Ms. Keats and I invite you to join us for a special series of #K12Media chats on Twitter! Over the next eight weeks, we will delve more deeply into the Eight Key Concepts of Media Literacy. Each week’s discussion will investigate one concept, connecting it to a particular medium. In addition, we will examine the potential limitations of the concept when considering new or emerging technologies. 

You can vote for your favourite "Hot Topic" in the poll at the end of this post, and the winner will be the one we use for the focus of this week's chat.

For a refresher on each concept: 

Media Literacy: Key Concepts (Media Awareness Network)

Key Concept 1: Media are Constructions of reality.

When studying media we examine how media are not simply a reflection of reality; they are carefully constructed versions of reality shaped by a multitude of factors.

These past few weeks have been very exciting for us. Each week, a small and distinct group of individuals have come together to discuss Media Education, and it has been amazing to see. Ms. Keats and I reflected on the experience last night. We love the format and the engagement. We love teaching and learning.  We spoke about the variety of topics we touched on and realized that we wanted to go deeper. More than that, we wanted participants to be able to take something more practical away from these discussions. We want, as my friend Stephen Hurley once told me, "ideas for Monday and Someday".

To that end, the next poll will contain topics for discussion as usual, but we hope that the discussion will lead to a sharing and creating of resources for use in the classroom. Do you have a lesson that you taught that is relevant? Was there something that you tried that didn't work but that you believe has potential? Do you want to flesh out an idea for how to tackle new media? We'd like those questions and discussions to be the focus of our weekly chats, seen through the lens of the topic of the day.

Most of all, we'd love to hear from you! What do you think of this plan? Do you have any ideas for topics that you'd like to see in Monday's discussion? Let us know in the comments below or send us a Tweet!

To see the archive of last night's chat, visit the K12Media Wiki.

Some teachers and students are already back to school, and others are gearing up for a post-Labour-Day start, so with that in mind, why not chat about some fresh new ideas for the classroom? This week's poll has all-new topics up for grabs, please vote! If you have an idea for a topic, let me know in the comments or add it to our #K12Media Wiki. 

Last night Ms. Keats and I hosted the first ever #K12Media edchat on Twitter. We could not believe how quickly the hour flew by! From McLuhan and Postman to plastic bags and House Hippos, maps as media texts to Math and media we covered a broad range of topics and shared many resources. Our topic, integrating Media Studies into other subject areas, was perfect for the first chat because it showed how flexible the study of Media actually is. Some teachers use it as an entry point for deeper discussion into concepts, to engage students. Others use it as a form of reflection, to really think deeply about how the subject itself and the texts used to teach it are constructions. There are many threads from the discussion that will be picked up in future chats.