Educating young people on how media works, and giving them the tools to critically evaluate information, is critical. Luckily, libraries can help! Whether you’re integrating games and tools into existing interactions and programs or want to create an event centered on the topic, there are a number of resources library staff can turn to for help.
Wonder Media
Wonder Media is a free resource created for and in consultation with librarians. Originally created as an interactive exhibition at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in Michigan by Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, it has been further developed into a website thanks to an IMLS grant by Western Michigan University and the Library of Michigan.
The website features a suite of interactive games and activities to help children better understand both media literacy and news literacy. Students can view technology through the year in “Media History in Your Hand,” learn about algorithms in “Algo the Robot,” test their ability to spot fake media posts in “Escape the Fake” and more. Each activity has a set of resources that accompany it.
News Literacy Project
News Literacy Project was started by a Pulitzer Award winning journalist, Alan C. Miller, with a vision that all students would become skilled in news literacy before graduation. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan, and its free resource, Checkology, provides education and entertaining content that will teach youth how to identify credible information, spot misinformation and seek out reliable sources.
Media Literacy & Youth Services Moodle Course
If you’re seeking information on how to integrate media literacy into your work with youth, the Indiana State Library offers a self-paced Moodle course titled “Media Literacy & Youth Services.” This course is adapted from a webinar workshop I did with partners at the Maryland State Library Agency and Lisa Guernsey from New America, and it focuses on media mentorship.
To access the course, go to the Indiana State Library’s Moodle website. From there, go to “Login” in the top right corner and follow the steps to create a free account if you are a first-time user. You should see the course title in the list of offerings. The course walks you through the “Three C’s” to consider (content, context and child) when advising youth and families, and the “Three M’s,” or three ways to be a media mentor (media mechanics, media management and media literacy).
Whether media instruction is explicit or incorporated into other programming or reference questions, these tools should help you begin to address media literacy in your community. How will you reach the children and families in your area?
Submitted by Beth Yates, Indiana State Library children’s consultant.