Media Literacy

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According to the National Association for Media Literacy Education the definition of Media Literacy is as follows: 

“Within North America, media literacy is seen to consist of a series of communication competencies, including the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, and COMMUNICATE information in a variety of forms, including print and non-print messages. Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages”. 

Even though our students believe that they know all there is to know about technology, I think that when it comes to learning with technology there is still a disconnect. I think that students are very strong in being able to access technology and even analyze different technological activities, but I don’t think that they could clearly communicate what they’ve learned about those activities. 

Sometimes, as educators, we get really excited and we want to use all of these cool devices, but how much is too much? If we are using specific devices in the classroom sometimes the lesson itself becomes how to actually USE the device rather than how we can use it to learn a specific subject. 

I think that continuing to expose students to familiar technology will allow them to grow into much better analyzers who will not only use technology well, but they will comprehend the importance of the technology they are using and how it helps them to better understand the information they are receiving. 

Media Literacy is important in our education because we are evolving everyday into a much more ‘media dependent’ society. A place where we are not only exposed to different forms of Media daily, but we also seek it out and enjoy using different media forms.Being able to take an image, video, or passage and give it a source of meaning to understand what it is trying to tell/teach us is a very important skill. 

Awesome questions to guide Media Literacy learning.