Analyzing California Student Media Festival winning videos

ABSTRACT

The researchers conducted an extensive examination of winning student videos from the California Student Media Festival (CSMF) spanning the years 2009–2023. This content analysis aimed to gauge the quality of these videos and shed light on the diverse participation of schools in the festival. By scrutinizing high-quality videos across different school levels and years, the researchers sought to identify common technical and content factors, particularly those that reflect media and information literacy. The analysis also examined the patterns of participating schools. The analyzed videos not only provided insights into the evolving interests and agendas of students but also showcased their adeptness in embracing emerging technologies and employing a variety of digital tools. Notably, the presence of media assignments and teacher guidance underscored the vital role of school support and instruction in nurturing students’ media production skills. However, the study also revealed that there remains untapped potential for growth in the realm of media literacy education.

KEYWORDS:

• Media literacy
• student productions
• videos

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by MERLOT.

Notes on contributors

Lesley Farmer

Dr. Lesley Farmer, Professor at California State University (CSU) Long Beach, coordinates the Teacher Librarianship program, and was named as the university’s Outstanding Professor. She also manages the CSU ICT Literacy Project. She earned her M.S. in Library Science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and received her doctorate in Adult Education from Temple University. A frequent presenter and writer for the profession, she is a Fulbright scholar and has garnered several honors: including from the American Library Association, the International Association of School Librarianship Commendation Award, the Catholic Library Association, the Online Learning Consortium, CUE and the California Library Association. Dr. Farmer’s research interests include digital citizenship, information and media literacy, and data analytics. Her most current books are Fake News in Context (2021, Routledge) and Reference and Information Sources and Services for Children and Young Adults (2022, Rowman & Littlefield).