Blog Post Week 3 Media Literacy

Media Literacy

Media is a means of communication and media is the quality or state of being literate, the possession of education and a person’s knowledge in a particular subject or field. The question is perhaps, what are we doing as educators to ensure that our students acquire education that is meaningful and communicate that knowledge through media tools that are appropriate?

So what exactly is media literacy? An article on Wikipedia defines it as “the process of analyzing evaluating, and creating references in a wide variety of media modes, genre, and forms.” David Corsidine (2005) defines it as a skill that is needed to make today’s students prepared and competitive in the ever changing global market. Without it, our students will not function as productive citizens. So in order for students to be media literate they should create products using something other than pencil and paper perhaps? Go figure.

The fact of the matter is that many if not most of our students are already using media on an everyday basis via the social networking sites, their cell phones, iPods and etc. However, even if students are using these tools, it is probably safe to say that our students may not know of every tool available to them. That is where we, as educators come in. We have a responsibility to make sure our students are media literate. It is just as important as learning how to read and write traditionally, as more and more resources are being created and shared digitally. We can’t ensure that, if we as educators are media literate ourselves. I n my opinion, this goes way beyond PowerPoint and emails. In addition to teaching our content, we much also teach technology and along with that, responsibility.

I concur with fellow FSO student Becky Ivey Day who says that by blocking sites, we are actually counteracting media literacy. We need to be able to guide our students and trust that they will make the right decisions as to what is good content and what is not. . Children have to learn how to navigate the world. Good parents don’t shelter their children from every single thing; good teachers and administrators should not either. Instead of blocking, teach students media responsibility.

References

Corsidine, D. (1995). An introduction to media literacy:the what, why and

how to's. The Journal of Media Literacy, 41(2), Retrieved from

http://www.ced.appstate.edu/departments/ci/programs/edmedia/medialit/article.html#What%20is%20Media%20Literac

Media literacy. (2009, August 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved

06:25, August 1, 2009, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Media_literacy&oldid=305413104