Wilmette, IL- On Monday, September 23, 2024, Regina Dominican High School welcomed Professor Michael Spikes of Medill School of Journalism - Northwestern University, to campus to speak with the Junior and Senior Allworth Scholars and Journalism students on the topic of Media Literacy.
Following a brief tracing of mass communication from Gutenberg to Zuckerberg, Professor Spikes had students work together to develop a baseline of student understanding and perspectives on news before launching into a lesson on the journalistic process of verification and the deconstruction of news.
"It was such an honor to have Professor Spikes speak to our Allworth Scholars and journalism students about news media literacy. We learned how important it is to look at news, whether it is from television, the internet, or through social media, with a critical eye.” said Regina Dominican English teacher Kate Houston. “Students were exposed to a variety of examples of misinformation and disinformation as well as the skills to critically evaluate a news item. One of the biggest and easiest ways to determine an article's credibility is through the 3-step test: verification, independence, and accountability. News and Media Literacy is such a vital issue for all of us. It is the duty of all of us to seek the truth and to empower those who pragmatically write and report the news.”
Students were introduced to college-level concepts and engaged in hands-on evaluation of media: students weighed evidence, evaluated sources, and learned how to judge source reliability. In addition to learning more about what drives news creation, students were able to use selections of content to demonstrate critical thinking and civic engagement.
Professor Michael Spikes is not stranger to research and curriculum development when it comes to Media Literacy Education (MLE). Professor Spikes has been involved in implementation strategies for incorporating units of MLE into existing K-12 curricula for educators in Illinois in response to being the first state to implement a requirement of a unit of MLE for all high schools. His faculty biography states that his current research is centered on the practice and pedagogy of media literacy education (MLE) and news media literacy (NML) toward encouraging critical thinking to limit the effects of exposure to misinformation and disinformation. His focus is on the design, assessment, and enactment of MLE & NML in classrooms and other learning environments.
"The News Media Literacy seminar presented by Professor Spikes was an amazing opportunity for me to learn more about the forms of media and challenges that come up when trying to find accurate information while online. One of the topics from the seminar informed other students, and me, about how to find if a news source is reliable and has accountability, which is very important today with the use of social media." stated Regina Dominican Junior and Allworth Scholar, Esthela Gemoets.
Regina Dominican hosts numerous speaker series for students through the Allworth Scholars Program and the Leadership Institute.