Governor Announces Release of New York’s First Media Literacy Toolkit for Educators
- New York’s first ‘Media Literacy’ toolkit for educators will help teach students how to spot mis/dis/mal-information online.
- Following a surge in online hate speech in November 2023, Governor Hochul directed the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to work with experts to develop and distribute an ideologically neutral product that gives teachers resources to develop students’ ability to analyze, evaluate, and assess all forms of media, including information delivered through social media.
- The toolkit is the first in a series of resources on media literacy the Division intends to produce and serves as a primer for educators throughout New York looking to introduce their students to these concepts. The toolkit is organized into five sections:
- Overview of the 21st century media landscape
- Introduction to media literacy
- Key questions for analyzing, evaluating and using media
- Importance of media literacy
- Educator tools/resources
- The State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and the New York State Education Department will work closely with BOCES across New York to provide professional learning opportunities for educators on how to use these resources to support student media and digital literacy.
- The Media Literacy Toolkit [link to PDF] is available on the Department’s Office of Student Support Services website.
