Shifting the Landscape of K-12 Education in America
DOE-funded M.E.A.L. Project shows
Measurable Benefits of Media Literacy Education
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Case Study
Table of Contents
In 2003, the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) in partnership with Just Think, a leading media education organization in San Francisco, and the Michael Cohen Group, an evaluation research group based in New York, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to design, deliver and evaluate a model media arts education program for middle school students.
In addition to testing the impact of integrating media literacy education into core middle school curricula, the three-year project was also proposed to create new research models that would focus on the efficacy of media literacy education on children's learning rather than the traditional research issue of media's effects in the lives of children.
A total of 444 students and 16 teachers from two public middle schools in San Francisco participated in this exciting multi-year program. After two years of classroom implementation and nearly 40 lessons and hands-on projects later, the evaluation data shows that "the implementation of the media arts curriculum was feasible and produced significant educational benefits for students."
The following case study documents the details of the project with links to teacher blogs, student video productions and arts activities, lesson plans, professional development resources and other aspects of the project including the Cohen group's final evaluation report. With all the doom and gloom that often comes out of educational research, this is one study with a significant positive outcome - and one story that must be told.
Media change is affecting every aspect of our contemporary experience, and as a consequence, every school discipline needs to take responsibility for helping students to master the skills and knowledge they need to function in a hypermediated environment."
Confronting Challenges of Contemporary Culture:MacArthurFoundation, 2006
Partners Who Developed the Ideas
NAMLE's mission is to stimulate growth in media literacy education in the United States by organizing and providing national leadership, advocacy, networking, and information exchange.
With the goal of helping all people to be able to critically analyze and create messages using the wide variety of technological tools now available in and out of school, the AMLA served as the ideal administrator for this collaboration called the Media Education, Arts and Literacy (MEAL) program.
MEAL provided professional development and coaching-style support in integrating media literacy core principles and 21st century technology into existing middle school curricula, specifically the core subjects (Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science).
Program delivery partner Just Think was responsible for developing and delivering the intensive MEAL teacher training.
Just Think has been teaching young people to lead healthy, responsible, independent lives in a culture highly impacted by media since 1995. Just Think develops and delivers cutting-edge curricula and innovative programs that build skills in critical thinking and creative media production. Founded as a concerned response to the ever-increasing deluge of messages youth receive from television, radio, film, print media, electronic games, and the Internet, Just Think teaches young people media literacy skills for the 21st century. Just Think has been successfully creating and delivering in-school, after school and online media arts and technology education locally, nationally and internationally for over ten years.
The Michael Cohen Group (MCG) served as the MEAL evaluation team. MCG is known internationally for its research on behalf of education. MCG's work includes serving as the principal investigator and evaluation team for the U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn program.
Evaluation activities include the determination of the optimal use of media in education, the creation of a cutting-edge laboratory to explore and understand the impact of emerging media and technology, and the creation of a national university partnership for scientific evaluation studies. MCG's work has informed the creation and development of core and ancillary curricula for clients such as Scholastic, MacMillan/McGraw-Hill and Disney Publications.
Schools That Participated
The two schools chosen to pilot the project, Marina Middle School and Visitacion Valley Middle School, both serve under-resourced populations within the San Francisco Unified Public School District. During the project time frame, both schools were largely comprised of non-native English speakers and had been severely affected by the California education budget cutbacks (2003) with neither school having a full-time arts instructor on staff. Neither school had a media arts or media literacy program prior to enrollment in the MEAL project.
Marina Middle School was the larger of the two schools with a total enrollment of 994 students and 47 classroom teachers during the first implementation year (2004-05). Located in the upscale Marina District of San Francisco, a large majority of the students commuted to school from other neighborhoods in the city.
74% of the student population was Asian-American, 10% African American, 10% Latino, 5% Caucasian and 1% Other Non-White. 74% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. Additionally, 12% of the students had a special education designation and 29% were English Language Learners. The average class size was 28 students.
Marina Middle School received a grant for new computers in 2003 which supported two computer labs and additional "shared" computers for in-class use (one new carted computer between two teachers) One of the computer labs was exclusively utilized by the reading program and a computer based after school program The student to computer ratio at the school was 9:1. After the budget cuts in 2003, the school lost their Technology Administrator and one of the computer labs remained unused. Each classroom was equipped with a monitor/VCR. There were a few older digital still cameras used primarily by the Journalism/Yearbook class.
Visitacion Valley Middle School was located in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood on the south end of the city. It is considered one of SFUSD's neighborhood schools as the majority of the total 452 students lived in the vicinity of the school. 48% of the students identified as Asian-American, 27% African American, 16% Latino, 1% Caucasian and 8% Other NonWhite. 78% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. 18% of the students had a special education designation and 25% were English Language Learners. As the smaller of the two schools, Visitacion Valley had 28 classroom teachers on staff with an average class size of 22 students.
Like Marina, Visitacion Valley had also received a grant for new computers in 2003. These computers were placed in classrooms with a small cluster available in the library. There was no functioning computer lab within the school although classes did have access to the computer lab in the Beacon Center, a community services center located on the first floor of the school. Each teacher had a fixed monitor/VCR in the classroom or access to a monitor/VCR cart. There were no digital cameras or video cameras available for classroom use. And also like Marina, the school lost their Technology Administrator due to budget cuts.
Both schools had strong after school enrichment programs on site provided by partnerships with community organizations. These after school program included tutoring, sports, and arts activities.
"I would like to use computers more often in the classroom. But, I don't know enough and I don't have enough computers to make it effective."
--Jennifer Brilhart, 6th Grade Special Education
(Pre-Program Interview)
A total of 16 sixth and seventh grade teachers were recruited to participate in the project over two years. Four were veteran teachers having taught in the classroom for 10 years or more, two of whom had been in the classroom over 20 years. Six had taught five and ten years while the remaining six had years or less of in-class experience.
Originally, the recruitment was limited to those teaching core subjects (Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies) in mainstream classroom settings.
However the program was opened up to Special Education, English Language Learners (ELL), Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Physical Education classrooms after expressed interest by teachers.
Along with the wide range of teaching experience, the group also possessed a wide range of technology skills and experience using media in the classroom. In a survey given to the teachers, the majority of them (80%) responded that the were comfortable using some technology tools such as computers, internet and video.
Yet only 13% of them used media regularly in their work with students. 73% used media in the classroom some of the time. Most of the activities using media that were cited included accessing the Internet for research, viewing educational videos/DVDs, reading the newspaper for current events or subject specific material. 87% of the teachers had never used technology tools to create media with their students.
"Technology is a new language and in order for my students to be competitive here in America and in other countries, they need to know that language."
--Paul Wong, 6th Grade Math/Science
(Pre-Program Interview)
Year one of the project (2003-04) was dedicated to the set-up of the program. Simultaneously, the outreach began in preparation of training the 6th grade teachers in the schools. A technology assessment was also conducted at both sites. Years two (2004-05) and three (2005-06) were the implementation years of the project.
The project was organized around two-years of implementation. Sixth-grade teachers from both schools were recruited and trained to participate in the first implementation year with their sixth-grade students.
The following year, seventh grade teachers were recruited and participated in the training. They would implement the program with their seventh graders, some of whom participated in the project during year-one (their sixth grade year). Participating sixth-grade teachers would continue the program with a new group of students in the second year.
Teachers used media literacy curriculum and media production activities throughout the year with their students. At the same time, after-school programs in media production were set up at each site. Although open to any student, students participating in the in-school program were encouraged to participate after school.
The goal was to provide MEAL students with more access to and experience with the technology tools as they worked on creative projects. With an advanced level of technology expertise, these students could serve as peer mentors during in-school program activities.
The Importance of Professional Development
With the believe that successful integration and overall sustainability of media literacy education into core academics depends on the teachers’ understanding of and enthusiasm for the core media literacy principles, Just Think, with leadership from the AMLA, provided participating MEAL teachers with over 40-hours of professional development and individual coaching. During the spring and summer intensive sessions prior to their implementation year, teachers explored media literacy key principles and developed media production skills.
Media literacy was a new territory for the majority of the program teachers. In preliminary interviews, a few reported that they were familiar with the term but none of them had any previous professional development experience in media literacy and very few of them recalled any media literacy activities they had conducted with students in the past.
Just Think employed a media literacy education methodology that was inquiry based and characterized by constructivist teaching. Using the questions of the approach now codified by the AMLA’s Core Principles of Media Literacy Education (AMLA 2007), teachers practiced media analysis that emphasized open-ended questioning, as opposed to subscribing to pre-set “truths”, and developed strong sense critical thinking skills in which critical thinking skills are applied to all texts, not just ones with which they disagree.
Although teachers were given sample lesson plans and a copy of the media education guidebook, Changing The World Through Media Education (Rosen, Quesada, Summers, 1998), they were not bound to this curriculum. In fact, the professional development approach stressed the \integration and customization of media literacy into all areas of core academic curricula (math, science, language arts and social studies) wherever the teachers saw fit.
There was no minimum amount of time for them to conduct intervention activities. Instead, they were encouraged to follow semester guidelines. For example, first semester guidelines were to introduce media literacy to students (defining media, media analysis and deconstruction), implement a lesson using digital cameras and graphic design software, and have students create slide show presentations using digital cameras and digital video editing software.
A major component of the professional development as well as the program itself was the merging of media literacy theory and practice through the use of technology tools to construct media. Just as writing is an essential part of tradition print literacy, the production of media is an essential part of media literacy. Now, more than ever, media and digital technology are paramount in the lives of young people.
Using technology tools in production activities provide a way to engage students in learning core subjects in an arena that is both familiar and stimulating. Through hands-on projects, students become creative producers and active participants in their own learning.
Starting with more traditional forms of media, teachers learned principals of graphic design and how to use digital still cameras, scanners, and digital imaging software (Adobe Photoshop Elements) to create print projects such as posters, magazine covers and brochures. Scaffolding upon these skills, teachers learned how to combine still images, text and music and/or voice to create slideshow presentations using digital video editing software (Microsoft Movie Maker).
Again, building upon skills, teachers then learned basic video production techniques using mini-digital video cameras, microphones for music and audio recording, and digital video editing software. Teachers learned technology in steps that were practical for in-school use and easily reproducible for students. Throughout each phases of learning new technology skills teachers were able to practice reinforcing critical thinking skills.
As they produced media, the Just Think coaches highlighted teachable moments as they arose. In addition to graphic design, slideshow and video production skills, MEAL teachers also mastered blogging skills and set up a web log for personal reflection and one for use as a basic web site for their class.
Throughout the professional development workshops, time was dedicated to brainstorming and developing ideas for lessons that integrated media literacy and media production elements into the teachers’ standards-based curriculum. Teachers were able to work with their peers as well as Just Think curriculum specialists to develop appropriate lessons ready for classroom implementation.
“Students are sometimes simply taught to take in information and not critically think about it. Thinking outside of the box that all of the messages you receive are the way things are is crucial.”
--Tessa Rohde, 6th Grade Math/Science Marina Middle School (Pre-Interview 2004)
Small is Beautiful: Technology Resources
Developing a media literacy education program that was sustainable for the schools, as well as easy to replicate, played an integral role in deciding the types of technology tools the project would utilize. Digital photography and digital video production hardware and software are widely available and relatively inexpensive to today’s consumer. Many students and teachers had previously purchased digital cameras/video cameras for personal use. And as both schools had recently received new PCs, it was important to find software programs easily supported by the existing computers.
The program grant, however, did support the purchase of technology tools necessary for the project, Each participating teacher received a digital production package which included a consumer quality digital still camera and mini-digital camera. Teachers were encouraged to “borrow” additional packages from their peers when necessary for class projects.
As neither school had an accessible computer lab at the start of the program, each school was given five carted PC laptops with included a color printer and image scanner for use in the classroom. Marina Middle school teachers received an additional cart of laptops with the addition of the seventh grade classes during the second implementation year while Visitacion Valley set up a small computer lab for use by MEAL program classes. All equipment was permanently gifted to the school at the close of the three-year project.
Getting to Know You: First Implementation Year
Of the 10 sixth-grade teachers who were recruited for the first implementation year, nine successfully completed the necessary professional development training. Eight of these teachers participated fully in the program and evaluation. The eighth teacher was reassigned after the first semester in school and could not continue the program.
All of the teachers began by introducing media literacy concepts without immediately introducing any media production with their students. Activities included: defining media, analyzing print and television advertisements, reading and critiquing print articles, images and headlines from newspapers, evaluating websites and online resources, and other lessons adapted from Changing the World Through Media Education. Many of these activities were easily integrated into core curriculum.
For example, Paul Wong, a math and science teacher at Marina Middle School, combined a media “diet” (media use and dose of useage) survey with a math lesson on creating charts and graphs. Wong also used media analysis of snack food advertisements in a creative hands-on science lab that incorporated converting units of measure while learning how to read and understand food nutrition labels. See the Awesome Snacks Lesson Plan
Collectively, teachers created over 20 lesson plans integrating media education into the core sixth grade curricula. 16 of these were implemented in the classroom. These engaging projects included:
- Print projects such as William Sussman’s Early Humans “Wanted” Posters project that allowed students to research features of the early humans and create posters using scanned images and digital imaging software emulating the style made famous in the Old West. (See Early Humans Wanted lesson plan)
- Slide show presentations like those created in Jenny Trac’s math classroom to help students learn and retain geometry terms (See Geometry Slideshow Lesson Plan)
- Video projects such as the “No Love to Bullies” rap video created by Jennifer Brilhart’s special education class that had students analyze popular rap lyrics and videos, write and perform an original rap, and present their project to an audience of administrators, parents and peers.
An ambitious project conducted by Tessa Rohde and Elliot Barenbaum, the only cored pair of teachers, exemplified the type of transformative learning achieved by incorporating media literacy concepts, media production, and visual art across the core curriculum. These teachers brought their 64 students together to create a mural on the walls of the historic Marina Middle School building that synthesized learning around the technological contributions of ancient civilizations.
Working with a local muralist group and volunteer visual arts teacher, students discussed and analyzed types of media found in public spaces. Then they learned basic figure drawing and painting techniques through the design and creating of the mural. At the same time, student planned and produced a documentary video about their exciting learning process. The mural as well as the documentary was presented during a dedication ceremony that included school administrators, community artists and the school community. See the documentary video here.
Program meetings were held at the end of each semester as a way to assess program goals and needs. The meeting provided an opportunity for the teachers from the two locations to get together with their peers to showcase lesson plans and projects and share classroom experiences.
“I don’t want [the students] to take everything they see at face value. Their [ability] to figure out if it is opinion or fact, is it biased, is the other side being represented? That is going to affect their everyday lives.”
--David Whaley, 6th Grade Math Science Visitation Valley Middle School (Pre-Interview 2004)
Up and Running: Second Implementation Year
Six seventh-grade teachers from the two schools were recruited and trained to participate the following year along side of the continuing sixth-grade teachers. Recruitment of teachers proved to be more difficult as the school district went through district wide consolidations and teacher layoffs. Many teachers originally interested in participating as well as three sixth-grade program teachers did not return to the program schools in the fall. Five of the six new teachers successfully completed the professional development and conducted program activities during the year.
The challenge for these new teachers was finding a way to work with classes that contained a mix of students who participated in the program the prior year with students who had not. By nature of the size of the school and the single subject teaching structure of Visitacion Valley MS, all sixth grade students participated in the MEAL program. This meant that most if not all incoming seventh-grade students had a basic knowledge of media literacy and had participated in media production projects.
This was a little more complicated at Marina MS, the larger of the two schools. Students in the sixth-grade worked with cored pairs of teachers of which only one complete pair participated in the project. There was some effort to try to keep these students together as they moved into the next grade level but most of the students were scattered through all of the seventh-grade classes and only two seventh-grade teachers at the school conducted program activities. So most of the students in those classes were new to the program.
Teachers did not see this as an obstacle and conducted lessons and projects enthusiastically with their students. Over 20 lessons were created, some of which were variations of successful projects conducted in the first implementation year. Again, teachers conducted a variety of print, slideshow and video such as:
- Time period travel brochures created in Nathan Draper’s seventh grade science class in which students created content knowledge of the history of life on earth with the art of advertising (See Time Period Brochure Lesson Plan)
- A slide show project in Candice Fukumoto’s class highlighting and connecting medieval cultures in Africa, Asia and Latin America studied with the art and craft of dumming.
- A video of student life created in Paul Wong’s class that took a unique approach to problem solving and creative expression in documenting the day of a Marina MS student.
In an effort to deepen students’ understanding of media literacy concepts, Corey Capozziello, a physical education teacher at Visitacion Valley Middle School designed a media literacy course for all seventh-grade students through the Project San Francisco Program. This school-wide initiative engaged students with the larger community through the investigation of specific topics or issues. Teams of teachers plan and teach six specialized units to all students in small rotating groups.
The seventh-grade teachers felt that utilizing the structure of Project San Francisco would provide an opportunity for all of their students to gain solid media literacy skills through working on media literacy activities that were focused and relevant to their lives. Lessons for the class were adapted from Changing the World Through Media Education. Additionally, each group of students concluded the media literacy unit by creating a short slide show presentation about the Visitacion Valley neighborhood.
Making a Difference: Evaluation Strategies
The Michael Cohen Group conducted the project evaluation involving a quasi-experimental design in which the two intervention schools were compared to two match control schools. A quasi-experimental design was chosen because it proved too difficult to randomly assign teachers within the same school to different conditions.
The two control schools were selected to roughly match the two intervention schools in total enrollment, racial/ethnic composition, percentage of children receiving free lunch, and scores on statewide standardized tests. (See Statistical Profile of Participating Schools)
The evaluation had three primary objectives:
- To describe intervention teachers’ experiences in implementing the media literacy curriculum, including type of activities, perceived benefits of using the curriculum, and the challenges they encountered.
- To compare one-year gains shown by intervention and control children in proximal outcome domains (areas most likely to be directly affected by a media arts curriculum): creative thinking, attitudes about media messages, comprehension and analysis of media messages.
- To compare intervention and control children’s performance in distal outcome domains (additional areas that could potentially be indirectly affected by a media arts curriculum): written language skills, scores on standardized tests of language arts and mathematics skills.
23 sixth and seventh grade classrooms were involved in the project, with another 24 classrooms serving as the evaluation control group. Of the 444 students who participated in the project, 324 were included in the evaluation study. (See Sample Size document)
The first objective was included to provide information on the process of using the media education curriculum and to confirm that it produced changes in teaching. The measures implemented to collect the data included teacher interviews conducted prior to and at the end of the training and program implementation year. Teachers were asked about their teaching experience, education philosophy, and prior work with media literacy and media production in the initial interview. The follow up interview included questions which asked them to assess their classroom activities and rate the satisfaction of the program both from the perceived student point of view as well as their own.
The second measure was classroom observations conducted by trained observers. Observers sat in on classroom sessions when media education activities were being implemented and noted details such as: the degree to which the teacher addressed key concepts during the lesson; whether the teacher asked appropriate critical thinking questions; how media arts activities were integrated with other curriculum areas; and the degree to which students were engaged and participating in class.
In order to measure the proximal outcomes (creative and critical thinking skills), students were given the Figural Version of the Torrence Test of Creative Thinking, a well-validated measure of divergent and creative thinking. The test asked students to draw images from a set of standardized visual stimuli and was appropriate for both English speakers and English language learners.
Students were also given a survey created specifically for this study that would assess their media useage and attitudes about media messages. The survey also employed a measure to assess comprehension and critical thinking in response to print media pieces.
To assess the effects of the program on the distal outcomes (academic impact ), evaluators examine students’ scores in English/Language Arts and Mathematics on the California Standardized tests (STAR) which are administered to all California students in grades 2 through 11. Students were also administered subtests of the Test of Written Language (TOWL), a well-validated measure of writing skills, both at the beginning and end of the school year. (See Outcome Domains document)
In addition, to the quantitative data collected by MCG, Just Think gathered authentic assessment data throughout the implementation years to help evaluate and improve the program. Each teacher kept a personal web log in which they documented their ideas for projects and challenges and successes meeting their project goals. The organization also contracted videographers to record interviews, professional development workshops, classroom activities and the semester end program meetings on video. The footage supported information gather from research observers and helped program staff assess support and training issues.
Key Findings & What Was Learned (from the Michael Cohen Group report)
The MCG evaluation confirmed that the implementation of the Media Arts curriculum was feasible and produced “ significant educational benefits for students.”
In designing this project, it became obvious that the success of the program, to a large extent, depended on the teachers’ ability to internalize media literacy education concepts and effectively integrate them into their classroom instruction. All of the participating teachers reported that they felt very positive about their experiences incorporating media education in to their classroom instructions.
They found that the media education activities had broad appeal and engaged a variety of students. Their students seemed to embrace the use of technology and were excited about the projects. Teachers felt that using media production activities was useful to introduce subjects and “significantly helped them reach their educational and instructional goals.”
Teachers also felt very confident in their own ability to implement technology and teach media literacy skills following their intensive professional development. They reported that their experiences using the media education curriculum were beneficial to their own development as educators. Classroom observations supported the notion that both students and teachers were generally very comfortable with the technology used in the program and that the students were engaged and participated actively in projects and discussions.
The classroom observations also provided information on how teachers were integrating media literacy concepts. Most of the teachers primarily used media education activities to reinforce, synthesize, or discuss topics in their core curriculum that had been introduced previously as opposed to using media tools to introduce new content. Also, it was discovered that teachers tended to spend more time providing students with experiences in creating their own media projects than explicitly training the students to critique and analyze media messages presented by others.
The data was consistently positive when looking at the proximal outcomes (creative thinking and critical thinking). MEAL program students outperformed students in the control group in two of three areas. They had significantly higher post-test scores in the Torrance Test of Creative thinking. The media literacy survey created by the researchers also showed that program students showed greater gains in their attitudes regarding media.
These students were more likely to endorse statements indicating that media messages are social constructions and not objective. However, program students did not outperform in the comprehension and analysis of print media. Although the reason for this is unclear, researchers point out two methodological limitations encountered ( use of print media instead of other forms and the measure used was originally developed for high school students) that may have contributed to the result.
Data also showed that MEAL program students did not outperform in the Test of Written Language (TOWL) or in state standardized tests. Researchers point out there was no significant difference recognized when comparing the TOWL scores from the program students and with the control group. The same held true when comparing the English/Language arts scores from the state test.
An interesting ‘natural experiment’ occurred within the two program sites that suggests the increased educational benefits of the comprehensive integration and long-term use of media literacy education. The difference in school size along with the different teaching structures that existed between the two schools provided program students with different ‘doses’ of the program. At the smaller school, Visitacion Valley, teachers taught in a single subject environment—essentially one teacher per subject per grade level.
Because multiple core teachers participated the program at each grade level, students were more likely exposed to program activities in multiple subjects—thus receiving an intensive dose of the program. Most program students at Marina, the larger school, had only one core subject instructor who participated in the program. These students received a moderate dose of media education. Additionally, 38 students from both schools participated in the program in both their sixth and seventh grade years. These students also received a higher dose.
The study showed that students who received the higher dose of media education showed the most positive outcomes. Students at Visitacion Valley showed the greatest change in media literacy attitudes and showed the greatest (compared to the control schools as well as to Marina) gains in the Torrance Test of creative thinking. For the small group of students who participated in the program for two years, data showed cumulative gains in creative thinking across both years with these students significantly outperforming students in the control group. (See Two Year Growth)
“ I really loved this program, it was effective in implementing the curriculum, all the kids loved it and I had 100% buy in from them. I also loved it for making me competent (at least to some extent) with all of this different technology and software.”—Billy Sussman
(blog entry June 8, 2005)
Lessons for Replication and Sustainability
The positive outcomes from student evaluations as well as observable positive changes in classroom behaviors was a testament to the program teachers’ commitment and ability to integrate media literacy education into their instruction.
It was also due to the MEAL program structure that, unlike many other media education programs that focus directly on programming with students, focused on the professional development and coaching of the teachers themselves in order to ensure sustainability. The teachers were trained in the same hands-on, interactive manner, modeling the way in which their students would be taught. All skills learned were broken into practical steps and were scaffolded on previous learning experiences.
The program structure also made use of the technology tools that teachers and students already had access to. Any additional technology or software brought into the school had to be affordable, easy to obtain, and support existing technology. Most of the program teachers still at the two schools (eight out of ten) reported that they continue to integrate media literacy education projects into their class curriculum.
The project was not without some challenges. Semester program meetings were one of the ways these challenges could be addressed. But for the wide spread, long-term adoption of media literacy education in schools, solutions for these challenges need to be found.
The biggest challenges in implementing the curriculum that the teachers reported were technology support and time constraints. Neither school had technology support on site. The program brought in additional technology resources and Just Think educators were able to help troubleshoot minor problems. But even though program staff worked with the school district’s technology department closely, some technology issues (such as server access, broken computers) could only be resolved by over-scheduled district personnel. Teachers felt helpless in certain situations when alternatives to such issues could not be immediately resolved. This slowed down completion of projects and became noteably time consuming.
Time consumption and management was a hurdle for most of the teachers. Program teachers knew that integrating media production in their classroom activities would require more planning and would take extra time in the classroom. A limitation to organizing the project time was the 50-minute class structure. Teachers felt that momentum was sometimes lost in during projects as student continually spent a percentage of their already short work time setting up and breaking down technology tools. Cored teachers or teachers who had the flexibility of combining class periods (such special education classes) had an easier time with time management.
An additional request by the program teachers was for more professional development time on both media literacy skills and technology throughout the program. Just Think provided most of the professional development prior to the school year. Although effective and intensive in nature, teachers felt like it was hard to retain skills (particularly technology skills) if they were not immediately utilizing them with their students. And as many of these skills were new to teachers, they felt more time was needed to get comfortable and practice these new skills prior to introducing them in the classroom.
Conversely, some teachers acknowledged the proficiency that students already possessed with technology and embraced learning along with their students. Many reported how students with advanced technology skills, developed on their own or from the program’s after school offerings, were looked to as peer leaders when conducting projects in the classroom.
With statistical data documenting consistent improvement in creative and critical thinking skills, the scientific evidence clearly shows that when young people understand the media that surround us, they develop the core academic competencies critical for success.
MEAL is a model in program design and delivery allowing clear measurable outcomes and benchmarks. Whether working in a school or after school, locally or nationally, MEAL is a framework for practicing the habits of inquiry and skills of expression necessary to be critical thinkers, creative communicators and engaged citizens in today’s media rich world.
“Integrating Just Think technology into my language arts, social studies and health curriculum made my year with a class of 12 speech and language impaired students a most memorable one. The program enhanced my curriculum in so many ways-- from building self-esteem, honing the students’ visual and oral presentation skills, critical thinking, sequencing, and listening skills were all involved in the projects. The students were able to feel successful by emphasizing projects that further developed their strengths in the arts and technology.--Beverly Mann, 6th Grade Spec. Ed, Marina Middle School
(from blog entry June 21, 2005)
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