Learning Outcomes
The aim of the course is to study and emphasize, both at theoretical and practical level, media and information literacy (MIL) as a framework for language teaching. MIL includes the cultivation & development of both traditional literacies (reading & writing) and "new" literacies (multimodal/multichannel communication). The purpose is to highlight that the relationship between these literacies is rather complementary & cooperative than competitive & exclusive. In addition, among the objectives of the course is the critical understanding of how media content influences the formation of public opinion and attitudes via the study of media’s economic and institutional status and their political and social function.
After completing this course students will be able:
• To utilize media as sources of information and knowledge in language teaching by designing and implementing integrated teaching proposals and activities to achieve specific language teaching goals.
• To understand how media and information content is produced.
• To analyze and critically evaluate the texts of media and other information providers by understanding their operation within the modern socio-political context.
• To develop a critical and investigative attitude towards the media in order to cultivate students' skills related to media use and evaluation.
Course Content (Syllabus)
On the theoretical level, during the opening meetings the course content focuses on the presentation of the basic concepts-aspects of the field of media and information literacy (MIL), on the study of its interaction with other forms of literacy and on the critical consideration of the pedagogical approaches of media education – Critical media and information literacy. The course content then focuses on 'reading', analyzing and evaluating current examples of texts from three main subject areas, news (print and television) and reporting, advertising (print, television, radio) and cinema (fiction and documentary films). The main emphasis is on elements such as
• the 'languages' and the 'grammars' of media and information sources for transmitting ideological and socio-political messages, values and perceptions,
• the codes and conventions, both expressive and rhetorical, within media and information texts,
• the symbols and visual language,
• the representation of various social groups/issues.
On the laboratory level, students engage in activities and discussions about online environments, emphasizing the understanding of key concepts such as, for example, the Internet, the World Wide Web, search engines, the history of the Internet and its operation (commercial nature), personalized information, and their implications for education.
Additional bibliography for study
Baker, F. W. (2012). Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom. International Society for Technology in Education.
Buckingham, D., & (2008). Εκπαίδευση στα ΜΜΕ: Αλφαβητισμός, μάθηση και σύγχρονη κουλτούρα, Ε. Κούρτη (Επιμέλεια). Αθήνα: Ελληνικά Γράμματα.
Carr, P. R. (2018). Democracy 2.0 (Series: Critical Media Literacies) (Book 1). Brill | Sense.
Curran, J. (2005). Μέσα επικοινωνίας και εξουσία. Αθήνα: Καστανιώτης.
Λέανδρος, Ν. (2000). Πολιτική Οικονομία των ΜΜΕ: Η Αναδιάρθρωση της Βιομηχανίας των Μέσων στην Εποχή της Πληροφορικής Επανάστασης. Αθήνα: Καστανιώτης.
Macedo, D. & Steinberg, S. (2007). Media literacy: Α reader. New York: Peter Lang.
O'Shaughnessy, Μ., Stadler, J. & Casey, S. (2016) (6th edition). Media and Society. Oxford University Press.
Πλειός, Γ. (2001). Ο λόγος της εικόνας: Ιδεολογία και πολιτική. Αθήνα: Παπαζήσης.
Πλειός, Γ. (2021). Παραποιημένες ειδήσεις (fake news): ο μετασχηματισμός της προπαγάνδας στην κοινωνία της ενημέρωσης. Αθήνα: Gutenberg.
Σμυρναίος, Ν. (2018). Το ολιγοπώλιο του Διαδικτύου: Πώς οι Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon και Microsoft πήραν τον έλεγχο της ψηφιακής μας ζωής. Αθήνα: Μεταμεσονύκτιες Εκδόσεις.
UNESCO (2014). Παιδεία στα Μέσα και την Πληροφορία: Οδηγός Σπουδών των Εκπαιδευτικών.
Wilson, C., Grizzle, A., Tuazon, R., Akyempong, K., & Cheung, C. (2011). Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teachers. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001929/192971e.pdf.