2.  The Media deliver us the news and the gossip; they entertain, educate and inform.  Unless you are media literate, you may not think twice about the powerful and influential role the media have on our lives.

3.  Teachers teach with media, but rarely do they teach about the media.  Most of our students are not receiving adequate media literacy instruction.  Why???  Mostly because their teachers have not been adequately trained—neither at the college level nor through professional development.

4. YOU MIGHT BE ASKING: WHAT IS MEDIA LITERACY?  “Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques.”  More specifically, it is education that aims to increase the students’ understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products.”

5.  Media literacy is the ability to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day. “Jane Tallim”  In our world of multi-tasking, commercialism, globalization and interactivity, media education isn't about having the right answers—it's about asking the right questions. The result is lifelong empowerment of the learner and citizen.

6.  The National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) also advocates six core principles through their project:  1. Media Literacy Education requires active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create.  2. Media Literacy Education expands the concept of literacy to include all forms of media.  3. Media Literacy Education builds and reinforces skills for learners of all ages. Like print literacy, those skills necessitate integrated, interactive, and repeated practice.

7.  4. Media Literacy Education develops informed, reflective, and engaged participants essential for a democratic society.  5.Media Literacy Education recognizes that media are a part of culture and function as agents of socialization.  6. Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs, and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.

8.  The first stage is simply becoming aware of the importance of managing one's media "diet"— that is, making choices and reducing the time spent with television, videos, electronic games, films and various print media forms.  The second stage is learning specific skills of critical viewing— learning to analyze and question what is in the frame, how it is constructed and what may have been left out.  The third stage goes behind the frame to explore deeper issues. Who produces the media we experience—and for what purpose? & etc…

9.  Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian media guru was fond of reminding us that environment is always invisible. Media literacy is all about making the world of television highly visible, so that we learn to "read" it with a critical response. Critical does not necessarily mean negative; in fact, there is much about television that should be celebrated. Furthermore, understanding and enjoyment should not be mutually exclusive.