​Recently a colleague asked if I could support her students in exploration, finding interest areas for students' inquiry. In considering my past experience with teenagers exhibiting limitations in finding  something they care about, we took advantage of a teachable moment for students to learn about Filter Bubbles and how they may serve to contribute to this issue.  

Earlier this week, when supporting students in the connect and wonder phase of their inquiries regarding the coronavirus, inspired by this Sift post, we again took advantage of a teachable moment, this time learning about viral mis and disinformation. 

Last week students in US I history classes learned about media bias, inspired by the News Literacy Project offering free access to their subscription only based materials during News Literacy Week. Although the connection between US History and “the news” is ever present, there may have been a more opportune time within their curriculum to make this learning happen in order student deeper connections, application and transfer. 

Making connections in working to make media literacy a priority when it’s not addressed in disciplinary curriculum is vital. Teachable media literacy moments create quality learning experiences, however, if we’re limiting students’  learning to “when they come up” opportunities, how are we providing equity? How are we ensuring that students’ development of these vital competencies are a priority?  

The goal of media literacy education is students mastery of the skills, dispositions and responsibilities necessary for accessing, evaluating and sharing information.  Ultimately though, the goal is knowledge formation; creating knowledge with quality, informed and accurate information. The dilemma lies in the following education issue. When we limit media literacy learning to situations when students are required to utilize information for knowledge creation, they lack the time necessary for practice and mastery. However, when we create media literacy learning experiences outside of students' needs for information utilization for knowledge creation, the experience lacks connection and the opportunity for application necessary for deep learning.