Section 3 - Media Literacy In The UK
The idea of Media Literacy is increasingly important in media education; and it is particularly important in relation to English, since we can approach it not simply as a metaphor, but ask if there are real links between children’s conceptual grasp of how meanings are made in different media, including print. The following definition is from the report Mapping Media Literacy (Kirwan et al, 2003). The whole report can be found on the internet, should students want to read further. A thougt-provoking activity, the implications of which are followed up in the following sections, is to consider how this kind of literacy is, and is not, like print literacy, however the beginning teachers would like to define it.
Media literacy - definition
2.1
We will use as our definition of media literacy one based on the Media Literacy
Statement used by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2001. Whereas theirs emphasizes moving image literacy, ours extends to take in print and still images.
Media literacy is:
- the ability to analyse and respond to a range of media, including print, moving image and other hybrid forms such as multimedia texts, and to think critically and reflectively about what has been 'read';
- the ability to weigh up how reliable the material is, whether it is fact or fiction, whether it is realistically presented or not, whether it is reportage or advocacy;
- the ability to explore the pleasures that media texts offer, and understand how these are communicated through the language of the medium;
- an understanding of the mechanisms of production and distribution of TV programmes, CD-ROM games, interactive software, websites, magazines, newspapers and other print material which enables users to evaluate their purpose and reliability;
- an understanding of how they as individuals respond to and interpret experiences
- gained through media texts, and also that they are part of larger audiences, and that their responses are also shaped by that experience.
2.2
Media literacy is also the ability to 'write' media texts, increasingly using Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) such as desk-top publishing, authoring multimedia packages, and video filming, photography and digital editing. Such texts will:
- be suitable for audience and purpose;
- make appropriate use of technology for presentation;
- reflect a critical selection of material, and a coherent representation of ideas;
- reflect the maker's creative skills.
2.3
There is also a value placed by many educators on how young people reflect on their
own making and doing, and what they learn through the process. This will be discussed at
greater length in the sections on learning and creativity. While currently such 'writing'
capability is underdeveloped, it exists, and increasing access to digital technology, uneven though it still is, will make such activity possible for greater numbers.
- 2.4
Media literacy depends on, and has a complex relationship with, 'navigation' skills,
sometimes called 'network literacy'. However, navigation skills do not in themselves
constitute 'media literacy' as it is widely conceived. Such ‘network literacy' would include the following skills:
- understanding how complex electronic texts are organised, and being able to build
mental models to navigate them;
- an ability to search the vast range of data on electronic networks efficiently;
- judging the credibility and value of sources such as websites;
- knowing how to manipulate and select information; knowing how to use systems and equipment;
- knowing what tools and facilities are available and how to select the most appropriate for a purpose;
- understanding that information is not geographically fixed and that cultural reference may vary.
 
|
