Cynthia Burkes

Burkes' "Lights! Cameras! Action!" project is a media literacy program in which students learn to decipher media tactics and become smarter and better informed consumers. First, students evaluate various products without the benefit of product packaging and learn about spokes-characters, persuasion, and hyperbole. They then design their own packaging for a product and write, produce, star in, and edit their own commercials. The project gives students valuable hands-on experience in video production technologies as they become more media savvy in regard to targeted advertising and their own roles as consumers.