Chapter 9: Infusing Digital and Media Literacy Across the Curriculum

"Digital and media literacy education can explicitly address both the moments of transcendence that can occur when we are moved deeply by a film, a book, a video game, an ad, or a song, as well as those mediated experiences that disturb and trouble us, like YouTube fight videos, Holocaust denial sites, or political ads that exploit people's fears. The themes and issues found in popular culture represent both the abundant trivialities and the deeply meaningful aspects of our life experiences as human beings."

This quote was eye-opening for me. Thinking back on my educational career, there weren't many things that I have done in school that have impacted me in an emotional way, until I got to college. One thing that stands out to me though is reading the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel in my 10th grade English class. Every day we had a class discussion on the chapter we had read the night before. I looked forward to those discussions every day, and that book impacted me in a way that has stayed with me 10 years later.

"When students have opportunities to actively participate in dialogue in the classroom, their writing improves. That's because classroom discussion is a vital part of the brainstorming and prewriting process."

To me, everything is better in a student-centered classroom setting. Student-led discussions have the most meaningful outcomes.

"As I developed the plan, I was concerned about designing the debate so that high school students could be able to argue a variety of positions. Wouldn't every kid naturally want unfiltered Internet access at school? When I shared my concerns with my then 17-year-old daughter, Rachel, she said, 'Mom, I'm so glad our school doesn't allow us to use Facebook in school. I am totally in favor of Internet filtering in school. Without it, I would never be able to get any homework done.' I was so surprised, you could have knocked me over with a feather!"

This just goes to show that people, and especially kids, strive to learn. It's ingrained in them, even the ones who are susceptible to distractions. Minimizing distractions is beneficial to everyone.