When did your organization launch and why?
The Education Shop was launched by Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) more than fifteen years ago – initially as a place to sell our own content, including articles from our magazines ‘Metro’ and ‘Screen Education’ – which have been published for a combined 75+ years – as well as our renowned ATOM Study Guides.
Our aim was to create an online space for teachers, students and parents with a collection of free and paid educational resources and teaching materials, including books and DVDs. Since then we’ve also added streaming video content.
What does your organization do? What are its main goals? Main projects?
We now sell nearly 10,000 products, covering all year levels across all curriculum areas (specializing in film and media studies). We are currently focusing on expanding our collection of streaming video content, which we offer as 7-Day Rental, 30-Day Rental, 1-Year Rental and Lifetime Access (depending on the rights we obtain from filmmakers/distributors).
What makes your organization stand out? What would you say is the most unique thing about your organization?
The Education Shop includes large amounts of material that cannot be purchased elsewhere, including thousands of fascinating and informative articles from ‘Screen Education’ and ‘Metro’ magazines, the latter having just published its celebratory 200th issue. Other examples of exclusive content include practice Media exams, ATOM Study Guides on films, documentaries and television programs, and high-school History resources.
We also accept school purchase orders as a payment method, which is not common in the e-commerce environment, because many of our educational customers prefer to pay on invoices.
What are recent projects or new resources that your organization would like to share with other NAMLE members?
Some of the latest additions to The Education Shop include:
- Hundreds of books on screen studies from the British Film Institute
- Large (and still growing) selections of streaming video content from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
- Folios of expertly detailed backdrop artwork for projection onto school musical sets (‘Hairspray’, ‘Madagascar’, ‘Shrek’)
What are the connections between the work of your organization and media literacy?
Everything ATOM does relates to media literacy in some way, but The Education Shop in particular has a strong focus on this area. You will find thousands of media literacy–related products on the site, including articles, books, magazines, DVDs, streaming content, and downloadable PDF resources.
Why is media literacy important to your organization?
The Education Shop is run by Australian Teachers of Media Inc. – an independent, not-for-profit professional association that has been promoting the study of media and screen literacy for over fifty years. Our goal is to empower students, teachers, parents, and screen media enthusiasts to dig deeper, to analyze and to better understand all the screen products we enjoy.
Anything else you want our readers to know about your organization, your mission, or your staff?
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The views and opinions expressed in the Organizational Spotlight blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NAMLE or its members. The purpose of the Organizational Spotlight blog is to highlight our Organizational Partners and give them a place to share their reflections, opinions, and ideas.