Visit each section below to view free downloads for educators to use in your classrooms.
Digital Literacy
Children’s and adolescents’ use of mass media have been linked to several positive and negative outcomes. Given the power the media have to influence, it is critical that children are taught media literacy skills, so that they can maximize the potential benefits of the media while minimizing the potential harms. Unfortunately, most schools in the US do not teach these skills in a coordinated way.
People tend to treat advertisements as entertainment, which means that we watch them uncritically. Our pilot program was designed to shift specific attitudes related to advertising. We created a 45-minute presentation, called the Professor and the Ad Man, which demonstrated how advertising can influence people without their conscious awareness that they have been affected. In addition, licensed master teachers created 6 companion classroom activities to supplement the presentation. We presented the program to over 1300 5th through 8th grade children in four school districts across Iowa. You can view the results in the “Media Literacy Pilot Program” document below.
Please use this program in your classrooms to increase our children’s critical thinking skills when it comes to digital media.
Here are other downloads related to digital literacy:
Here are helpful websites related to digital literacy:
Social Media
Media Violence
Media and Substance Abuse
Media Multi-tasking
Digital Activities – Benefits & Risks
Prescription Drug Advertising
In the News
To read our blog posts with links to articles in the news about digital literacy, please click here.
Youth Mental Health
Below are various resources on adolescent and teen mental health.
In the News
To read our blog posts with links to articles in the news about youth mental health, please click here.
Surviving Bad – Our TV Series
In partnership with Mediacom, we produce a show with a variety of special guests addressing topics such as alcohol, digital literacy, depression, opioids, methamphetamines, vaping, and more.
- View episodes on our website: Click Here
- Open a spreadsheet listing all our episodes so you can sort through and quickly find ones of relevance to you: Click Here