Community Engaged Learning:
My passion for journalism, in particular news literacy, extends beyond the classroom and Emory’s campus. I believe it is critical to help the public understand the history of a free press in our country and its role as a watchdog and guardian of democratic ideals. Equally important is helping people in our community, young and old, become more news literate. Thanks to a grant from Emory’s Center for Community Partnerships (CFCP), my students were able to share their news literacy skills with seventh and eighth graders at Coan Middle School and juniors and seniors at Druid Hills High School during the spring and fall semesters last year. This community engaged learning initiative covers four key topics:
· What is News and Why Does it Matter?
We examine the characteristics of news and what makes it different from other types of information like entertainment, publicity, advertisement, propaganda and raw information. We also talk about the power of information and the role of technology in this digital age.
· Who Decides What is News?
This lesson addresses how the news process works and who decides what is news. We look at stories in the news in the Edgewood community and talk about how and why news organizations may cover the same story differently.
· Truth and Verification
In this class, we explore the tools journalists use to verify information and the difference between direct evidence and assertions. We will also look at what makes news sources reliable and start deconstructing current stories in the news to evaluate their credibility.
· News vs. Opinion and the Myth of Objectivity
This class focuses on the difference between news and opinion and how to tell the difference. Students also do an inventory of their own biases and discuss the myth of objectivity.
Teams of four Emory students present each concept to the class as a whole and then break up into smaller group for an activity/game that reinforces the topic. After completing these workshops, both the Coan Middle School students and Druid Hills High School students told us they have a much better grasp of what makes a news story credible and the skills to distinguish news that can be trusted from all other information. These are important life skills that also help build critical thinking and language arts skills, two key learning objectives teachers wanted us to address in these sessions. Coan Middle School teacher Erin Morgan called the lessons “extremely meaningful” and thanked my students for being “prepared, punctual, interactive and professional.” So far, we have worked with more than 125 public school students.
After participating in this project, each team of students produced a digital story to reflect on their teaching experience. The digital story medium helped my students convey how meaningful this opportunity was for them and the Coan and Druid Hills students through pictures and individual voiceovers that chronicled their project. Please check out these two examples below and visit my Emory News Literacy site on Vimeo to view some more of these projects: http://vimeo.com/user11811622.
My passion for journalism, in particular news literacy, extends beyond the classroom and Emory’s campus. I believe it is critical to help the public understand the history of a free press in our country and its role as a watchdog and guardian of democratic ideals. Equally important is helping people in our community, young and old, become more news literate. Thanks to a grant from Emory’s Center for Community Partnerships (CFCP), my students were able to share their news literacy skills with seventh and eighth graders at Coan Middle School and juniors and seniors at Druid Hills High School during the spring and fall semesters last year. This community engaged learning initiative covers four key topics:
· What is News and Why Does it Matter?
We examine the characteristics of news and what makes it different from other types of information like entertainment, publicity, advertisement, propaganda and raw information. We also talk about the power of information and the role of technology in this digital age.
· Who Decides What is News?
This lesson addresses how the news process works and who decides what is news. We look at stories in the news in the Edgewood community and talk about how and why news organizations may cover the same story differently.
· Truth and Verification
In this class, we explore the tools journalists use to verify information and the difference between direct evidence and assertions. We will also look at what makes news sources reliable and start deconstructing current stories in the news to evaluate their credibility.
· News vs. Opinion and the Myth of Objectivity
This class focuses on the difference between news and opinion and how to tell the difference. Students also do an inventory of their own biases and discuss the myth of objectivity.
Teams of four Emory students present each concept to the class as a whole and then break up into smaller group for an activity/game that reinforces the topic. After completing these workshops, both the Coan Middle School students and Druid Hills High School students told us they have a much better grasp of what makes a news story credible and the skills to distinguish news that can be trusted from all other information. These are important life skills that also help build critical thinking and language arts skills, two key learning objectives teachers wanted us to address in these sessions. Coan Middle School teacher Erin Morgan called the lessons “extremely meaningful” and thanked my students for being “prepared, punctual, interactive and professional.” So far, we have worked with more than 125 public school students.
After participating in this project, each team of students produced a digital story to reflect on their teaching experience. The digital story medium helped my students convey how meaningful this opportunity was for them and the Coan and Druid Hills students through pictures and individual voiceovers that chronicled their project. Please check out these two examples below and visit my Emory News Literacy site on Vimeo to view some more of these projects: http://vimeo.com/user11811622.
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