English for Media Literacy
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There are 5 modules in this course
Welcome to English for Media Literacy, a course created by the University of Pennsylvania, and funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs.
To enroll in this course for free, click on “Enroll now” and then select "Full Course. No certificate." This course is designed for non-native English speakers who are interested in learning more about U.S. media literacy. In this course, you will explore different types of mass media, such as newspapers, magazines, television, and social media. This course will also give you the opportunity to develop a broader understanding of the role media plays in our lives, while building your vocabulary and giving you the language skills needed to analyze what you read and watch. The first unit in this course will provide an introduction to media literacy and give you an opportunity to evaluate your own media literacy level. In unit 2, you will learn how to identify facts versus opinions in the media. The next unit in the course will focus on the differences between social media and traditional media, while unit 4 will look at how gender and identity are covered in the media. In the final unit of the course, you will demonstrate your increased media literacy by through a culminating final project on social media. Development of this course was funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Office of English Language Programs. Unless otherwise noted, all course materials are available for re-use, repurposing and free distribution under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.
In this unit, you will learn what media literacy means and how you can improve your own media literacy skills.
What's included
12 videos8 readings12 assignments1 discussion prompt
12 videos•Total 47 minutes
- Course Overview: Introduction to Media Literacy•4 minutes
- Course Overview: Topics, Assessments, Games & Activities•6 minutes
- Media is Everywhere•6 minutes
- Listening: Interview with William Cowen...•7 minutes
- Language Focus: Previewing Texts•5 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 1•0 minutes
- What is Media Literacy?•4 minutes
- Part 1: How Can we Analyze Media Messages?•5 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 2•0 minutes
- Part 2: How Can we Analyze Media Messages?•6 minutes
- Language Focus: Skimming and Scanning•5 minutes
- Online Learning Opportunities to Extend Your Skills•1 minute
8 readings•Total 80 minutes
- Overview of the Unit•10 minutes
- BASIC: Can you Separate Fact from Fiction?•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: Can you Separate Fact from Fiction?•10 minutes
- BASIC: Debate over Free Press in Ukraine Suffers from Old Stereotypes•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: Debate over Free Press in Ukraine Suffers from Old Stereotypes•10 minutes
- Game: Unit 1 Vocabulary Flashcards•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: More to it! Media Literacy•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: Make up your Own Mind. These Mobile News Apps Can Help.•10 minutes
12 assignments•Total 360 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: William Cowen Interview•30 minutes
- Unit 1 Assessment 1: Self-Assessment of Media Literacy Skills•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Can you Separate Fact from Fiction?"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Debate over Free Press in Ukraine Suffers from Old Stereotypes"•30 minutes
- Game 1: Preview the Text•30 minutes
- Value Affirmation Activity•30 minutes
- Game 2: Skimming and Scanning•30 minutes
- Game 3: Vocabulary Practice•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "More to it! Media Literacy"•30 minutes
- Game: Review Previewing a Text•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Make up your Own Mind. These Mobile News Apps Can Help."•30 minutes
- Game: Review Skimming and Scanning•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Assessment 2: Family/Friend Media Usage Interview Findings•10 minutes
In this unit you will learn about the differences between traditional and social media, and learn the language necessary to compare them.
What's included
11 videos9 readings12 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt
11 videos•Total 46 minutes
- What is Traditional Media?•6 minutes
- What is Social Media?•5 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 3•0 minutes
- Language Focus - Comparative Adjectives•5 minutes
- Overcoming Bias: The Power of Social Media•6 minutes
- Using Social Media to Support Causes•5 minutes
- Language Focus - Reductions•5 minutes
- Part 1: The Reliability of Social Media (Editing/Doctoring Content)•4 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 4•0 minutes
- Part 2: The Reliability of Social Media (Credibility)•5 minutes
- The Language of New Media•5 minutes
9 readings•Total 90 minutes
- Overview of the Unit•10 minutes
- Study Finds Most Americans Get News from Social Media•10 minutes
- BASIC: 5 Ways Social Media Helps Syrian Refugees•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: 5 Ways Social Media Helps Syrian Refugees•10 minutes
- Real or Not? Snowboarder's Video in Question•10 minutes
- Game: Unit 2 Vocabulary Flashcards•10 minutes
- EU Piles Pressure on Social Media Over Fake News•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: The Town that Runs on Twitter•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: It's about How you Communicate your Message•10 minutes
12 assignments•Total 330 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Study Finds Most Americans Get News from Social Media"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "5 Ways Social Media Helps Syrian Refugees"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Real or Not? Snowboarder's Video in Question"•30 minutes
- Game 1: Categorize each Media Example with Its Type (Traditional or Social)•30 minutes
- Game 2: Replace the Adjective with a Comparative Form•30 minutes
- Game 3: Choose the Correct Reduced Form•30 minutes
- Game 4: Vocabulary Review: Fill in the Blank•30 minutes
- Checking Your Understanding: "EU Piles Pressure on Social Media Over Fake News"•0 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "The Town that Runs on Twitter"•30 minutes
- Game: Grammar Practice - Reductions•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "It's about How you Communicate your Message"•30 minutes
- Game: Identify the Positive Aspects of Social Media from the Sentence Bank•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Unit 2 Assessment 1: Compare Traditional and Social Media•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Assessment 2: Tweet•10 minutes
In this unit, you will learn how advertisers use media to market their products.
What's included
14 videos9 readings11 assignments1 peer review
14 videos•Total 53 minutes
- What is Advertising?•4 minutes
- Thinking Critically about Advertisements•5 minutes
- How do Advertisers Target Audiences?•5 minutes
- Listening: Interview with Nancy Bollinger•7 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 5•0 minutes
- Language Focus - Order of Adjectives•6 minutes
- Features of a Print Advertisement•5 minutes
- Features of Radio and Television Advertisements•4 minutes
- Language Focus - Intensifiers (Normal vs. Strong Adjectives)•5 minutes
- Using the Internet to Advertise•5 minutes
- Analyzing Advertisements•4 minutes
- Sample Analysis of an Advertisement•3 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 6•0 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 7•0 minutes
9 readings•Total 90 minutes
- Overview of the Unit•10 minutes
- AI Cameras Aim to Guess Shopper’s Age, Sex and Mood•10 minutes
- BASIC: Internet Ads Outpace Print for First Time•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: Internet Ads Outpace Print for First Time•10 minutes
- Nielsen's, Sina Weibo Team Up for Closer Look at Chinese Social Media•10 minutes
- Written Assessment Instructions & Model Answer•10 minutes
- Game: Unit 3 Vocabulary Flashcards•10 minutes
- Digital Ads, Social Media Hide Political Campaign Messaging•10 minutes
- New TV Advertisements Shock Viewers•10 minutes
11 assignments•Total 270 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: Interview with Nancy Bollinger•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "AI Cameras Aim to Guess Shopper’s Age, Sex and Mood"•30 minutes
- Unit 3 Assessment 1: Advertising, thinking critically about ads, and targeting audiences•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Internet Ads Outpace Print for First Time"•30 minutes
- Game 1: Match the Target Audience with the Product•30 minutes
- Game 2: Put the Adjectives in the Correct Order•30 minutes
- Game 3: Choose the Correct Intensifier•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Nielsen's, Sina Weibo Team Up for Closer Look at Chinese Social Media"•0 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Digital Ads, Social Media Hide Political Campaign Messaging"•0 minutes
- Bonus Game: Intensifier Use•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "New TV Advertisements Shock Viewers"•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Unit 3 Assessment 2: Written Analysis of Advertisement•60 minutes
In this unit, we will discuss the meaning of media bias and several common types of bias.
What's included
13 videos8 readings9 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt
13 videos•Total 44 minutes
- How Are Media Messages Created and Shared?•4 minutes
- What is Media Bias?•5 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 8•0 minutes
- PART 1: Language Focus- Expressing Opinions using Modals (should, must, could, might)•4 minutes
- PART 2: Language Focus- Expressing Opinions using Modals (should, must, could, might)•3 minutes
- Bias by Omission•5 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 9•0 minutes
- Bias by Placement•5 minutes
- Language Focus - Connotation vs. Denotation•4 minutes
- Bias by Spin•5 minutes
- Overcoming Bias•5 minutes
- Overview for Unit 4 Assessment 2 & Sample Bias Analysis•3 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 10•0 minutes
8 readings•Total 80 minutes
- Overview of the Unit•10 minutes
- BASIC: For the Press, Elections are a Test of Accountability•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: For the Press, Elections are a Test of Accountability•10 minutes
- Are Facebook’s Trending Topics Unfair?•10 minutes
- Instructions for Peer-reviewed Unit 4 Written Assessment 2•10 minutes
- Game: Unit 4 Vocabulary Flashcards•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: Are Biased Sources Replacing Standard News Networks in America?•10 minutes
- Facebook Checks Its Bias•10 minutes
9 assignments•Total 240 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "For the Press, Elections are a Test of Accountability"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Are Facebook’s Trending Topics Unfair?"•30 minutes
- Game 1: Choose the Correct Modal•30 minutes
- Game 2: Denotations and Connotations•30 minutes
- Game 3: Identifying Negative Connotations•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Are Biased Sources Replacing News Networks?"•30 minutes
- Game: Bias by Omission, Placement, or Spin?•30 minutes
- Game: Positive/Neutral and Negative Connotations•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Facebook Checks Its Bias"•0 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Unit 4 Assessment 2: Peer-Reviewed Media Bias•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Unit 4 Assessment 1: Opinions on Media Sources•10 minutes
In this unit, we will learn about the importance of including people from various races, cultures, and genders in mainstream media.
What's included
11 videos12 readings13 assignments1 peer review
11 videos•Total 39 minutes
- What is Diversity?•4 minutes
- Why is it Important for the Media to be Diverse?•4 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 11•0 minutes
- Language Focus: Using Negatives (not, no, never, hardly ever)•5 minutes
- Race and Ethnicity in the Media•4 minutes
- Culture in the Media•4 minutes
- Women in the Media•6 minutes
- Unlockable Achievement 12•0 minutes
- Language Focus: Transitions•5 minutes
- Diversity and Identity•4 minutes
- Course Conclusion•2 minutes
12 readings•Total 120 minutes
- Overview of the Unit•10 minutes
- BASIC: Minorities See Improvement, Demand More Diversity on US Television•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: Minorities See Improvement, Demand more Diversity on US Television•10 minutes
- Study Examines Racial Bias in US Sports Reporting•10 minutes
- Report: Americans Know Little about Native Americans•10 minutes
- UN to Advertisers: Go Beyond the Female Stereotypes•10 minutes
- BASIC: Social Media Highlights Sexism in Olympics Coverage•10 minutes
- ADVANCED: Social Media Highlights Sexism in Olympics Coverage•10 minutes
- Rising Number of Chinese, Asian Faces in Hollywood•10 minutes
- Game: Unit 5 Vocabulary Flashcards•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: Women Journalists Keep the News Coming•10 minutes
- Supplemental Reading: Giving Voice to Sesame Street's First Afghan Muppet•10 minutes
13 assignments•Total 390 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Minorities See Improvement, Demand more Diversity on US Television"•30 minutes
- Unit 5 Assessment 1: True or False: Media Diversity•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Study Examines Racial Bias in US Sports Reporting"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Report: Americans Know Little about Native Americans"•30 minutes
- Checking Your Understanding: "UN to Advertisers: Go Beyond the Female Stereotypes"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Social Media Highlights Sexism in Olympics Coverage"•30 minutes
- Checking Your Understanding: "Rising Number of Chinese, Asian Faces in Hollywood"•30 minutes
- Game 1: Choose the Correct Negative for the Sentence•30 minutes
- Game 2: Choose the Correct Transition•30 minutes
- Game 3: Vocabulary Review•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Women Journalists Keep the News Coming"•30 minutes
- Check Your Understanding: "Giving Voice to Sesame Street's First Afghan Muppet"•30 minutes
- Game: Review: Transitions in a Text•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Unit 5 Assessment 2: How Different Groups are Depicted in the Media•60 minutes
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Reviewed on Feb 24, 2019
It was a really effective way of learning. By this course, I was able to advance my knowledge about media literacy and as a student be able to adapt this learning in daily basis.
Reviewed on Sep 5, 2024
This course helps mold one's mind to listen and read comprehensively, to think and analyze critically, to speak and write what is authentic, and to discover and shun bias in media.
Reviewed on May 22, 2020
This course is absolutely useful for a lot of people having keen interest for learning , the classes are impeccable and i think its privilege to learn under this.
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