Welcome to Analyzing Media Messages: Bias, Motivation and Production Choices.  Being able to understand the media that we consume is an essential skill for all students – and teachers, and really everyone – to have in this complex, media-filled world. This course will give you the tools you need to analyze and gain a deeper understanding of all kinds of media… and teach your students to do the same. 

Why Take this Course?

• You want to be able to make informed choices about the media you consume 
• You want to understand how media production choices can impact their audiences
• You are interested in being a better media producer
• You’re interested in earning the Critically Analyzing Media PBS micro-credential 

Whatever your level of interest, in this course we’ll guide you through how to conduct a critical media analysis and connect that to your teaching objectives. 

More About This Course

This course is divided into lessons that are a combination of text, images, videos and other interactive elements. You will also be asked to complete two assignments: creating media analysis on a topic of your choosing and a lesson plan teaching your students to do their own analyses.

The course instructors will provide you feedback on your assignments designed to help you improve your practice. ​​Their recommendations will align with the requirements for specific PBS media literacy micro-credentials, which you will learn more about toward the end of this course. In addition, you can see and comment on the submissions of other educators like yourself, which many course participants have found helpful.

You can go through the course at whatever pace makes sense for you, and review anything afterwards that you might have missed. In order to receive a certificate of completion, you will need to complete all the assignments and finish the course within four weeks of starting it. If you don’t finish in time, no worries, you can always re-enroll.