Cyndy Scheibe and Chris Sperry of Project Look Sharp presented at the Symposium on the Historical Roots of Media Literacy, where experts in media literacy were invited to present on the historical framework of the field.
The conference was arranged by the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island and was a tribute to Elizabeth Thoman, who founded the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles and also published the media literacy magazine Media & Values for nearly two decades.
Scheibe and Sperry's session was called “Moving from Protection to Literacy: The Growth of Inquiry-Based and Curriculum-Driven Media Literacy Approaches in K-12 Education.” Their presentation focused on the ways in which attitudes towards media literacy have changed throughout history by looking specifically into the use of the field in education of children in K-12. The session demonstrated the progression of literacy in curriculums, explaining how in earlier years protection was the main approach, but now it can be used to empower young students. Scheibe and Sox emphasized Project Look Sharp’s curriculum-driven approach to show how far field has come.
Those attending the session included Elizabeth Thoman, Tessa Jolls the current president of the Center for Media Literacy, Sherrie Hope Culver the president of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, and Marilie Rowe editor of the Journal of Media Literacy Telemedium. More than 100 people attended the symposium overall, including over 20 graduate students from communications, education and library science at a number of colleges and universities.
Project look Sharp is Ithaca College's Media Literacy Initiative.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20131016144020250