NCTE and Media Literacy

"1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works."http://www.ncte.org

That is the first standard on the NCTE website. This standard, in my mind, covers all of the other standards. We need to build our students' understanding of the cultures of the U.S. and the World. As we know, technology is the key ingredient to many cultures around the world. Teaching students to understand cultures, and be able to respond to the demands of the world around them means teaching media literacy. Some of the other standards talk about students using a wide range of strategies with all kinds of literature. Teaching media literacy gives students the strategies to access the internet and the advertisements they view all the time, etc.

One of the standards expresses the idea that students participate in a variety of literacy communities. Social/community websites are a literacy community. Students would be able to learn from people all over the world by accessing these types of websites. In other words, get involved in other cultures. Students can learn about and understand the world by studying and using the media. They no longer have to read about other cultures from books alone. Students can now blog with people in other cultures and learn first hand about their world.