As a starting point for a discussion on the definition of ‘media literacy’, I would suggest that it is the ability to critically and creatively engage with various media forms and a broad range of text types. It has to do with being active in processes meaning making, rather than a passive (and easily manipulated) recipient of information… And with recognising the way that various linguistic techniques and narrative devices position the reader or audience.
I agree that one should not just use but also understand the media he works with. As adults we may not imagine the enormous influence of social media on young people today.
If we trained a competent way of using media in the right way and at the right time of the pupil’s personal development we could avoid a lot of media-abuse. An open and respectful
communication is one of the most important basics which could be trained at school in an “analogue” way long time before the use of any digital tool.
I would like to add, that for me media literacy is an important task that schools should teach from an early age. Teachers have a high responsibility to teach it in a neutral manner (as far as possible), so children can learn to build their own opinion, perhaps even independent from their parents beliefs and political orientation. Knowing which information you can trust, because it relies on proven facts, is a big part of it. What seems to become more important is the aspect of self regulation when it comes to media usage. I sometimes get the feeling, that young people forget to live in the real world, because they can create an online world where there are less problems to face and talking to others doesn`t need so much confidence. This could lead to addictions, which shoud be taken seriously.
I agree with all the points above. Especially Annika’s comment on selfregulation is a really tricky one. While media literacy does cover all kind of communication and not only the so-called new media, it seems that these types of tools are the most challenging ones for today’s teachers, due to various reasons. Never before so much unfiltered information was so easy available – and even for adults it is nearly impossible to verify the truth of the content at hand. Also, potential problems seem to be limitless starting with simple questions like “why should children bother to think about something on their own if google just explains it to them in a few clicks”. On the other hand, there are a lot of opportunties if pupils are teached to use these tools in a proper and reasonable way.
In terms of “media literacy” I am interested in “the truth” of information. How can one trace back -for example- a historical relevant information? Where do I find informations I may rely on? What picture might be prooven the “right one”? As lots of artists/ scientists/ hacker and for sure a vast amount of the digital-industry-workers already worked on these questions, I may see one tiny part of the challenge to go forward with the so called media competence 🙂
Especially in the Corona-Days there´s the question of getting “the right information”, but in general , even in “harmless” times, it´s evident to have good and critical tools, to be very well educated, to use a suspicious creative mind, to have a diversity of sources to knowledge, to reflect the streaming highways of information. Perhaps a clear and deep understanding of our own values as a human comunity may help to navigate through the digital world…
From my point of view the first aspects are the trustworthiness and quality of the selected sources. It should be thoroughly considered that the sources are reliable, serious and up to date. The second point should be the evaluation of the content. Bearing in mind the determined objectives of the lesson, the teacher should verify, e. g. which impulses and ideas the content could contribute to the lesson, what the pupils can learn, derive and deduct from it. In short words: Is the content meaningful and relevant for the lesson as well as for the pupils’ developments. The third point is the appropriate selection of the suitable media format (video, film, blog, podcast, audio, etc.), which depends on the knowledge and skills of the learners as well as the extend of required liveliness in the lesson.
I also agree with all the points that were raised above.
To me, “media-literacy” is a very similar process to that of being/ becoming literate. If we take the exaple of reading, at first, we’ll learn to recognise letters. From those letters, we’ll identify words – and understand them.
Not unlike the process of learning how to read and write, media-literacy implies that one has to receive some sort of education/ educate oneself. Media-literacy implies that one can critically evaluate, choose but also create media as well as understand the message that this media is sending.
Media literacy nowadays could also be about knowing what new kind of media exists and what is being used by children/students – and of course research, media structure, influences, manipulators, etc. Apart from newspapers, podcasts and blogs, we should know what moves the children that we are teaching – what about the impact of memes, viral videos, tiktok, instagram, etc.?
To me, media literacy is not all about what kinds of media there are (and were) and how to use them from a technical standpoint but being able to see the connection between contents and the form in which they are presented.
Reading an article in a newspaper is inherently different from reading a blog entry, watching a YouTube video or hearing a podcast about the same topic.
Each medium comes with its own forms of presentation and manipulation. One should be able to recognise these attempts of manipulation and distinguish between facts and opinions. A task which sadly becomes harder every day due to the recent increase in conspiracy theories.
On a scale from 1 to 10, I see myself at 8.
I have a good deal of knowledge and competence on how to use media, which (in my opinion) directly leads to NOT using any forms of “social” media. I try to keep up with what’s out there and how it works, but I don’ t want to be an active part of it.
Media has always been an important means of communication which can either connect people and build bridges of mutual understanding or disconnect them by building high walls of miscomprehension and mistrust. Over the years, the types of media we use and consequently the type of messages we have access to have become increasingly diverse and complex in many respects. This in turn may result in a sense of disorientation and a feeling of isolation among readers, especially young adults, who are in the process of discovering and shaping their Identity and have yet not acquired the ability to think critically, recognise and differentiate between the credible information and the intent hidden behind the persuasive content. I suggest media literacy should be an important part of our lessons and even gain on importance in the future. I deeply believe that it is our duty to help our students with finding their place in the world by enjoying all the facilities media have to offer and making them aware of potential shadow sides. Our pupils are not mindless media consumers but have a mind of their own. They just need to be given support ,in the moment, they need it.
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10 Comments
As a starting point for a discussion on the definition of ‘media literacy’, I would suggest that it is the ability to critically and creatively engage with various media forms and a broad range of text types. It has to do with being active in processes meaning making, rather than a passive (and easily manipulated) recipient of information… And with recognising the way that various linguistic techniques and narrative devices position the reader or audience.
I agree that one should not just use but also understand the media he works with. As adults we may not imagine the enormous influence of social media on young people today.
If we trained a competent way of using media in the right way and at the right time of the pupil’s personal development we could avoid a lot of media-abuse. An open and respectful
communication is one of the most important basics which could be trained at school in an “analogue” way long time before the use of any digital tool.
I would like to add, that for me media literacy is an important task that schools should teach from an early age. Teachers have a high responsibility to teach it in a neutral manner (as far as possible), so children can learn to build their own opinion, perhaps even independent from their parents beliefs and political orientation. Knowing which information you can trust, because it relies on proven facts, is a big part of it. What seems to become more important is the aspect of self regulation when it comes to media usage. I sometimes get the feeling, that young people forget to live in the real world, because they can create an online world where there are less problems to face and talking to others doesn`t need so much confidence. This could lead to addictions, which shoud be taken seriously.
I agree with all the points above. Especially Annika’s comment on selfregulation is a really tricky one. While media literacy does cover all kind of communication and not only the so-called new media, it seems that these types of tools are the most challenging ones for today’s teachers, due to various reasons. Never before so much unfiltered information was so easy available – and even for adults it is nearly impossible to verify the truth of the content at hand. Also, potential problems seem to be limitless starting with simple questions like “why should children bother to think about something on their own if google just explains it to them in a few clicks”. On the other hand, there are a lot of opportunties if pupils are teached to use these tools in a proper and reasonable way.
In terms of “media literacy” I am interested in “the truth” of information. How can one trace back -for example- a historical relevant information? Where do I find informations I may rely on? What picture might be prooven the “right one”? As lots of artists/ scientists/ hacker and for sure a vast amount of the digital-industry-workers already worked on these questions, I may see one tiny part of the challenge to go forward with the so called media competence 🙂
Especially in the Corona-Days there´s the question of getting “the right information”, but in general , even in “harmless” times, it´s evident to have good and critical tools, to be very well educated, to use a suspicious creative mind, to have a diversity of sources to knowledge, to reflect the streaming highways of information. Perhaps a clear and deep understanding of our own values as a human comunity may help to navigate through the digital world…
From my point of view the first aspects are the trustworthiness and quality of the selected sources. It should be thoroughly considered that the sources are reliable, serious and up to date. The second point should be the evaluation of the content. Bearing in mind the determined objectives of the lesson, the teacher should verify, e. g. which impulses and ideas the content could contribute to the lesson, what the pupils can learn, derive and deduct from it. In short words: Is the content meaningful and relevant for the lesson as well as for the pupils’ developments. The third point is the appropriate selection of the suitable media format (video, film, blog, podcast, audio, etc.), which depends on the knowledge and skills of the learners as well as the extend of required liveliness in the lesson.
I also agree with all the points that were raised above.
To me, “media-literacy” is a very similar process to that of being/ becoming literate. If we take the exaple of reading, at first, we’ll learn to recognise letters. From those letters, we’ll identify words – and understand them.
Not unlike the process of learning how to read and write, media-literacy implies that one has to receive some sort of education/ educate oneself. Media-literacy implies that one can critically evaluate, choose but also create media as well as understand the message that this media is sending.
Media literacy nowadays could also be about knowing what new kind of media exists and what is being used by children/students – and of course research, media structure, influences, manipulators, etc. Apart from newspapers, podcasts and blogs, we should know what moves the children that we are teaching – what about the impact of memes, viral videos, tiktok, instagram, etc.?
To me, media literacy is not all about what kinds of media there are (and were) and how to use them from a technical standpoint but being able to see the connection between contents and the form in which they are presented.
Reading an article in a newspaper is inherently different from reading a blog entry, watching a YouTube video or hearing a podcast about the same topic.
Each medium comes with its own forms of presentation and manipulation. One should be able to recognise these attempts of manipulation and distinguish between facts and opinions. A task which sadly becomes harder every day due to the recent increase in conspiracy theories.
On a scale from 1 to 10, I see myself at 8.
I have a good deal of knowledge and competence on how to use media, which (in my opinion) directly leads to NOT using any forms of “social” media. I try to keep up with what’s out there and how it works, but I don’ t want to be an active part of it.
Media has always been an important means of communication which can either connect people and build bridges of mutual understanding or disconnect them by building high walls of miscomprehension and mistrust. Over the years, the types of media we use and consequently the type of messages we have access to have become increasingly diverse and complex in many respects. This in turn may result in a sense of disorientation and a feeling of isolation among readers, especially young adults, who are in the process of discovering and shaping their Identity and have yet not acquired the ability to think critically, recognise and differentiate between the credible information and the intent hidden behind the persuasive content. I suggest media literacy should be an important part of our lessons and even gain on importance in the future. I deeply believe that it is our duty to help our students with finding their place in the world by enjoying all the facilities media have to offer and making them aware of potential shadow sides. Our pupils are not mindless media consumers but have a mind of their own. They just need to be given support ,in the moment, they need it.