Illinois Media Literacy Coalition

Creating a more media literate Illinois.

Our Mission

The Illinois Media Literacy Coalition is a group of educators, practitioners, and scholars dedicated to improving media literacy education in the state of Illinois.

We do so through the study of the wide variety of media literacy models and materials available to teachers to identify best practices and core competencies that are part of media literacy and its various subdomains.

We offer guidance and training on core media literacy competencies to enable educators and administrators to take full advantage of the variety of materials available for building skills in mindful media consumption and creation.

Our Framework

Read the simple 4-concept framework undergirding media literacy, based on previous work from NAMLE and the Media Education Lab.

About the Coalition

The 1st MediaEd Research Jam: Media Education at the College Level

The 1st MediaEd Research Jam addressed the current challenges of teaching about and with media in colleges and universities nationwide. This day-and-a-half event brought together higher education faculty interested in media education research and practice to discuss research collaborations and strategies for moving forward. Participants explored the media’s impact on political polarization, students’ mental health, the state of media education on U.S. campuses, and issues related to declining enrollment and student engagement in the classroom.

To foster collaboration and meaningful discussion, the Research Jam implemented the following practices:

Opened a dialogue within the media literacy community about our current status and ways forward
Identified specific takeaways and ideas for accountability after the symposium
Developed working groups to target symposium takeaways and post-meeting tasks

This gathering was co-sponsored by the Illinois Media Literacy Coalition, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Northwestern University, Columbia College, the Media Education Lab, and the UNESCO MIL Alliance North America & Europe Chapter.

Get Involved

Chicago Journalists Association & some members of ILMLC collaborated at Columbia College to share reflections and ideas to move forward with students in Illinois of all ages.

^{Top Banner Photo Credits
City of Seattle Community Tech}