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a ready-to-run workshopMedia Arts & Digital Media
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Teaching Media Arts & Digital Media (Workshop)

Media arts, film, photography, animation, audio, digital design, is how much of today's storytelling and communication happens, and it is a recognized art form with its own craft and standards. Teaching it well develops students as creators and critical consumers of media.

Key takeaway

Media arts, film, photography, animation, audio, and digital design, is a recognized art form; teaching it develops students as skilled creators and critical consumers of the media that shapes their world.

Format
PLC / team meeting
Length
45 minutes
Group size
Any (works 4-40)
Who can run it
Any teacher-leader
You will need
Slides (5)Printed handoutA media arts form in mindA timer
Aligned to
Learning Forward: Rigorous ContentInTASC 4: Content KnowledgeNational arts education standards
Share / assign

Why it works

Media arts is one of the five arts disciplines in the national arts standards, encompassing film, photography, animation, audio, and digital design, and it combines artistic creation, technical skill, and communication. Teaching media arts engages students in creating, responding to, and connecting with media, developing both production craft and critical media literacy, the ability to understand and critique the media-saturated world they live in. Strong teaching balances creative production with analysis and keeps the learning central, not the tools.

The research: National Core Arts Standards (Media Arts); media literacy research.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

    The core activity: teach media arts as creation and critique

    Teachers leave with a media arts lesson balancing intentional creation and critique.

    Create and critique media, not just use toolsMedia arts is an art form: intentional creation plus critical understanding. Teach the craft and the media literacy, not just the software.

    Facilitator notes

    Using editing software is not media artsMedia arts is intentional creation and critical understanding, not just operating tools. Teach craft, purpose, and media literacy.

    Adapt it

    Participant handout

    One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

    K12 Academics · Professional Learning

    Media Arts: create and critique

    <b>An art form, not just tools:</b> intentional creation with craft, plus responding to and critiquing media.

    1. The media arts form:
    2. The intentional creation with craft and purpose:
    3. How I include responding to and critiquing media:
    4. How I develop media literacy:
    5. How I keep the learning central:

    Make it stick

    Creation plus critique:

    Common questions

    Isn't media arts just using editing software?
    The software is a tool; media arts is an art form, creating meaning through film, photography, audio, animation, and design, and critically understanding media. Teach the craft and the thinking, not just the tools.
    How is it different from just making videos?
    It is intentional artistic and communicative creation, with craft, purpose, and critique, and it develops media literacy. Casual video-making is not the same as teaching media arts.
    Why does it matter?
    Students live in a media-saturated world. Media arts makes them both skilled creators and critical consumers of the media that shapes how they see the world.

    Go deeper

    Build it into a bigger day

    Workshop
    Arts Integration
    Workshop
    Digital Citizenship & Media Literacy
    Workshop
    Students as Digital Creators