Media Minute: What is media anyway?

From Media Minute · 2013

Media Minute: What is media anyway?
2 min3rd4th5th6thMedia Arts
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Summary

A quick, animated tour of what "media" actually means -- from the old-school kinds (print, television, radio) to websites, online video, and social networking. The video sets up the whole series by making the point that media is everywhere in a kid's day, and that becoming "media smart" starts with noticing it. A friendly one-and-a-half-minute opener for a media-literacy unit.

Viewer safety

All ages

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Teaching resources

Discussion questions

What counts as media?

  1. The video lists lots of kinds of media. How many can you remember -- and which ones do you use most in a day?
  2. What's the difference between an "old" medium like radio and a "new" one like a social app?
  3. Why might it matter to stop and notice all the media around you instead of just letting it wash past?

Quick work-a-long

Media all around: Words to know -- *media, message, audience.* For ten minutes of your morning, jot down every piece of media you met (a cereal box, a bus ad, a video, a text). Count them up -- were you surprised how many there were?