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Research on Visual and Media Literacy:

How to Teach Media Literacy as part of
your School Library Media Program
Melissa D. Gooch
University of West Georgia
Fall 2016

The topic for my Assignment seven on research on visual and media literacy is how to
teach media literacy as part of your school library media program (as a service). In my opinion,
any school media program should be essential to the academic success of the students, as the
school library media center is the hub of every school. In 2009 the American Association of
School Librarians (AASL) revised the mission of the School Library program to reflect that
expanding responsibilities of the school librarian in helping learners develop the skills needed to
be successful in work and in life for the twenty-first century. In 2015 the house and senate
conference committee added language to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to recognize
the importance and value of school libraries. This is a huge milestone for the AASL as well as
American Library Association (ALA). The expected roles of todays school library media
specialist(s) are: teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, leader and program
administrator. Media literacy is more than showing students where to locate books, today it is
teaching them skills that teachers did not have to be aware of or teach before the Internet and 21st
century learners came along.
Lets talk about todays upcoming generation, seventy percent of children ages 2-5 can
use a computer mouse but only eleven percent can tie their own shoes. In 2012, the average
number of computers per K-12 school were 194 and 98 percent of classrooms provide internet
connections, with those data sets growing each day. Currently, there are over 20,000 educational
apps, 50,000 free lecture video and books available online. Teachers are tacked with enforcing a
love for literature as well as teaching how to research and find available and needed resources.
Today media literacy is teaching imperative skills such as: copyright, digital citizenship (digital
footprint and reputation, self-image & identity), information literacy, Internet safety privacy and

security, relationships and communication, and cyber-bullying. Next, you will be provided my
summary of three articles related to this topic.
Article one
The first article I choose came from Google scholar, and then found the entire article
from GALILEO. The title is Information Literacy in a Teacher Education Program by Marlene
M. Asselin and Elizabeth A. Lee. This article discussed ways to integrate information literacy
into the teacher education program in the country of Canada. It describes the models and
methods used to develop a new framework for the information literacy education program. The
goals and knowledge gained by the students are listed in the extensive article.
This project along with the student and teacher experiences allowed the authors to
provide suggestions to their school and district-level teacher-librarians with methods to develop
and deliver ALA's recommendation to include information literacy in teacher education
programs. The methodology used was to incorporate knowledge of information literacy skills
into the literacy curriculum. They focused on a process-based, problem-solving model of
information literacy. They used an instructional structure with resource-based learning and
collaboration with teacher-librarians, pre-service teachers (educator prep students) teachers, and
students. The research study was conducted over a period of three years. During the first two, the
participating classes met for the information literacy lesson planning collaboration sessions in the
school library media center. During the last year, the project was enlarged to encompass school
districts for which the pre-service teachers would complete their spring practicum coursework. In
the final phase with including other districts, the pre-service teachers held the information
literacy lesson planning collaboration sessions in the school library media center where they

would be placed during practicum with the teacher-librarian of that school. This environment
eased the transition for practicum and allowed the student teachers become comfortable with
the resources available in that particular school district.
They collected data results by tracking students' growth and comprehension about
information literacy instruction during each year of the project. The data included pre- and posttests as reflective writings and concept maps or concept webs.
According to the study: The most significant development in our students' understanding
of information literacy was the shift from thinking of it as "reading masses of print information"
to a process-based view of interpreting and generating multiple types of information.
I learned a great deal from this study, it would be such a great implementation project for
on-boarding English language arts (ELA) pre-service teacher students as well as an excellent
added enhancement for higher education institutions that offer ELA course work.

Article two
Article two I found from searching the GALILEO database. The title of the paper is
BEYOND TEXT Literacy for a digital culture written by Kristin Ziemke and Don Goble. Kristin
is a teacher, staff development delivery, and an Apple Distinguished Educator. Don is a
multimedia instructor, author, and international speaker.
To summarize this story, both educators see access to information no longer dependent
on a students ability to decipher text. Much like our recent classroom study in this course on
decoding and multimedia theory. Like the Learning to Look four stage process technique look,
see, describe, analyze and interpret. One of the educational benefits of analyzing texts in the
classroom is fostering critical thinking skills. When students analyze text, they are not simply

just summarizing or re-stating the story. Critical thinking often forces your students to be fully
engaged with the course material. Pictures, graphics and videos are various forms of texts that
are used together to further enhance the learning experience.
The method used was implementing into the lesson plan a video and discussion. Students
in high school grades (9-12) in broadcast media and broadcast technology courses are shown a
related video on the details with filming. Students were show about sound, lighting, camera
angels, information being passed (verbal and non-verbal) and etc. in the short video. The videos
were used to supplement discussions that followed. This discussion after the video led students
to complete an post test on how to read visual contexts and coding. The assessment included
questions about where the story setting took place, and why that type of information is important
for that particular story in relation to the imagery that was portrayed. According to Don, by
noticing and noting elements of video production, a practice encouraged by Kylene Beers and
Robert E. Probs, we help students disseminate the media narrative. Through this type of process
of learning students are encouraged to create. Students are always creating either news
broadcasts or analyzing stories from media sources. By creating, students learn new techniques
and leverage feedback from peers to refine their understanding.
Any time educators can further enhance the learning experience by incorporating media
and literacy skills; they are providing life skills that will help todays learners beyond the
classroom. According to the study, we see this new era as an opportunity to engage all learners
and recognize that, as society and technology evolve, so too does literacy. With more access to
information than ever before, our students today need these critical learning skills. This was an
excellent exercise; I would like to see more time results. For example what happened after year
one or were there any improvements or changes made after year three, when technology usually

changes? I learned that media literacy can really truly be taught with any subject. At first I just
thought that English language arts was the perfect fit for this content, but this study proved that
educators can think and move outside of the box. And incorporate media literacy skills and
education in any subject to foster life long learning as well as critical skills.

Article three
Lastly, article three also came for another search using the GALILEO database. The title
of this paper is Neither Fish nor Fowl: A Role Theory Approach to Librarians Teaching by
Robert Zai, III. This article seeks to utilize role theory as a method s to further examine the
relationships of school librarians as instructors, and information literacy as a higher education
discipline.
According to the article, originating from the field of social psychology, role theory has
been based on a theatrical metaphor to explain how an individual performs within a society, a
given culture, or a simple interaction. The role theory is used in this setting to discuss the roles
of todays academic librarian. And how teaching of information literacy primarily to
undergraduate students in course related settings or secondary school has allowed academic
librarians the opportunity to define differently their role within the higher education setting.
Information literacy (IL) sessions were taught in various forms: both synchronously and
asynchronously, face-to-face and virtually. Three instructional models were used with the
majority of the instruction took place within a subject matter course related session. A librarian
was invited by an instructor to provide a face-to-face fifty to sixty minute sessions for students.
These one-time sessions were not enough to fill the gap of accessing todays Internet of things
needed for academic students.

With the emerging technologies of today and the need to educate students on information
literacy, the function of academic librarians as educators has raised many into questioning the
role of the contemporary academic librarian. Todays academic librarian much like the school
library media specialist has to also wear many hats and play many roles with the changes in
technology and to meet our learners needs.
I have always thought about media literacy in the K12 setting and just assumed that when
students were transitioned into the life of academia, they would be prepared and ready for
utilizing their media and information literacy skills with prior knowledge. However, this study
reminded me of our diverse learners in higher education. Like me, the Internet and Google
werent ever mentioned in any of my K12 classes, it was around my sophomore year in college
before I heard of these terms!
Reflection
Because of budget demands and cuts, school library media specialists are forced to play in
other roles such as Instructional Technology support and focus less time and efforts on their
essential roles and responsibilities. It is time that leadership see and values the true impact to
education that school library media specialist bring. With this impact is the need to educate todays
21st century learners. These learners need to be educated not only on how to find resources but to
be literate digital citizens, thus the need for media literacy skills and education.

Students educational needs are being met efficiently and more appropriately as to what
they need in this digital age. With the advancement of technology and the allowance of bring
your own technology (BYOT), it's imperative for media specialist(s) to stay abreast of
technology issues so that they can assist students with those needs as well as enforce appropriate
media literacy skills (such as how to be a responsible digital citizen). In fact, a media specialist
is poised to be the best person to assist with technology in a school system. What do you think

about it? Stop for a minute and place yourself inside a local school: Administrators are too busy
with management, discipline, and other issues. Teachers are trained for their specific subject
matter areas, while media specialists are able to learn more and take the lead in technology. I
think Eric Hoffer said it best when he said, "In times of change, the learners will inherit the
world and the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no
longer exists." If we refuse to change, then we are hurting not only ourselves, but our teachers
and students as well. When the school library media specialist is afforded the time and resources
needed, todays students can be educated on media literacy skills that will follow them in life
beyond school, whether that be college, military or the workforce.

References

Asselin, M. M., & Lee, E. A. (2002). 'I Wish Someone Had Taught Me': Information Literacy in
a Teacher Education Program. Teacher Librarian, 30(2), 10.
Zai, R. (2015). Neither Fish nor Fowl: A Role Theory Approach to Librarians Teaching. Journal
Of Library Administration, 55(1), 1-23. doi:10.1080/01930826.2014.978680
Ziemke, K., & Goble, D. (2016). BEYOND TEXT. Literacy Today (2411-7862), 34(1), 24-25.