A film available on OhioLINK. \n\nTV and radio commercials, Web sites and banner ads, magazine ads, pop songs, photos, and even news articles and textbooks: all of them are sending messages to influence the reader/viewer/listener. How do they grab the attention? What are they selling-a product or service? a lifestyle? an ideology?-and why? Would a different media consumer interpret the message differently? This program raises more questions than it answers, which is the whole point: to prompt students to question, question, question the messages they are bombarded with daily. Savvy media consumers aren't born; they're made, and this program is an excellent tool for shaping the classroom dialogue. (35 minutes)

The idea of media literacy prompts an increasingly divisive debate between educators who wish to protect children from the commercialization of global markets and those who challenge critical media studies as misguided, outdated, and ineffective. We have provided a historical overview of changing conceptions of media literacy as preparation and protection in market society, arguing that contemporary concerns about children's fast food marketing and sedentary lifestyles call for new approaches to the education of citizen-consumers in a risk society. Our case study demonstrates that a media education programme can provide scaffolding for children's critical thinking about their sedentary lifestyles and media consumption. (Abstract taken from JSTOR.)

How the moving image is upending the printed word.

Hanging out online helps teenagers develop "technological skills and literacy," a researcher on a new study said.

An article that explains a debate that has raged for years in academic circles. When you read online, are you reading or skimming? Is the Internet killing reading or just helping students develop different skills?

An op-ed piece from Slate.

A film on OhioLINK. How could a child be a top math student yet not be able to read? Why can another child read well but not be able to write a paragraph that makes sense? While watching children being taught new ways to learn, this program offers expert insight into the nature of learning disabilities, why learning disabilities may also be accompanied by ADHD or social disorders, and what can be done to help children learn to compensate and succeed. A Meridian Production. (16 minutes, color)\n

A film on OhioLINK. Researchers debate whether differences in the brain architecture lead to a division of talents and aptitudes between the sexes. A bit dated, but could be helpful for those researching gender and literacy.\n

About the importance of music education.

As health-care costs skyrocket, a down-to-earth approach to healing is emerging, complementing high-tech medicine with high-touch arts.

A study to be released today by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum [cites] improvements in a range of literacy skills among students who took part in a program in which the Guggenheim sends artists into schools. The study, now in its second year, interviewed hundreds of New York City third graders, some of whom had participated in the Guggenheim program, called Learning Through Art, and others who did not.\n\n

This article does a good job of explaining why supporting the arts may do more than just enrich our souls, it may enrich our wallets too.

Article about the intersection of arts and "core subjects."

This paper investigates gender differences in academic performance among university athletes at an NCAA Division I school. Using regression analysis, the findings suggest that background scholastic achievement variables and race influence university academic performance for student athletes, but sport participation measures and race are negatively related to university academic performance for males only. The consequences of inequalities between men's and women's athletic programs are explored. Implications for academic programs are discussed. (Abstract from author as it appears on EBSCO.)

The article discusses financial-literacy programs at universities and colleges in the United States. Programs like Texas Tech University's help its students master the basics of budgeting, saving, and not buying what they can't afford. These programs are especially important as colleges grapple with rising costs and an economic downturn in the country. The author states that financial literacy affects student retention, productivity, and mental health, and may also generate good will in a time when colleges are being criticized for repeatedly raising tuition, fees, and housing costs. (From the EBSCO abstract.)\n

The latest NCAA graduation success rate report shows UD in the top 10 nationally with Notre Dame, Duke and Northwestern, among others.\n

The investigation by the attorney general appears to be focused on the adequacy of disclosure of policy terms and costs to students.

College men report that they want women to drink less. I suggest that, if this article is of interest to you, you seek out the original study from Loyola Marymount University.

Would lowering the legal age help colleges curb alcohol abuse?

Budgetball is a new sport being played on college campuses with the aim of making financial literacy accessible in a very physical way.