Understanding Media: Introduction to Media Literacy and Representation (FutureLearn)

Understanding Media: Introduction to Media Literacy and Representation (FutureLearn)

How does the media affect us? Find out and improve your media literacy by learning how to analyse media, film and culture. Develop your media literacy skills and explore our relationship with media. So many of the defining moments in our lives are connected in some way to media. Media are a central part of how we live, work and play.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Through this course you will develop your media literacy, learning a range of analytical approaches you can use to understand and interpret media. You will explore the relationship between media and culture including a case study of LGBT representation in the media. You will develop your critical thinking and research skills leaving you better equipped to understand the role of media in the modern world.

What topics will you cover?

  • Media literacy
  • Representation in the media
  • Putting media analysis in to practice

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Recognise the theoretical, conceptual and methodological bases for the study of film, media, and culture.
  • Apply analytical frameworks to specific texts, situations, and events.
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Film Distribution: Connecting Films with Audiences (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Film Distributors' Association

Film Distribution: Connecting Films with Audiences (FutureLearn)

Discover how your favourite films make it to your local cinema or television screen, through the film distribution process. Get an introduction to how the UK film business works. With over 800 films a year being released, the choice for cinema goers is massive and ever changing. How do we, as members of the film audience, find out about films? What methods are available to film distributors to attract our attention to specific films in the digital age? In such a crowded marketplace, how do films find their audiences?

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Creating Audio Description: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Royal Holloway, University of London,Vocal Eyes

Creating Audio Description: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (FutureLearn)

Explore how to design and create audio descriptions and audio introductions that fully represent a film, play, or TV programme. Design inclusive audio descriptions for film, theatre, and TV Audio description (AD) is a key means by which the full diversity of a programme, film, or live performance can be conveyed, allowing for greater participation and engagement from audiences.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Games, Sensors and Media (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Games, Sensors and Media (Coursera)

You will learn to make fluid digital interactive experiences that are suitable for gaming and use the advanced sensor hardware built into the iPhone and iPad. This includes drawing 2D graphics, playing sounds and music, integrating with Game Center, the iOS physics engine and detecting device orientation and location.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks
Digital Information Literacy (Coursera) Coursera
The State University of New York

Digital Information Literacy (Coursera)

A Digital Artifact is an object that represents one’s learning. In today’s changing educational landscape, more courses call for a visual item as opposed to a “traditional” assignment or project. There are a multitude of free tools and software at our fingertips. This online course will provide tips, suggestions, and strategies for creating an interesting digital artifact in select, intuitive platforms. In this course you will learn to identify and define a Digital Artifact so you may create an infographic, slide show, website or video. You will also learn best practices in digital media design and about Creative Commons licensing and citing your sources.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Hollywood: History, Industry, Art (edX) EdX
University of Pennsylvania

Hollywood: History, Industry, Art (edX)

Explore the history of Hollywood, from Edison and the birth of film to the rise of the internet. In this course you will learn about Hollywood and how it came to be the global powerhouse of today. We will discuss the complex Hollywood industry and how business and politics translate into the art of film, TV, and new media.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
How to Read a Film (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Film Distributors' Association

How to Read a Film (FutureLearn)

Delve into the devices used to create meaning in film as you gain a deeper understanding of what we see on screen. Master film studies as you learn how films create meaning. When you watch a film there are many elements working together to produce what you see and hear. The different elements, known as devices, have been carefully constructed so that your attention is drawn to certain things at certain times, forming the way in which a film communicates its story. On this five-week course, you’ll unpack these elements to discover how they work, what they are called, and how they work together.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
How to Make a Short Film: An Introduction to Filmmaking (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The British Film Institute - BFI

How to Make a Short Film: An Introduction to Filmmaking (FutureLearn)

Do you have a passion for film? Learn the key skills of filmmaking in this practical course from the BFI. Kick-start your filmmaking practice with simple techniques and basic equipment. Film is the ideal medium for telling stories, communicating ideas, and entertaining friends and family, so why leave it to the professionals? This course has been specially designed to help anyone interested in filmmaking to master the essentials and start making their own work.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
The Living Picture Craze: An Introduction to Victorian Film (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The British Film Institute - BFI

The Living Picture Craze: An Introduction to Victorian Film (FutureLearn)

Film takes a starring role in this course exploring the emergence of a new medium that was set to capture the world's imagination. Explore the birth of film and the end of Queen Victoria’s epic reign. Roll up! Roll up! Take your seats for the ‘Living Picture’ craze! In this course we journey back to the end of the Victorian era; a time of intense modernisation and unprecedented change.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Why Does Media Matter for Development? (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Why Does Media Matter for Development? (FutureLearn)

Explore how the media can help to tackle poverty and inequality all around the world. Learn why the media matters for international development. This comprehensive four-week course will show you the ways that international development is conceptualised, imagined and communicated as an area of study. You’ll decipher the ways in which these understandings impact individuals living in different parts of the world, and how the media can shape, address and enhance key ideas and debates.

Jun 20th 2022
4 Weeks
Lights, Camera, Computer - Action! How Digital Technology is Transforming Film, TV, and Gaming (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of York,Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN)

Lights, Camera, Computer - Action! How Digital Technology is Transforming Film, TV, and Gaming (FutureLearn)

Discover the emerging technologies shaping the future of storytelling and how you can start a career in the screen industry. Investigate the impact of technology on digital storytelling. On this three-week course from Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN), you’ll explore the impact technology has already had on storytelling in the screen industry, the new opportunities it presents, and how your own skills match up with different roles in the industry.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Teaching Literacy Through Film (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The British Film Institute - BFI,INTO FILM

Teaching Literacy Through Film (FutureLearn)

Learn how to use film in the classroom, teach literacy and improve both reading and writing skills, with this free online course. Why use film to teach literacy? This free online course, led by film education experts from the British Film Institute (BFI) and film education charity Into Film, will examine the debate surrounding film as a vehicle for teaching literacy, alongside recent evidence demonstrating significant improvements in children’s reading and writing through use of film texts.

No sessions available
4 Weeks