Media Literacy for Planetary Well-Being

In a media landscape shaped by misinformation, AI manipulation, and relentless attention capture, how do we stay anchored in truth without losing our humanity or our hope? In this four-week live course, media literacy educators Renee Hobbs and Theresa Redmond invite participants to explore media not just as a set of tools, but as a living ecosystem that shapes culture, power, and our relationship to the Earth. Through interactive dialogue, critical inquiry, and creative practice, we’ll build the skills and discernment needed to navigate today’s digital world with clarity, care, and a deeper commitment to planetary well-being.

This essential course builds practical media literacy skills for navigating today’s complex digital environment with intention and care. Participants will strengthen their capacity for critical inquiry, ethical reflection, creative media-making, and civic participation, while examining how media systems shape power, culture, and our relationship to the living world.

Through interactive workshops, small-group dialogue, and hands-on activities, we’ll analyze real-world examples of misinformation, greenwashing, platform economics, and AI-generated content. Along the way, participants will develop strategies for evaluating sources, understanding digital power structures, and engaging media in ways that support justice, trust, and ecological responsibility.

Each session balances accessible frameworks with applied practice, offering both analytical tools and space for reflection. The course culminates in a personal action plan, supporting participants in carrying their learning forward into their communities, classrooms, creative work, or advocacy.

PROGRAM FEE: $349

This course runs for 4 weeks from Apr. 8 - 29, 2026, with live classes held on Wednesdays from 1 - 2:30 p.m. (EST) via Zoom. Recordings will be available for registrants who miss a session. 

The Media Education Lab is thrilled to collaborate with Bioneers Learning, an online course and connection platform for activists, innovators, and anyone seeking knowledge and tools to manifest solutions for people and planet. Through engaging courses led by some of the world's foremost movement leaders, Bioneers Learning equips engaged citizens and professionals like you with the knowledge, tools, resources and networks to initiate or deepen your engagement, leading to real change in your life and community.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

Overall Program Outcomes

By the end of this 4-week program, you will:

• Strengthen your critical inquiry and ability to navigate AI-generated content, misinformation, and propaganda in all its many forms
• Gain awareness of platform economics, surveillance capitalism, and the social effects of digital media and technology
• Develop ethical media use practices grounded in empathy, transparency, and ecological consciousness
• Create and share an action plan to share what you learned with others

Pedagogy 

Each session will include: 

• Informal short mini-lectures on key topics with contemporary examples from a range of fields 
• Demonstration of critical analysis skills 
• Opportunities for small-group dialogue and discussion
• Simple creative expression activities using free digital media production tools
• Time for reflection and synthesis
• Suggested reading and viewing activities for learning more

The Living Media Ecosystem — Awareness and Attention

Begin your journey by exploring how attention, emotion, and truth shape our shared reality. Learn to navigate today’s information overload with clarity, compassion, and purpose.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify how attention, emotion, and data circulate in the digital ecosystem

• Apply critical media analysis to detect misinformation and bias

• Cultivate mindful awareness as a foundation for digital resilience

Power, Money, and Truth — The Hidden Systems of Media

Pull back the curtain on the systems that monetize truth, shape perception, and exploit care. This week is about seeing the invisible forces behind your screen—and choosing wiser participation.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the relationship between platform economics and civic participation

• Detect greenwashing and manipulative environmental messaging

• Critically reflect on surveillance, data ownership, and ethical use of generative AI and other digital practices

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Truth

What is truth when machines can fake it better than we can make it? Join us to explore AI, authenticity, and the ethics of technology through the eyes of a planetary citizen.

Learning Outcomes

• Recognize and analyze synthetic and AI-generated media

• Understand how algorithmic design impacts representation and visibility

• Evaluate ethical implications of AI from an ecological and justice-centered lens

From Awareness to Action — Designing Media for Regeneration

End the journey by turning insight into impact. Design your own plan for how to engage with media and technology to nurture democracy, healing, and the living Earth.

Learning Outcomes

• Develop creative media projects aligned with justice and sustainability

• Build emotional and social resilience to sustain truth-centered activism

• Apply media literacy as a lifelong practice of planetary stewardship

About the Presenters

Renee Hobbs is a leading global expert on digital and media literacy education and the Founder of the Media Education Lab, an online learning community. She is the author of 12 books, including Media Literacy in Action: Questioning the Media (2nd edition, 2024) and Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age (2020). She has nurtured a generation of scholars and activists to advance media literacy around the world and offered professional development programs to educators on four continents.  

Theresa Redmond is an independent scholar, teacher, and artist with recognized expertise in media literacy, instructional technology, curriculum design, ecomedia literacy, and the arts. She has taught early elementary school through university students, published widely on innovative methods in teaching and learning, and received awards for teaching, service, and creative scholarship. With over 20 years in public education, Theresa brings a deep and versatile experience to her work building curriculum, developing programs, leading teams, and consulting on projects at the intersection of learning, creativity, technology, and society.