August 2006 column
Media Literacy
by Frank Baker  fbaker1346@aol.com   Media Literacy Clearinghouse  (new URL  www.frankwbaker.com)

In 2006, it is clear that our students pay more attention to the visual media than the print media.  Yet our education system is still mostly print based.  The word literacy itself has changed and all of us must acknowledge that it means more than just words on page. Media are languages with their own rules.

As I write this, the State Department of Education is finalizing a revision of the English Language Arts standards, which will again include many references to media. ( I have been contributing to the ELA monthly Literacy Links newsletter and you can find all of my past contributions here:
http://www.frankwbaker.com/lit_links.htm

I have always been a proponent of the school library media specialist as a critical player in promoting media literacy. Some of you may recall an initiative I started in 2004 to get SLMS to promote media literacy by way of a series of billboards.  If you want to know more about this project, go to this web page:
http://www.frankwbaker.com/lms_project.htm

One of the best ways to support media literacy in your school is to review your student and professional resource collection. It has been my experience that many media centers don’t contain anything that would be related to media or media literacy. (This summer, I was at a local middle school and picked up a book on advertising whose copyright was 1968!) To find current books appropriate for your students or teachers, I have created a list of recommendations on my web site: http://www.frankwbaker.com/recbooks.htm

Speaking of books: I have authored a text about the movies and media literacy for students in grades 3-5. It is due out in January and as soon as the publisher gives me permission to promote it further, I will let you know.