From Local Program to Global Network: How to Create a Professional Learning Community
During my PhD defense one of the examiners asked me what I would do after my PhD. My answer was that I would go back to Qatar and work with my scholarship provider, Qatar Foundation, to improve schools in Qatar. My PhD isn’t the magic wand to fix our education system however, I do believe […]
Changing Current Paradigms of Media Education
Media literacy is now called upon to cope with the insidious and sometimes disturbing media phenomena: fake news, hidden algorithms, conspiracy theories, cyberbullying, problematic uses of social media and video games, digital divides, privacy protection, etc. This list is not exhaustive but highlights some issues that many initiatives set out to tackle in the spheres […]
The Second Digital Divide: Privileged Usage of Educational Technologies
Teachers have used signals technology – radio, film, television, computers, internet, mobile devices, and more – in classrooms for over a century. Researchers have investigated these cycles, both contemporaneously and in retrospect, and two important patterns stand out. First, when teachers have access to new technologies, they primarily use them to extend existing […]
Urban Brand-Utility: Making Advertising Educate and Contribute Towards a Sustainable Future
Not all learning is formal, via classrooms or online modules. Therefore, taking a broader view about education is a way to empower teachers, students, and society. With that in mind, when considering that most of us are part of a capitalist system, one can easily assume that advertising has by-and-large educated the masses to believe […]
Autism and the Future of Education
In learning about autism in education, have you ever found yourself listening to a panel with no one that is autistic? What about seeing education policies and practices implemented without input from disabled (including autistic) students? And then there is the odd opinion piece, although well-intentioned, leaves out views from the autistic community on […]
Fake News: Is Media Literacy a Solution?
The world today feels mired in crisis. Democracies are under increasing pressure from fringe and populist political parties, who leverage the connective technologies of the web to further expand their voice and impact. In places like France, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, populist groups have surfaced with strong support for nationalist agendas, supported by online […]
Media Literacy: A Key to Digital Citizenship
Mass media play an increasingly significant role in today’s society. Even when one is not searching for information, mass media permeate everyone’s environment, influencing their world view and decision-making. Therefore, young people need to consciously and critically analyze and evaluate mass media messages and only then decide how to respond. Otherwise, they will not […]
What is Media Literacy and How Should We Teach it?
Although we in the media literacy field are delighted that we are receiving long-overdue recognition and movement towards more implementation of media literacy initiatives, the true mission and character of the global media literacy movement is in danger of being drowned out with uninformed noise. Let me be clear: media literacy is NOT just: […]
What Happens in a ‘One Subject for the Entire Day’ Classroom?
My schooling experience in an education system that taught through rote learning convinced me that Mark Twain was right about not mixing his schooling with his education. Like me, most students from different parts of the world who went through such a system would agree that learning in schools can be boring, mostly irrelevant, stressful […]
Quality Affordable Schools Lift Up Marginalized Children
Joseph Barak, a 14-year-old from Koru, Kisumu County, western Kenya walked five kilometers through sugar plantations every day to attend his low-cost school. His parents, a small-scale farmer and a domestic helper, shared in Joseph’s struggle to get him to a high-quality school. Their efforts have paid off. Joseph’s high score in the Kenyan national […]