By: Tracy Centracchio, BSN, RN July 25,2021
Digital and media literacy skills are integral to the 21st century student. But who should teach these skills? Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information in a variety of forms (“Media literacy basics,” n.d.). This skill is vital to 21st century learning as our students are being bombarded with media messages.
Our educational system is being challenged to reconcile the skills and objectives to meet the needs of a changing fabric of education. 21st century students often fall short for traditional literacy assessments, yet these same students have an exhaustive set of knowledge that is not being assessed (Young & Daunic, 2012, p. 70). Students no longer simply need to read and write on paper but need to be accomplished in downloading, chatting, blogging, Skyping, and more (“Bringing digital literacy to the classroom,” n.d.). Pre COVID, students were spending 6-9 hours a day engaged with digital media (“Media use by Tweens and teens: Infographic,” n.d.). Teaching students to be responsible users of technology and critical consumers of the media they encounter needs to be top priority.
So whose job is it?
The parent’s job? Some experts suggest that parents need to consider their role as one of a “media mentor,” a trusted adult who engages with children to use technology beyond gaming. The hope is that this would develop a healthy conversation between parent and child as well as a healthy attitude about media and technology(“Children and digital media: Rethinking parent roles,” 2017).
The general classroom teacher? General classroom teachers need to integrate digital media literacy in all they are doing in the classroom. The classroom offers great opportunities to engage learners in discussions and content creation where they can be guided and encouraged to explore. There is a natural flow to use digital and media lessons in the context of the classroom curriculum. Yet this is a significant added responsibility for the general classroom teacher whose job is already overwhelming at times.
A specialized teacher? Some schools are moving toward having a digital media specialist who plans either workshop type education or full semester long classes. This offers an expert as the authority. Sabine Gysi promotes Henning Mueller’s view that “Media literacy is a tool, not a subject in the education canon.” in her blog BOLD (Gysi, 2018). She contends that digital media literacy needs to be integrated rather than taught as a separate subject.
Return next week to consider how to equip the adults in the room to train the children.
Recommended resources:
References
Bringing digital literacy to the classroom. (n.d.). International Literacy Association. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog%2Fliteracy-now%2F2016%2F11%2F01%2Fadding-students-and-teachers-back-into-data-driven-schools
Children and digital media: Rethinking parent roles. (2017, August 23). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/children-and-digital-media-rethinking-parent-roles
Gysi, S. (2018, August 20). “Media literacy is a tool, not a subject in the educational Canon”. BOLD. https://bold.expert/media-literacy-tool-not-a-subject-educational-canon/
Media literacy basics. (n.d.). U.S. Media Literacy Week. https://medialiteracyweek.us/resources/media-literacy-basics/
Media use by Tweens and teens: Infographic. (n.d.). Common Sense Media: Age-Based Media Reviews for Families. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-infographic
Scheibe, C., & Rogow, F. (2011). The Teachers guide to media literacy: Critical thinking in a multimedia world. Corwin Press.
Why all 21st-century educators must teach media literacy & how. (n.d.). South Carolina ETV. https://www.scetv.org/stories/2020/why-all-21st-century-educators-must-teach-media-literacy-how
Young, J. S., & Daunic, R. (2012). Linking Learning: Connecting Traditional and Media Literacies in 21st Century Learning. Journal of media literacy, 4(1), 70-81.
LNA-instructor-Tracy 