Media Literacy in the Classroom [issue 05] 1

In this week’s newsletter on technology in education, we will learn about:

1. The importance of teaching media literacy in your classroom.
2. A KAS student who ranked 8th in the 2014 Google Code-In contest.

Media Literacy in the Classroom [icon name=”icon-youtube-play”]

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[icon name="fa-cc"] STANDARD 4: promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

Media literacy is an important skill which we should all teach. Too often students take visual media, in print or on screen at face value, as accurate depictions of reality. They do not recognize the intrinsic subjectivity unsecable from the creation process of any media production. It is up to us teachers to equip them with the tools to dissect those reconstructions of our world and to guide students in decrypting the values expressed unequivocally or surreptitiously in their messages.

Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy has a really informative piece on Media Literacy Fundamentals in which they highlight the key concepts for media literacy:

1. Media are constructions.
2. Audiences negotiate meaning.
3. Media have commercial implications.
4. Media have social and political implications.
5. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.

With these tools, students should be able to question, evaluate, understand and appreciate media.

KAS Student Ranks in 2014 Google Code-In Contest [icon name=”icon-code”]

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[icon name="fa-star"] awarded to jasper
[icon name="fa-cloud-upload"] STANDARD 3: model digital age work and learning

The 2014 Google Code-In contest is over and our very own grade 9 Jasper ranked 8th out of  173 students in the region (#46 out of 665 worldwide). Jasper has completed 17 coding tasks to propel himself up the charts.

The Google Code-In contest is a contest for pre-university students to introduce them to the world of open source development.

It is the first time Jasper participated, and the first time any KAS student took part in this arduous challenge. We cannot wait to see how hard he will work next year and if other KAS students will join him!