Conference

Remote-Controlled Education: How the Media Provides Its Own Multicultural Education for Students

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Abstract

As we consider the ways in which we facilitate student learning of multicultural themes, we must also be aware of the role the media (conventional and social) plays in providing this narrative for students. This period in history marks the largest increase in expressive capability in human history, and students are constantly “plugged in” to the outside world and those around them. Through television, music, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, students are bombarded with multicultural messages that they internalize as a form of truth. This truth impacts their classroom discussion and interactions with the university community. In order to be effective multicultural educators, we must be aware of the media’s role in providing this content and the potential for inaccurate or misleading content disrupting or altering our own approaches when working with students. Through the use of various media sources, this session will explore the growing role of conventional and social media in multicultural education. Participants will engage in discussion about these various media sources and their impact while suggestions for future action will be presented as a means of working with media instead of fighting against it to educate students