Beginning of the First Online Course on Family and the Media
Fabrizio Piciarelli
20 March 2017
The online course on Familiy and the Media, promoted by the Pontificaln University of the Holy Cross and by Familyandmedia, and produced by Placting is ready to be released.
It consists of 10 video lessons that analyze the relationship between family and mass media, with a perspective that is realistic, critical, and positive.
The objective is teaching about media through and with media. The video classes are presented by professors with expertise in social communication, with an educative viewpointand with a practical approach.
The course begins with a broad framework about the relationship between family and the media. It continues through a specific reflection on the two traditional media par excellence, television and film, with particular attention to television series. The it follows with literature, showing in a compelling way how helpful is reading of the classics to improve your mind and increase your empathy.
A critical reflection then is made over the representation of the family in journalism, in order to understand the underlying framework of the news agenda of mass media and their ideological leanings. Naturally, among the media examined, the internet could not be overlooked. The web can be managed in a responsible way and be a good means of communicating and educating young people.
Particular attention is given to videogames. Videogames have an strong appeal and educators have to learn why is so and how use the in the right formative direction. Workshops are added to these video classes at the end of the series, with practical exercises that suggest how to use, in the best possible way, some films, television series and social networks to put forward in an attractive but effective way the values of the person and the family.
The course is directed in a particular way to parents, teachers and educators, and managers of family associations, but it is open to anyone who would like to delve into the subject of the complex but always current relationship between family, society, and the world of the communication media. Initially a first course is planned in Italian, to be followed by a complete edition in English and Spanish.
