbs (2009) describes how it is increasingly necessary to use copyrighted materials like text, music, and still and moving images to teach media literacy, yet educators are fearful to utilize these over concerns about “stealing” materials and breaking the law (p. 15).

Librarians must ensure that educators in their school understand the use of copyrighted materials under the principle of fair use (Section 107 of the Copyright Law of 1976). Conducting professional development sessions and creating resources about the best practices for fair use in media literacy education are effective ways of ensuring that teachers feel comfortable teaching their students with copyrighted materials.

Resources

Hobbs, R. (2009). The power of fair use for media literacy education. Afterimage, 37(2), 15-18.