Note: The PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification and micro-credentials program will sunset on June 1, 2025
We remain fully committed to supporting media literacy education for teachers and students and will continue to do this work through free KQED Teach courses, workshops, and youth media curriculum.
What Does This Mean for Me?
Build your skills and implement them with students
- Take free KQED Teach courses and earn a certificate of completion--and even graduate units--at your own pace.
- Join a live, online workshop for hands-on, high-energy learning.
- Apply your learning with the Youth Media Challenge curriculum.
Finish earning micro-credentials or certified by June 1, 2025
- You have until June 1, 2025 to submit your work to earn any micro-credentials.
- If you earn all 8 micro-credentials by June 1 you will automatically become a PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator.
Scroll down for more info.
Share badges or certification that you have earned
- All earned micro-credentials and Certification badges are valid in perpetuity. See this FAQ for more information on sharing your digital badges.
- If you want to be recognized for your achievements, consider applying to become a KQED Media Literacy Innovator.
How It Works
1. Complete micro-credentials to showcase your media literacy teaching abilities.
2. Earn 8 micro-credentials and become a PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator.
3. Share your certification with school and district leaders with a letter of recognition from PBS.
Certification
Earn eight media literacy micro-credentials and automatically become a PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator who can demonstrate mastery with
- Evaluating, creating, and sharing media effectively to support their own learning
- Designing and implementing instruction and assessing student learning of these same skills
Once certified, you'll receive a letter of recognition from PBS to share with your school and district leaders.
Certification is free.
"The additional learning I completed in order to earn this certification, and the strategies I constructed to enact lessons toward this certification, have already strengthened my practice. I am also now a recognized leader in my school community for media-based instruction and assessment." —High School English Teacher
"I work with K-2 teachers and students in my district. This certification has made me more aware of all aspects of media literacy and the importance of modeling these literacies to the teachers and students I work with." —Technology Integration Specialist
Micro-credentials
Free, competency-based validation of media literacy skills for all educators.
- Choose a micro-credential from the list below and log in to the Digital Promise platform.
- Submit artifacts and reflections, as required for each micro-credential. Submissions will be reviewed and approved within 2 weeks.
- Share your micro-credential badges with your peers and professional network.
- Earn 8 micro-credentials and automatically become a PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator.
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See FAQ
Apply for micro-credentials in any order
- Assessing Student Media
- Creating a Code of Conduct
- Critically Analyzing Media
- Evaluating Online Information
- Evaluating Online Tools for Classroom Use
- Implementing Media Projects: in Early Childhood or in Upper Grades
- Making Media for Classroom Use: Audio & Video
- Making Media for Classroom Use: Images, Graphics & Interactives
“The process of becoming certified changed the way I teach science and engineering.”—High School Chemistry and Biology Teacher
"I now feel more confident about using the skills I've learned to not only help my students become digitally literate but help others at my site." —Kindergarten Teacher
2022 Media Literate Media Award
2020 Badging & Credentialing finalist
2019 Award of Excellence
Need help getting started?
Free courses on KQED Teach prepare you to apply for micro-credentials and earn certification.
Got questions?
We're here for you. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions or email [email protected]. Find out about our district supports here.
About KQED
KQED is a nonprofit, public media station and NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco that offers award-winning education resources and services free to educators nationwide. KQED Teach is a collection of professional development courses that empower educators to teach media literacy, make media for the classroom and lead media-making projects with students in K-12.