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Importance of Media Literacy

Shelby Morgan

Western Oregon University

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Introduction

Media literacy has taken many shapes throughout the last several decades as technology

has shifted and changed. Culture is now dependent on these technologies therefore it is important

for media literacy to be incorporated in schools today (Dezuanni, 2015). Students are already

digital citizens when they enter high school. Mike Ribble (2014) outlines three essential elements

of digital citizenship; respect, educate and protect. Most students do not even realize that they are

already digital citizens in their participation on social media platforms. When students receive

the proper instruction around media literacy, they are able to gain deep knowledge around these

new technologies (Dezzuanni, 2015). Students can also understand their responsibility as a

digital citizen using media literacy skills (Vito, 2017).

To understand what media literacy means it is necessary to go back and understand the

origin of literacy. Literacy changed the landscape of education, especially in the last couple

decades. Many educational practices shifted known strategies around literacy skills and the

concept of literacy. Literacy was originally a non-formal education term to describe how adults

would learn to read and write. Paulo Friere is known for bringing literacy from its original roots

into main stream education. His theories and strategies began to seep into education systems all

over the world in the 60s and 70s. It was not until the late 80s and 90s that literacy finally was

the measurement used for public education (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011).

The years following the 90s, America began to create education policy, research and

publishing based on literacy skills. Literacy becomes the main measurement for receiving an

appropriate education (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011). The actual word literacy started to be

added to the end of topics like oral literacy, information literacy, emotional and media literacy.

Understanding the roots of literacy is important because it provides a foundation to build upon
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and understand where media literacy started. The difference between literacy and media literacy

is the non-written modes of communication that occur (Dezuanni, 2015).

Beginning in the early 2000s many educational policies were built around literacy skills

and preparing students to be literate. For example, the Common Core State Standards and the No

Child Left Behind Act. The US National Council of Teachers of English published a policy

position in 2008 (revised them in 2013) which encourages teachers of language arts to begin

incorporating digital literacy practices within their curriculum. They propose that readers and

writers should develop proficiency with technology tools, build relationship with others and

collaborative cross-culturally, design and share information globally to meet a variety of

purposes, and manage, synthesize, and analyze multiple streams of information (NCTE, 2008).

These skills are important for students today because they will equip them to appropriately

participate in the digital culture.

Media Literacy Defined

Media literacy can be defined in many ways depending on the context for which it is

presented. A basic definition is, the knowledge and skills individuals need to analyze, evaluate,

or produce media messages (Martens, 2010, p. 1). Media literacy also has key concepts that are

applied to media analysis and production. These key concepts are media languages,

representations, production and audiences. These concepts can be thought of as a conversation

that an instructor has around construction of knowledge and how the student produces the media

(Dezuanni, 2015). The concepts were originally from film studies and audience studies.

Another layer of media literacy is digital media literacy. Digital media literacy goes

beyond just media literacy skills and invites the students into user participation, the ability to

create and reuse content and disseminate it appropriately (Park & Burford, 2013). There are
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several dimensions of using digital media literacy. The first is access which is having the

necessary subscriptions, equipment and access to the appropriate platforms available. Access

requires operational skills and how to locate relevant content. The second dimension is

understanding mediated messaged. This means that students know how to read and understand

the producers motives behind building or writing the media. It also means that they can decipher

between fact and opinion. The third dimension is creating and producing digital materials and

media. This means the student knows how to use multiple tools and present their ideas through

technology (Park & Burford, 2013).

Media literacy helps bridge the gap between theory and practice (Joanou, 2017). Media

literacy helps students understand how to navigate the information that is constantly wanting

their attention. It can provide a framework for students to work from to make sure they are

receiving the right information (Joanou, 2017). When students are taught how to navigate the

digital world, they will be better prepared to participate appropriately and successfully. Digital

media literacy is an extension to media literacy. It involves encouragement for the student to

participation in online communities. Both literacies help students become successful within the

digital world.

Media Literacy in Curriculum

Students today engage with media platforms most of their day. Most students are well-

adverse in how these media technologies function. Therefore, educators need to understand for

themselves how these media technologies function in order to incorporate them into their

curriculum. It is important for students to know the theories and approaches for appropriately

using media technologies. Simply because they understand how to access the technologies does

not mean that the students are skilled users of digital media (Park & Burford, 2013). Students
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also need to understand that there are best practices for building knowledge within digital media

platforms. It is unlikely that students will learn this any place else but the classroom (Dezuanni,

2015).

It is important to incorporate media literacy into the curriculum because it equips students

to access the digital world. Some students who enter school have had complete access to digital

media and others have not had any exposure to it at all. This is referred to as the digital divide,

meaning that not all students are prepared for the digital world (Park & Burford, 2013). The

digital divide can affect how the teacher incorporates media literacy because the students might

all be at different levels. If media literacy was incorporated within the curriculum, it could

reduce the digital divide that is currently happening (Park & Burford, 2013).

An approach to incorporating media literacy appropriately in education was developed by

Michael Dezuanni. He relates digital media literacy to building blocks for students within a

curriculum. There are four nodes to the building blocks: digital materials, media concepts, media

production, and media analysis. The first is digital materials; students begin to engage with

hardware and software to build text, images, voice, music, and or generated media. The second is

production where students are actually building, writing, and storyboarding media in many

different ways. Production is important for media literacy because it means that students have

gained their knowledge and can apply it appropriately (Dezuanni, 2015). This helps students

understand the work it takes to produce multimodal designs and materials such as plays and

movies. The next building block is media concepts. This means that students are engaging with

the key concepts for media literacy: languages, representations, product, and audiences. The final

node is media analysis which provides students with the opportunity to analyze what has been

produced both textually and contextually (Dezuanni, 2015).

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Dezuanni presents a complex model for incorporating digital media literacy within a

curriculum, but is it not the only way to begin to introduce students to digital media literacy

skills. There are many strategies and models to incorporate digital media literacy within the

classroom. This model can provide a good starting point for ensuring that students enter the

digital world with some basic media literacy skills.

Media Literacy in Action

Media literacy can be applied to many other areas of life, not just education. Media

literacy has become a way for not only students but society to look at how social media

platforms influence culture. If students interact with social media platforms without having

knowledge and skills to critically engage, they will continue to be passive consumers of the

information (Joanou, 2017).

Jamie Patrice Joanou (2017) incorporated digital literacy within her coursework to see the

effect it had on the students understanding of different theories around multicultural issues. Often

media outlets do not convey minority groups appropriately, so there is a population that is being

misrepresented in media culture. Joanous goal was to use critical media literacy to teach these

undergraduate students about marginalized cultures within the dominant culture. She found that

by incorporating digital literacy skills these students were able to understand her multi-cultural

theories better (Joanou, 2017).

Media literacy has been proposed to be used as a prevention mechanism for hate crime.

Vito (2017) proposes that hate crimes committed by youth through social media platforms might

have been preventable. If these students would have had the knowledge and skills to

appropriately engage in these platforms, they might have been better prepared for life in this

digital culture. The LAMP is an organization that actively promotes media literacy skills for
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youth, parents, and educators. Their mission is to help students navigate the media environment.

Educators can connect with organizations like this to gather ideas for including media literacy

within their classrooms and curriculum.

Conclusion

Historically, literacy has shaped and shifted the education system that is functioning

today. Out of literacy, many different literacies were born and are widely being used. Two of

those literacies are media literacy and digital media literacy. These are important literacies to be

included within classrooms because they provide a foundation for students to participate in the

digital world. Digital media can be hard to navigate and without proper instruction can provide

barriers for students to access relevant information. Media literacy skills can better equip them to

access the information that they will need.

There are many strategies and models for educators to use to include digital media

literacy within classrooms. Discovering national and local supports can better equip the

educators for building media literacy within their curriculum. Educators should consider the

demographics and current skills of the students. Educators should also become familiar with the

tools and platforms that are being used in the digital culture. By becoming familiar with both the

students and the tools, the students will have the educational opportunity to become literate

digital citizens.
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References

Dezuanni, M. (2015). The building blocks of digital media literacy: socio-material participation

and the production of media knowledge. Journal Of Curriculum Studies, 47(3), 416-439.

doi:10.1080/00220272.2014.966152

Joanou, J. P. (2017). Examining the World Around Us: Critical Media Literacy in Teacher

Education. Multicultural Perspectives, 19(1), 40-46.

doi:10.1080/15210960.2017.1267514

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning.

Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.

Martens, H. (2010). Evaluating media literacy education: Concepts, theories and future

directions. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 2, 122.

National Council of Teachers of English (2008). The NCTE definition of 21st century literacies.

http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition (accessed 24 July 2017).

Ribble, M. (2014, June 25). Essential elements of digital citizenship [Online article]. Retrieved

from https://www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=101

Park, S., & Burford, S. (2013). A longitudinal study on the uses of mobile tablet devices and

changes in digital media literacy of young adults. Educational Media

International, 50(4), 266-280. doi:10.1080/09523987.2013.862365

Vito, D. C. (2017). Using Media Literacy to Combat Youth Extremism: At The LAMP, staff

teach youth to comprehend, create and critique media messages, as a way for youth to

advocate for themselves. Young Adult Library Services, 15(3), 18-20.