Instructional Resources Library | Manitoba Education

Media Literacy

Introduction

Information on Viewing this Site

Welcome to the Instructional Resources Unit's (IRU) Media Literacy web bibliography!

This bibliography is being developed to assist Manitoba K-S4 educators gather media literacy information through the Internet, with particular attention paid to media literacy curriculum implementation, including: links to lessons plans; media literacy advocacy organizations and groups; television resources, such as Cable in the Classroom; and video and film related resources.

The scope of the site is somewhat broad, as it can be used as a resource for media literacy studies, television programming, senior level visual arts, as well as a visual adjunct to English and French literature courses. The site can be used in conjunction with the IRU's Canadian Educational Video & Film Disritbutors site to locate and evaluate video and film materials for classroom use.

These sites are a preliminary response to the growing demand for an accessible, easy-to-use online system for acquiring media literacy information, as well as the evaluation and selection of educational media materials. Some features of the sites are cursory, as they are still in the early stages of development. The reason for this is due, in part, to the availability of online resources. Commercial use of the Internet is relatively new, and, as a result, a unified system for previewing educational multimedia content online has yet to be developed. Searching for video content, for example, continues to depend on the user's research skills and patience.

The Instructional Resource Unit's vision for the future is to replace the Canadian Educational Use Video & Film Distributors link-and-search format with a system where Manitoba educators will be able to preview videos online from the IRU online catalogue. A streamlined and accessible system will enable video title searches, previewing and ordering with a few clicks of a mouse, whether from a classroom, school library, or home computer in Winnipeg, Leaf Rapids, or Thompson, Manitoba. Please keep checking the IRU homepage for updates and developments.

As information on the Internet is changing constantly, updating may lead to temporary glitches and "missing" links. Every effort is being made to maintain the web links while keeping the information up-to-date and user-friendly. If you have any suggestions or comments about the new site please contact H. Sam Davoodifar: email: H.Sam.Davoodifar@gov.mb.ca; telephone: 945-4904, or toll-free: 1-800-282-8069, ext 4904.

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Hardware and Software Viewing Specifications

In order to experience the full potential of the sites offered from this page an update of your web browser may be a consideration. Some sites specify which browser, or other media software (such as a digital audio-video viewer) works best at their location. Most sites already have the necessary download links.

In addition to software, your system's hardware will also effect the quality and capability of your viewing. The basic rule of thumb is: the faster the CPU, the more RAM, the better. For optimum viewing of audio-video clips, the following is the current consensus on minimum PC & Mac system requirements:

PC platforms: Pentium, or at least a 486 DX2/66; 16-bit sound card; minimum 8 MB (preferably 16MB or more) RAM, and several megabytes hard disk space for downloads.

Mac platforms: Power Macintosh; 16 MB RAM; hard disk space.

What's all the fuss about "minimum requirements"? Do I really need big chunks of memory and a speedy computer just to see a film clip?

At present, video clip files take up a lot of memory to store and run. Until digital media technology is refined, storage and related costs for video compression technology remain an obstacle to experiencing in-depth video screenings over the Web. This is why, in part, only larger Motion Picture Production Studios offer online clips. As an example, a 300 kilobyte file of a film section from Outward Bound from Disney.go.com offers about 5 seconds of viewing material, while a 1 megabyte file offers only about 18 seconds. If you are on the Web with a 386sx PC with a 120 MB hard drive, you simply are not going to experience much in the way of digital audio-video.

The best way to ensure satisfactory viewing of these images is to have the necessary viewing software and hardware, including adequate CPU speed, and enough storage to handle the file demands. Until the technology matches the general public's willingness to pay, selected preview clips of educational video and film will remain quite short, while full-length online previews will remain something for the future. Nonetheless, the technology is moving incredibly fast. It is reasonably safe to say that in the not so distant future it will be possible to pre-screen educational material, in part, or in full, from any computer with Internet access, depending, of course, on how distributors resolve issues of copyright and online accessibility.

Now wait just a second! I'm an educator in rural Manitoba with a ten year old 286 PC, a text browser, and no intention of buying a bunch of fancy, expensive gadgets. What about me?

If you do not have the recommended minimum requirements this does not mean you cannot view any of the linked sites. It simply means that your viewing may require patience as you experience slow image loading, slow-moving imagery, or perhaps no clips or images at all, depending on your system. Even if your system is limited to a 286 PC with a text browser you can still access sites to read information, whether about a distributor's video title, or a lesson plan from a media literacy organization. Luckily, many web sites are client-conscious and offer the option of text-only versions of their site. Similarly, many sites utilize frames (multi-split screens), while offering the option of a "no-frames" version. Even if you have a text-only browser and encounter a frames-only site, you can still search the site for information with a few creative editing manoeuvres of their Web Address (i.e. when connected to the site, edit the address to a directory level that offers the names of the individual frame files, then type in a frame file to the address, and browse each file, one at a time). If you would like to search for educational information on the Internet with the full benefit of multimedia, the Online Public Access Catalogue at Instructional Resources Unit is available with high speed Internet accessibility on 8 computer search stations. Staff are available to answer any questions you may have.

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Media Software Download Sites

The following is a list of links to multimedia software products commonly supported by many of the sites featured at the Media Literacy site.

Web Browsers

Microsoft Internet Explorer (Free) (For Windows, Mac & Unix) (Version 3 or Higher)
Download Web address: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/

Netscape Navigator (Free) (Version 3 or Higher)
Download Web address: http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive72x.jsp

FireFox (Free) Version 2.0
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/launch/?utm_id=Q406&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=postlaunch

Multimedia Viewing Software

Adobe Acrobat (Free)
A number of web sites offer their entire offline catalogues in the Adobe PDF format; such as, for example, The Canadian Learning Company, producers of the Reading Rainbow series.
Web address: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html

CineWeb ($29.95 US; Updated: 12/17/99)
Information Web address: http://www.digigami.com/cineweb/
Online ordering and Download Web address: http://www.digigami.com/sales/
Allows streaming of Adobe MOV format, in addition to MPEG (Win95/NT), Video for Windows, and Autodesk Animator formats from within Netscape Navigator browsers.

Microsoft Netshow Player (Free) (For Windows, Mac, & Unix Beta Version)
Download Web address: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp

QuickTime 7 (For Mac & Windows) (Free)
Web address: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
Note: An E-mail address is required to download.
Many educational web sites utilize Apple's QuickTime MOV file format. Recommended Plug-In.
If you have a Netscape Navigator browser you might want to take a look at Digigami's CineWeb add-on, which decodes MOV formats, as well as others. However, CineWeb is not free.

RealPlayer for Mac & Windows (Free)
Web address: http://www.real.com.com/player/index.html?
The majority of sites utilize RealPlayer software.

Shockwave Flash
Web address: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/
Many multimedia and graphics dependant sites utilize Shockwave because of its spectacular visual effects capabilities.

VivoActive Player (Free)
Information Web address: http://www.real.com/vivo/index.html
Download Web address: http://egg.real.com/vivo-player/vivodl.html
Another popular plug-in.

VivoActive Powerplayer *($29.99 US; Updated: 02/25/05)
Download Web address: http://vivo.real.com/dldv2/dloadpla.html/