Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Discuss and assess the theoretical frameworks within which a study of children and the media is located
- Critically evaluate the validity of the major concerns that are voiced about the child's relationship with and use of the media
- Apply their knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings (and various 'concerns') to describe and explain how far the child experiences of the media can be described as 'educational'
- Demonstrate general study skills
Brief description
Please note that the module identifier for this module will soon change from ED32620 to MC32620.
This module introduces students to the major theories that underpin academic investigations of children's relationships with and uses of the mass media, together with a balanced view of adult 'concerns' about the media in the context of child-audiences and the media as 'educational' tools.
Aims
- To introduce students to the (media-specific) theoretical frameworks that are frequently employed in the academic study of the child's relationship with and use of the media.
- To provide students with insight into some of the major 'concerns' that are voiced about the child's relationship with and use of the media.
- To demonstrate to students how media use can be underpinned by development and sociological 'benefits' that can be described as 'educational'.
- To develop general study skills in the process of achieving the above aims.
Content
Lectures will cover the following topics:
- Introduction: Children and the Media
- 'Media literacy': Children's understanding of the media
- TV: An alternative curriculum
- Gender (1): Polarised media worlds
- Gender (2): Advertising
- Children's media uses and the marketability of childhood 'needs'
- Violence (1): Blood and Guts - The main 'concerns'
- Violence (2): Video nasties and computer games
- Children and new media: Internet at home and in school
- Media constructed social worlds: TV Nation