Links The Media Education Association is the new subject association for media teachers: I'm on the Executive Committee and hope to help it become a key player in ensuring the quality, status and impact of media education in the UK. If you teach media in England, you should join! The Case for Global Film, a blog run by Roy Stafford and colleagues, is a great way to keep up to date with new world cinema titles and intelligent discussion about them Jim Barratt's blog Bigger Picture Research is an absolutely indispensable source of information about research and statistics about the film industry, together with an amzing list of links and no-nonsense commentaries that make you think twice about accepting statistics-based industry hype. MediaEd is a very useful site for advice about media teaching at all ages, especially the practical aspects. It also hosts information about the BFI's Reframing Literacy initiative. Cineclub is a brilliant initiative which has developed filmmaking by children and young people without public funding and without offering hit-and-run projects which leave both kids and teachers frustrated: it deserves to be better known and more widely used. Tim Brook's Magic Lantern website includes some amazing films made with children (do not miss Burston Rebellion!) and great resources including lots of links to free software. Tim is also dedicated to the concept of film as a central part of modern literacy, not just a special treat. The Charter for Media Literacy holds out the possibility of consensus around agreed key features of media literacy, rather than the competing definitions which abound at present and which confuse policy-makers no end. Be internationalist: sign the Charter at this, its European site, not at the go-it-alone UK site, and join in the debates with collegaues around the world. Any UK advocates seeking to promote media literacy ought to join the Associate Parliamentary Media Literacy Group and make sure parliamentarians get to understand what it's all about. David Buckingham directs the Centre for the Study of Children Youth and Media at the London Knowledge Lab: the CSCYM website is essential reading for up to date thinking and research in the media literacy field. I am working closely with Film Club to develop a campaign to enhance UK childen's access to world cinema; click here to find out more about this campaign. First Light Movies provides funding and online advice for children and young people making their own films. It also hosts Filmstreet, a filmmaking site for younger children. Rick Instrell is a valued friend and colleague who offers teacher training mainly in Scotland and the North of England. Paul Turner is another great colleague who quit primary advisory work in the UK for work with disabled children and young people in Peru: see his pictures and stories and listen to Radio Shalom. The British Film Institute Education Department has been an important part of my professional life and I still visit its pages regularly for both up to date and archive infomation. bfiwatch keeps an eye on the doings of the BFI and how they affect the academic world in particular. My former colleague Jo Van Der Meer runs the Fab Film Co which offers all linds of unusual film viewing and filmmaking services in the London area and lots of useful links. Frank W. Baker's Media Literacy Clearinghouse is a very useful compendium (US-oriented) of material and links on media literacy. If you can read Italian, the Anarchist Encyclopaedia of Modena can teach you lots about all that hard political jargon. But my piece on "Respect" and my husband Terry Staples on "Veganism" are both in English. My son Ben has an entry on "Bush". Go to indice dei lemmi in ordine alfabetico to get the alphabetical list of topics. Still in Italy, but this time with an English language option, Beppe Grillo's blog keeps you up to date with the latest disgraceful scandals in Italy and around the world.
|