Media Literacy
Media Literacy
Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, critically evaluate, and produce
communication in a variety of forms. It is similar to information literacy and
involves many components of technology literacy as well.
The term “media” generally refers to mass media messages communicated
through visuals, language, and/or sound that are produced for a remote mass
audience using some form of technology. These include traditional print-based
media (e.g., books, newspapers, magazines, direct mail); audiovisual media (e.g.,
radio, television, movies, video games); and computer-assisted communication
(e.g., computer games, the Internet). Media also include recorded music, billboards
and other signs, most games, package labels, and advertising in all of its forms.
In the classroom, the media are likely to include textbooks, posters, and maps.
Like traditional literacy, media literacy involves critical thinking, analytical
skills, and the ability to express oneself in different ways. Being media literate
also entails using media wisely and effectively, including being able to judge
the credibility of information from different sources. A media literate student
will be aware of media’s influence on beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors,
and the democratic process. And in the same way that traditional literacy includes
writing as well as reading skills, media literacy also emphasizes producing
effective communication through a variety of different media forms.
Media Literacy Purpose Statement (from NAMLE's Core Principles)
The purpose of media literacy education is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today's world.
At the first seminal meeting to discuss media literacy education in the U.S. (Aspen Institute, 1992), media literacy was defined as"the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce communication in a variety of media forms." That definition was used by the growing field for more than 20 years (and in fact, some people still define media literacy that way). However, some media literacy experts began to develop alternative definitions that included awareness, reflection, taking action, and other components.
In The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World (Sage/Corwin, 2012), Faith Rogow and Cyndy Scheibe identified 8 capabilities as being part of media literacy (access, understanding, awareness, analysis, evaluation, creation, reflection, participation) plus the desire to develop these skills and to take action based on them. While that felt thorough at the time, the list was really too unwieldy to describe easily, it left out "inquiry" which is seminal (and central) to the Project Look Sharp approach, and it didn't place the capabilities in a progression as shown below in the graphic, from left to right.
Scheibe conceived the process shown below.
Graphic produced by Eric Poandl.
