Ginger Armstrong
Digital Media
Afterschool Tuesdays and Thursdays
Contact: garmstrong@leepublicschools
Phone: 413 243-2781 #2224

Digital Media explores critical reflection on the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media. We use hardware (i.e. computers, digital camera, and scanner) and software (i-movie, garage band, Photoshop, Microsoft) to learn creative ways to express ideas. Topics explored race, gender, politics, and commercialism.

Robert McChesney in the video Rich Media, Poor Democracy from Media Education Foundation said, " The great organizer Saul Olinksy put it well, "When you are going up against organized money, you need to organized people. It is the only way you will ever win." I mean this is elementary politics, it has not changed for six thousand years. If we are going to beat these lobbies, if we are going to change the policies to create a more open, diverse, better, media system, we need to get people organized. We need to have it so when politicians look out their window, there is ten thousand people there demanding fairness, demanding justice."

Class Links

Media Education Foundation

  • Consuming Kids
  • Not Just a Game
  • Tough Guise
  • Freedom of Expression
  • Dream Worlds 3

Merchants of Cool
Presented by PBS Frontline
Main Themes: clout of Media Giants, Relationship between Media and Teen Culture, The Coarsening (manipulation) of Culture.

Article on The Global Media Giants We are the world by McChesney CLICK HERE

TED ED The Key to Media 's Hidden Codes CLICK HERE

Danger of the Single Story TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie

Teen Health and the Media

Example Site With Video GA Webtest / AA Webpage

Student Websites

AV Senior

JV Senior

TL Senior

ET Junior