Building Media Literacy

Teens typically see the world as simple and straightforward. They take information at the surface as black or white, and do not look at it deeply. Messages they receive on the internet they take at face value. (Ashley, 2013) The majority of the information we receive is in a digital format. I receive new updates via Twitter notifications on my phones home screen. I use Google and Mendeley to search for references for papers. “Googling” has become a common word in our vernacular. The following infographic represents how media has changed.

Melissa Fabello created a short video on Media Literacy 101, which summarizes why media literacy is important.

If we only take things at face value, our youth will mimic the actions and words they view in the media without regard to right or wrong. They will accept the libelous and slanderous information that is contained throughout all forms of media, without forming opinions of their own. If our role as educators is to teach the future leaders of tomorrow, then not teaching media literacy is providing a disservice to them. We would be settling our students up for failure and in turn failing as educators. 

We need to teach our students to be mindful of media consumption rather than passively consuming information. Additionally, media literacy should include knowledge of media messages, the disconnect from reality and responsible decision making for the information they consume. Our ultimate goal with media literacy is empowering our students to assess, analyze, evaluate and create media. 

References

Ashley, S. (2013, February 2). Teaching Nuances: The need for media literacy in the digital age. Retrieved from The Blue Review: https://thebluereview.org/teaching-media-literacy/

Fabello, M. (2014, March 22). Media Literacy 101. Retrieved from You Tube: https://youtu.be/lFF8wAqy-wo

PEW Research Center. (2015, April 9). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015. Retrieved from PEW Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/