California Media Literacy Coalition

We, the Media Literacy Coalition, have changed our name slightly to the California Media Literacy Coalition. This reflects our statewide focus, though we still collaborate with partners nationwide.

Several organizations provide resources for Media Literacy. One that is particularly helpful, Media Literacy Now, clarifies "What's in a name: Defining media literacy" and "AI literacy and media literacy: you can't have one without the other." Our Media Literacy Coalition website suggests additional supporting resources as well. The California Department of Education and California Public Schools Artificial Intelligence Working Group have created Guidance for the Safe and Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence in California Public Schools, addressing the legislation of SB 1288. The sections "Supporting Student Well-Being" under the tab "Human Centered AI” and "Academic Integrity in the Age of AI" under the tab "Academic Integrity" aim to address media literacy and digital wellness. The latter reads:

The age of AI links media literacy and digital citizenship as overlapping dimensions of modern learning. Media literacy emphasizes evaluating sources and recognizing misinformation, while AI fluency expands this by exposing the algorithms that influence what information appears. Connecting source-evaluation lessons with activities that examine recommender systems and generative models helps students ask not only “What is true?” but also “Why am I seeing this?” strengthening their discernment in digital spaces.

Digital citizenship in the age of AI includes lessons on privacy, safety, and respectful online interaction, expanded to cover data footprints, consent, and the implications of sharing content, including student work, with AI systems. A growing number of no cost digital citizenship and AI literacy lessons for varied grade levels are available at the nonprofit Common Sense Media.

Cross-disciplinary teaching can deepen connections to AI. For example, lessons within English language arts and media literacy might ask students to critique an AI-generated article for accuracy of facts, bias, evidence use, and authenticity of voice. Activities like these reinforce literacy skills while building students’ ability to analyze AI-generated media. When media literacy, digital citizenship, and AI literacy are integrated, students become informed consumers of information and empowered participants in shaping the digital world.

We also refer to AB-2876, which calls for the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to consider including these in the next round of English language arts and development, history-social science, mathematics, and science curriculum framework revisions. This legislation defines AI literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship.

AI literacy: the knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with how artificial intelligence works, including its principles, concepts, and applications, as well as how to use artificial intelligence, including its limitations, implications, and ethical considerations

media literacy: the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media and information and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship

digital citizenship: a diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior

Also, teachers are to: "Incorporate digital literacy and citizenship into lessons, including technical skills, privacy safeguards, and the ethical use of social media, copyrighted materials, and artificial intelligence (AI)" (Standards for the Teaching Profession, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2024).

We, the California Media Literacy Coalition, have collaborated with partners including the University of Washington and University of California, Santa Cruz in organizing Misinfo Day events for high school students, teachers, and librarians in Monterey County for the last two years, as well as media literacy community education events for adults, and look forward to expanding these efforts, formats, and partnerships. We have also joined forces with the California Alliance for Media Literacy, a group whose vision is "A California where every student is empowered to think critically, engage responsibly, and thrive in a complex digital media environment" and mission is to "drive research, education, and policy change to ensure media literacy and digital wellness education reach every student in California." The Alliance is advocating for policy to advance media literacy and digital wellness education in California. The Coalition supports these efforts and continues our focus on providing media literacy education events and resources for students, educators, and community members.