Grant Boosts Media Literacy Project

A $150,000 grant has been awarded by the Park Foundation to Project LOOK SHARP, an initiative designed to promote and support the integration of media literacy into classroom curricula at all grade levels and instructional areas, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of media literacy education in the schools. The initiative represents a collaborative partnership between Ithaca College (through the Center for Teacher Education, Center for Research on the Effects of Television, and Roy H. Park School of Communications) and the Ithaca City School District.

"The Park Foundation grant has given us a tremendous opportunity to increase our educational outreach and programming efforts," says Cyndy Scheibe, Project LOOK SHARP director and associate professor of psychology at Ithaca College. "It will be funding an assistant director and two student interns and help us establish a media literacy library to be housed at the Ithaca High School library."

The project is guided by an operating committee consisting of Ithaca College faculty, staff, and administrators along with public school teachers and media literacy experts. Affiliate members of the project include teachers, college faculty, community organizations, and others interested in working with LOOK SHARP in some specific capacity. An affiliates meeting held at the College on November 16 included a keynote address by Renee Hobbs, director of the Media Literacy Project at Clark University, who spoke on "The Seven Great Debates in Media Literacy." The gathering also featured demonstrations and exhibits of media literacy materials, a business meeting, and a reception.

Scheibe says media literacy education began in the 1970s with an emphasis on protection (from the "evil effects" of media) and discrimination (between "good" and "bad" media content), with most media literacy materials aimed at parents. "Over the past 10 years, however, there has been a shift towards an emphasis on media literacy as empowerment—emphasizing critical thinking and production skills—with more materials aimed at schools and teachers," she says. "The empowerment model emphasizes the political, social, and economic implications of media messages and stresses the importance of using media effectively and wisely."

The primary goals of Project LOOK SHARP include developing a model for how to promote the inclusion of media literacy into the regular school curriculum at all grade levels and instructional areas, providing teachers with ongoing pre-service and in-service training in media literacy and media education, developing a library of media literacy information and materials for use by public school teachers and other professionals working with children, developing and testing assessment tools for evaluating the effectiveness of media literacy in the classroom, and promoting and supporting media literacy education at the community, state, and national levels.

Scheibe says that response to the project has already been enthusiastic. "In June, we gave a presentation about Project LOOK SHARP at the National Media Education Conference in Colorado Springs, where we gave out nearly 400 copies of our new handbook, ‘12 Basic Principles for Incorporating Media Literacy into any Curriculum.’ We are planning to develop more curricular materials along this line during the coming year, especially tying media literacy into science and math curricula.

"The daily demands of life in the ‘Information Age’ require that students be aware of the influence of media on the political process and on the power dynamics and social relations among the diverse populations that comprise the global community," says Scheibe. "The sheer volume and accessibility of available information demand that students at all grade levels be able to filter that information effectively and use media wisely—in other words, to become media literate."

More information on Project LOOK SHARP is available on the World Wide Web at www.ithaca.edu/looksharp.