PLCS Insights: Why Constructivist Media Decoding Matters and What’s Ahead for PLCS Educators
Constructivist media decoding encourages students to actively analyze and interpret media rather than passively receiving information. This approach builds critical thinking, media literacy, and thoughtful classroom discussion. It can be applied across a wide range of topics and grade levels, making it a versatile tool for educators.
Why Constructivist Media Decoding Matters and What’s Ahead for PLCS Educators
Recently, I participated in a course with Project LookSharp, a non-profit media literacy initiative at Ithaca College. I’m excited to share that, as part of that program, an activity plan has been published on their website based on my submission for a constructivist media decoding activity.
The activity engages students in constructivist media decoding, an inquiry-based approach where learners actively analyze media to construct their own understanding rather than passively receiving information. I am pleased to see how this collaborative work has contributed to a classroom-ready resource that supports critical thinking, media literacy, and thoughtful discussion.
Last March, I attended Mamaroneck School District’s Superintendent’s Day, where Chris Sperry from Project LookSharp gave an engaging keynote on media literacy and constructivist media decoding. Later that day, I joined a workshop with district librarians that offered a deeper dive into Project LookSharp, sparking my interest to explore this work further.
To continue learning, I signed up for Project LookSharp’s fall online workshop, Empowering All Students Through Media Decoding. We explored modules on understanding and teaching constructivist media decoding, and I had the opportunity to lead a CMD activity with the PLCS Leadership team. My presentation, centered on immigration and ICE, went well, and colleagues were eager to do more work on this topic.
After submitting my completed activity plan, Chris Sperry reached out about adapting and publishing it on the Project LookSharp website. I happily agreed and was pleased to see it go live! The final version introduces a challenging topic in the classroom with thoughtful questions and guidance, building on the original activity.
Looking ahead, the Southern Westchester BOCES School Library System is partnering with Project LookSharp to bring Empowering All Students Through Media Decoding to PLCS as a hybrid course in fall 2026. This opportunity will be open to all educators in our component districts. More details will be shared in the coming months.
In the meantime, I encourage you to visit Project LookSharp’s website and sign up for a free account to access their resources, including CMD activities from Pre-K through college, with supporting videos for classroom use.
