Media and Information Literacy


Much of the information on this page is courtesy of the Open Thinking wiki of Dr. Alec Couros.

Media Literacy


A definition and framework for media literacy comes from Wikipedia.

Media literacy is the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating messages in a wide variety of forms. It uses an inquiry-based instructional model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see and read. Media literacy education is one means of developing media literacy. It provides tools to help people critically analyze messages to detect propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for such), and to understand how structural features -- such as media ownership, or its funding model[1] -- affect the information presented.

Media literacy aims to enable people to be skillful creators and producers of media messages, both to facilitate an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium, as well as to create independent media.

Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy. By transforming the process of media consumption into an active and critical process, people gain greater awareness of the potential for misrepresentation and manipulation (especially through commercials and public relations techniques), and understand the role of mass media and participatory media in constructing views of reality."

Media literacy educators strive to address a balance between protection and empowerment. Protectionist approaches to media literacy emphasize the need to be aware of the negative aspects of mass media and popular culture, including the dangers and risks of online social media.
Empowerment approaches emphasize building media awareness, promoting critical analysis of media texts, tools and technologies, and using image, language, sound and digital media for self-expression, communication and social advocacy.

Media literacy educators have neither utopian or dystopian views about the potential of digital and social media to transform K-12 education. They emphasize the both value of analyzing media texts, tools and technologies and the practice of composing using multimedia forms, genres and technologies.

Protection Approach

Empowerment Approach

Integrating Media Literacy into K-12 Education

  • My Pop Studio in the Classroom: Learn how teachers used the interactive play experience, My Pop Studio, to promote media literacy in Grades 7 - 8
  • Assignment Media Literacy: comprehensive ML curriculum with print PDF lessons and video support materials) for K-12, developed by Renee Hobbs and the Maryland Department of Education with the Discovery Channel
  • Beyond Beats and Rhymes: See what a staff development program looks like to help high school communication arts teachers explore how to bring critical reflection on the representation of gender and identity in hip-hop music videos, based on the Bryon Hurt documentary of the same title.

Protection-oriented Media Literacy and Web Safety Sites


Videos

Research and In The News

General Tools
  • Metaspy: Ever wonder what the rest of the world is searching for? Ideal for looking for search trends.
  • Google Zeigeist: Measure "the general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era". The new Google site is "Hot Trends".
  • Viral Video Sites: There are many sites that measure the most commonly viewed videos of the day. 

The ABCs of Web Literacy

An interactive tutorial from the UPenn library.

Information Literacy for Students

from the University of Illinois Library

The focus of this web page is on information literacy skills and on responsible and ethical online behavior. Some of the links below are to assignments specific to the University's course, but may provide some ideas for your own class. Topics include: