UMass Amherst Faculty Recognized for High-Quality Civics Media Literacy Resource in Education and Communication

Written by a team of UMass Amherst researchers, the open online eBook “Critical Media Literacy and Civic Learning” has been recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as a high-quality civics curriculum resource for media literacy.

The eBook is authored by Robert W. Maloy and Torrey Trust from the College of Education, Allison Butler from the Department of Communication in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Chenyang Xu, a doctoral candidate in the Math, Science and Learning Technology program in the College of Education.

The eBook was one of only a small number of resources chosen for this designation. According to DESE, “In total, 100-plus materials were reviewed across these three phases of work. This guide highlights those that teacher reviewers found to be worthy of districts’ consideration.”

It features more than 100 learning activities that promote awareness of, and critical thinking about, the role that all types of media—online and in print—play in our lives and in our politics. All activities promote higher-order thinking, media awareness, and creative self-expression among upper elementary, middle, and high school students.

The eBook has been accessed nearly 190,000 times and it has generated an estimated $104,716 dollars in savings for teachers and students.