About the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education

• What is the purpose of the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education?
  The purpose of the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education is to engage and support all Maryland citizens in building critical media literacy skills. The Center provides a robust collection of curated resources, educational programs, information, and research to help you navigate the complexities of our digital world.


• Who is the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education for?
  The Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education is for adults who are looking to build their media literacy knowledge and skills or who are looking for resources to support children and others with media literacy.


• How can I get involved with the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education?
  Visit our Contact page to get involved with the media literacy movement.

About Media Literacy

• What do we mean by “media”?
  Media comes in many forms including print media such as newspapers, magazines, and books, broadcast media such as TV and radio, digital media including websites, social media, blogs, online games, and streaming services, and of course, movies, documentaries, advertisements, and commercials.


• What is media literacy?
  Media literacy is the ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate the purpose and impact of media. It helps us to think critically about the media we consume and create. It often focuses on digital media.


• Why is media literacy important?
  Media literacy gives us control over how media influences us so that we can use it responsibly, enjoy its benefits, and avoid its harm.


• Who is media literacy for?
  Media literacy impacts everyone who interacts with the various forms of media, from babies to older adults.


• What are media literacy skills for young children?
  Media literacy skills for young children focus on helping them to understand, interact with, and regulate their use of media. Skills may include identifying different types of media, understanding the media’s purpose, distinguishing what’s real from fake, making safe choices, developing critical thinking skills, and practicing healthy media habits.


• What are media literacy skills for tweens & teens?
  Media literacy skills for tweens and teens focus on critical thinking and responsible use of media. Skills may include analyzing media messages, evaluating credibility, understanding media’s purpose, recognizing persuasive techniques, discerning misinformation and bias, and online safety.


• What are media literacy skills for adults & seniors?
  Media literacy skills for adults and seniors focus on helping them navigate the digital landscape confidently and responsibly. Skills may include recognizing bias, misinformation, fake news, and scams, understanding the media’s influence on them and society at large, managing online privacy, protecting personal information, and navigating digital platforms and technologies.


• How can early childhood and PK-12 educators integrate media literacy into their curriculum?
  There is a wealth of information and resources for educators to incorporate media literacy into their lessons and instructional routines. Some resources focus on integrating media literacy into subject areas like English Language Arts or technology instruction. Other resources may provide media literacy standards, lesson plans, tips, and toolkits that focus on developmentally appropriate behaviors and skills to integrate into the curriculum.

About Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• What is AI?
  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables machines to mimic human intelligence. It includes the ability for machines to learn, reason, problem-solve, and sense or perceive the world around them. AI technology is increasingly a part of our everyday lives from virtual assistants to streaming service recommendations to self-driving cars.


• Can media literacy help me understand and use AI?
  Absolutely! Media literacy skills can help you analyze, question, and critically evaluate information generated by AI. These skills can help you to identify biases in AI, its limitations, and sources of AI- generated content.


• What are the benefits of AI?
  One of the main goals of AI is to provide efficiencies and solve problems that are challenging for humans to tackle alone. The benefits of AI can be seen across many sectors of our society from healthcare diagnostics to climate change analysis to adaptive learning platforms that tailor instruction to specific learner needs.


• What are some concerns about AI?
  As AI continues to be integrated into our daily lives, concerns about its impact are on the rise. Some concerns include job replacement, safety risks of autonomous machines and vehicles, privacy, biases in decision-making, malicious use such as deep-fakes and cyber attacks, and its impact on learning with the increased use of AI to generate content.