National Online Course Offers K–12 Educators Training Empowering students through Media Decoding

ITHACA, N.Y. - June 16, 2025 - PRLog -- National Online Course Offers K–12 Educators Training in Empowering all students through Media Decoding

October 7 – December 9, 2025 | Hosted by Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College

Project Look Sharp, a media literacy initiative based at Ithaca College, has announced the launch of a national online professional development course designed to support K–12 teachers and school librarians in integrating media decoding into their instruction. The nine-week online course introduces participants to the method of Constructivist Media Decoding (CMD), a pedagogy that uses curriculum-driven, student-centered inquiry to teach critical thinking and media literacy in all content areas. Educators will learn strategies for integrating habits of critical thinking about all media messages into the teaching of core content and standards

The program includes:

• A virtual opening and closing sessions on October 7^th and December 9^th.
• Four modules of asynchronous activities over nine weeks
• The development of an original media decoding activity
• Optional individual coaching with the originator of CMD, Chris Sperry

Educators who complete the course will receive a digital badge and a letter verifying 15 hours of professional development, which may be submitted to administrators for documentation.

The course fee is $190 per participant, payable by credit card or school/organization voucher. The deadline for registration inquiries is Monday, September 29.

Project Look Sharp has offered media literacy training for over 20 years and provides more than 900 free lessons using CMD.

"Project Look Sharp is the absolute gold standard for media literacy professional development"

— Michelle Ciula Lipkin - Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education

"It can be incorporated in every subject and at every grade level. Student engagement skyrockets."

— CMD Trained High School Math Teacher

"This approach fosters critical thinking and promotes deeper understanding. Students are constantly asked to navigate a complex world with media; in short, this will be some of the most important work we do with students."

— CMD Trained Middle School English Teacher

Ro learn more or to register, educators may contact looksharp@ithaca.edu.

About Project Look Sharp

Project Look Sharp is a nonprofit media literacy initiative based at Ithaca College. Founded in 1996, the organization develops curriculum materials and provides professional development for educators to integrate critical thinking and media analysis into classroom learning. Its Constructivist Media Decoding approach emphasizes inquiry-based teaching across all content areas and grade levels. All lessons and PD resources are freely available online.

https://projectlooksharp.org/offerings/National Online Course Flyer Fall 2025 PDF.pdf