I chose to do my research on Technology in Middle School Classrooms.

My aim was to

learn about media and how it impacts students and the learning environment. As an educator, I

can say that I see the benefits of media in my classroom, however I also see the drawbacks as it

opens up the window for bulling, interacting with strangers who may or may not have valid

intentions, it also opens up the door for students to be persuaded by advertisements. The article I

am focusing on Educational Intervention/Case Study: Implementing an Elementary-Level,

Classroom-Based Media Literacy Education Program for Academically At-Risk Middle-

School Students in the Non-Classroom Setting does a study on media influences students.

This study takes a small group of low-achieving middle school students at high risk for

substance abuse attending an afterschool academic remediation program and they receive

a media literacy intervention course intended for elementary students in a classroom setting

(Draper et al 12). The study was conducted with 20 low-achieving students that were at a high

risk for exposure to drugs. The students took a 68 multiple-response questions asked

participants about media deconstruction skills, understanding of advertising intent, intentions to

use, and substance use behaviors. (Draper et al 17)

After the study participants significantly increased their preferences for non-alcohol-

related advertisements, ability to identify advertising techniques, media deconstruction skills,

negative opinions about drinking and smoking behaviors, and significantly decreased their

positive perceptions of cigarette and alcohol content in advertising. Results suggest that

the Media Detective Program, an elementary-level, classroom-based intervention, can improve

outcomes for at-risk middle school students in the afterschool setting (Draper et al 12)
 I thought this was an interesting study. A lot of times when we thing of technology and

media in the classrooms, we think of the positives such as self paced instruction, differentiation,

on spot grading, increased opportunities for creativity, but this study helped to point out some of

the drawbacks of media which is that we have to also be wiling to teach our students to be on the

look out for negative advertisements and how to make sure they can decode the media they are

being exposed to. I learned that teaching students to decode media is a necessity and that before

it is implemented in classrooms and curriculum, some time should be spent teaching students

how to think critically about the messages being imposed on them through media. Experts

suggest that media literacy programs can change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011) and can be promising interventions in the school-

based setting (Innovation Research and Training, 2014). (Draper et al 16)

Reference:

Draper, M., Appregilio, S., Kramer, A., Ketcherside, M., Campbell, S., Stewart, B., & ... Cox, C.
(2015). Educational Intervention/Case Study: Implementing an Elementary-Level,
Classroom-Based Media Literacy Education Program for Academically At-Risk Middle-
School Students in the Non-Classroom Setting. Journal Of Alcohol And Drug
Education, 59(2), 12-24.

The second article I decided to research included information about media being used as

a tool for teaching the youth about stereotypes. I thought this was an interesting study because

typically the media is usually responsible for creating or giving the stereotype life because its

viewers see it contentiously which makes it seem realistic and accurate. Laurel Puncher and a

few others decided to conduct a study called Critical Media Literacy and Gender:

Teaching Middle School Children about Gender Stereotypes and Occupations in which its aim
was to create a media literacy curriculum to address stereotypes, especially as they pertain to

occupations.

This study was conducted with 5 seventh grade classes, who were exposed to a 4-

workshop curriculum, and students in 5 eighth grades classes, who were not. Methods included a

14-question pre-post survey and interviews with 4 students before and after implementation of

the CML (Critical Media Literacy) unit (Puchner et al 23). The research question was whether

students exposed to the critical media literacy (CML) curriculum were more likely than students

not exposed to believe: that women experience discrimination in the workplace, both the

quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that the CML unit was generally successful at

increasing the seventh graders' understanding of target issues (23).

I believe this was a great study as it is important to thinking about our thinking and how

the media impacts our thinking. We move so quickly that we do not always have an opportunity

to think about what experiences or media has impacted our thinking and our views of others. I

learned that Critical Media Literacy courses may be the way to go as participants are more likely

to be aware and exposed to different types of media and figure out how it could be leading to

stereotypes or/ and discrimination.

Reference:

Puchner, L., Markowitz, L., & Hedley, M. (2015). Critical Media Literacy and Gender: Teaching
Middle School Children about Gender Stereotypes and Occupations. Journal Of Media
Literacy Education, 7(2), 23-34.

The third article I choose to research looked at media and its impact on both teachers and

students. I enjoy using media in my classroom, as I feel that it allows students to be more

creative, go at their own pace, and it allows for differentiation for various learning styles and

levels, and in most cases direct feedback. However, I work with some older and younger teachers
that are strictly against media/technology in the classrooms due to various reasons. With

education always evolving and transforming I wanted to know how technology and media is

impacting that transformation. The article I will be researching is titled The New Curricula: How

Media Literacy Education Transforms Teaching and Learning.

This article focuses on education and how it is moving from paper-based, face-to-face

classwork to technology-enabled curricula that is better, faster and cheaper, educators need new

yet proven approaches and curricular resources to delivering effective lessons and outcomes.

With media literacy education, this shift is not only possible but also imperative for providing

curricula for the globalized classroom (Jolls 66). Tessa Jolls research talks about how education

and classrooms were set up to prepare students for factory jobs, however most young adults will

not grow up to work in factories so she questions if our entire education systems is still valid or

obsolete.

Tessa Jolls conduced research that found that:

Students are on board with integrating technology into their classrooms: the 2013 Speakup

Survey of more than 403,000 K-12 students, parents, educators, and community members

reported that students are looking for a classroom environment that more closely replicates the

way they are using digital tools outside of school to support greater communication and

collaboration. Furthermore, 53% of students would like for their schools to let them use their

own mobile devices within instruction to support their schoolwork, and nearly 50% of virtual

high school students say there were interested in what they were learning in school, while only

32% of traditional high school students said the same (Speakup 2013) (Jolls 66). So Jolls found

that one of the things that seems to be holding educators back was the lack of funding and

tranining on how to incorporate media into education.

 She is strongly urging for the ending of teacher and student classrooms. Instead she

believes learning should be more global and custom to students and connect to a larger global

system. I agree with Professor Jolls, I enjoy teaching with so many options and feeling like my

students are enjoying learning the content and making the most out of it because they are

learning how to use a new tool in the process or using a tool for educational purposes. I learned

that there is a long way to go in the way of research and restructuring our education system,

however I am happy that we are having the conversation and starting to realize that education

and learning can be much larger than what it is now. Every student can have an opportunity to

learn and be successful if we let go of the one-size fits all mentality in education.

References:

Jolls, T. (2015). The New Curricula: How Media Literacy Education Transforms Teaching and
Learning. Journal Of Media Literacy Education, 7(1), 65-71.