Are your students challenged by the media of today? Is it hard for them to make sense of what is happening in the world? If you’re free, I hope you’ll join me for a webinar on Empowering Your Students With Media Literacy on October 4th, 2017. The webinar is sponsored by the Office of English Language Programs of the U.S. Department of State. If you live outside the U.S. you can contact your Regional English Language Officer or the cultural affairs department of the nearest U.S. embassy for information on how to join the webinar live. If you live inside the U.S. your best bet is to watch the webinar on YouTube Live on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StateAmericanEnglish
The webinar will be offered twice, once at 8:00 a.m. E.D.T. (12:00 p.m. UTC) and then again at 1:00 p.m. EDT (5:00 p.m. UTC) If you’d like to join in the pre-and post webinar discussion, get access to the recordings, as well as the presentation slides and additional resources, go to http://americanenglishwebinars.com/ and complete the application form. That will get you in and give you access to the discussion. One more option is to join us for a Facebook Live discussion on the same topic. That will be Wednesday, October 10th at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. UTC). To join that discussion, check out the American English Facebook page at: https://www.youtube.com/user/StateAmericanEnglish

Here’s a more detailed summary of what we’ll talk about: Each day English language students absorb messages from newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and many forms of social media. Just as we help our students read, listen to, and understand English, we also want to help them develop critical thinking skills to understand and assess the information they obtain through different forms of media. In this webinar, we will explore activities that help students ask key questions about the messages found in news and social media. We will examine specific media texts and engage in hands-on evaluation techniques that can be used in class with students.

I hope you can join us!