Media Literacy: Resources for Educators

OER Commons has over 100 resources to teach media literacy in the classroom.

Created by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)

Created by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)

News Literacy Project provides a variety of tools to explore news literacy in the classroom, including The Sift, a weekly newsletter about news coverage and recent examples of misinformation, along with prompts and tips for classroom discussions and activities.

Created by the Center for Black Health and Equity, the 30 minute Truth Check course introduces crucial media literacy concepts and strategies for avoiding misinformation. It even includes some practice with realistic scenarios.

As a result of legislation passed in 2019, California is now compiling a collection of resources for teachers, teacher-librarians, administrators, and others. These resources include media literacy curriculum, collections of media literacy lessons, and media production resources.

Downloadable short activities or MediaLit Moments for classrooms. One example is an activity entitled “Checking the Fact-Checkers.”

Critical Media Literacy is defined as the ability to "engage with media through critically examining representations, systems, structures, ideologies, and power dynamics that shape and reproduce culture and society." Use this research guide to find ways to integrate critical media literacy into your classroom activities.

Resources for educators from USC Annenberg examine media literacy and issues such as gender, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Extensive database of classroom resources organized by medium, concept, and teaching standard.

Founded by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to improve civic knowledge and participation. Includes a Media and Influence unit.

A resource for exploring information literacy in the classroom by Ohio State University.

The LAMPlatoon Media Breaker lets students comment on advertising by directly editing commercials.

Free online teacher resources and classroom tools from Canada’s Center for Digital and Media Literacy.

The Newseum, based in Washington, D.C., is an interactive museum that promotes free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication.

SHEG has conducted extensive research examining students’ civic reasoning as they navigate the internet. These researchers have concluded that a new approach to digital literacy is needed. They offer a variety of sample lessons and assessments that can be used in the classroom.

Dennis Small, Educational Technology Director, Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, has compiled a list of resources based on suggestions from Washington educators.

Click for the full list of media literacy education resources recommended by Action for Media Education (AME).

By Katherine Schulten, for The New York Times

By Sofiya Noble, author of "Algorithms of Oppression," for Time

By Shirin Ali, for The Hill

A report by science educators about how to addressing competency in evaluating science information.

A great way to introduce the concept of "greenwashing," which deceptive marketing to influence customers to believe that a company's products are environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than what is true.

"Information about you, what you buy, where you go, even where you look is the oil that fuels the digital economy."

By Jonathan Jarry, McGill University. Looks at the moral panic over bicycles and how people react to symbols of changing culture.

"A new national study by Stanford researchers showing a woeful inability by high schoolers to detect fake news on the internet suggests an urgent need for schools to integrate new tools and curriculum into classrooms that boost students’ digital skills, the study's authors say..."

An thought-provoking interview with Harvard Business School professor emerita and author of "Surveillance Capitalism" Shoshana Zuboff.