Switch On! - a media literacy learning resource

Switch On! is a learning resource designed to support education for media literacy, and is aimed particularly at professionals teaching or caring for people with learning disabilities. Much of the material in this resource is designed to support informal learning in a wide variety of contexts. But the resource is also designed to help teachers preparing learners for the National Open College Network (NOCN) Entry Level Awards in Media Literacy at Entry Level 3 (for details see www.nocn.org.uk/qualifications/qcf-qualifications).

The media are such an important aspect of everyones lives that understanding them better, and being able to criticise them, is empowering as well as enjoyable. People with learning disabilities watch more television, and films on DVD, than other people, so this resource concentrates mainly on moving image media. By developing their skills in analysing and evaluating moving image media, people with learning disabilities can become more adept at a key aspect of literacy in the twenty-first century: media literacy.

Switch On! was written by Marion Janner and Cary Bazalgette and was piloted by teachers and students in five institutions; their comments and experiences were documented by Jim Barratt and were taken into account in the final revision of the resource.

Please note - this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Switch On! is available for download below.