MEDIA
AND CYBER OR
DIGITAL
LITERACIES
OBJECTIVES
AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
DEVELOP A WORKING UNDERSTANDING OF MEDIA
AND CYBER/DIGITAL LITERACY AND HOW THEY
RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER;
APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING
MEDIA AND CYBER/DIGITAL LITERACY BOTH IN
OURSELVES AND ONE ANOTHER IN THE
INFORMATION AGE; AND
REALIZE THAT PRACTICAL STEPS MUST BE TAKEN
TO DEVELOP THESE LITERACIES EARLY IN CHILDREN
AND CANNOT WAIT “UNTIL THEY ARE OLDER.”
MEDIA LITERACY
THE ABILITY TO ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, AND COMMUNICATE
MESSAGES IN A WIDE VARIETY OF FORMS (AUFDERHEIDI (1993))
THE ABILITY TO ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, AND CREATE
MESSAGES ACROSS A VARIETY OF CONTEXTS (CHRIST AND
POTTER (1998))
HOBS (1998) POSITS THAT IT IS A TERM USED BY MODERN
SCHOLARS TO REFER TO THE PROCESS OF CRITICALLY ANALYZING
AND LEARNING TO CREATE ONE’S OWN MESSAGES IN PRINT,
AUDIO, VIDEO, AND MULTIMEDIA.
IN SIMPLEST SENSE
MEDIA LITERACY CAN THUS BE
DEFINED AS “THE ABILITY TO
IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF
MEDIA AND UNDERSTAND THE
MESSAGES THEY ARE
COMMUNICATING”
(COMMON SENSE MEDIA, N.D.)
MEDIA COMMUNICATION LENDS
ITSELF SO EASILY AND SO WELL TO
THE PURPOSE OF MANIPULATING
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTIONS ON
ISSUES BOTH POLITICAL AND
COMMERCIAL, BEING ABLE TO
UNDERSTAND THE “WHY”
BEHIND MEDIA COMMUNICATION IS
THE ABSOLUTE HEART OF MEDIA
LITERACY TODAY.
FIVE ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS NECESSARY
FOR ANY ANALYSIS OF MEDIA MESSAGES
• MEDIA MESSAGES ARE CONSTRUCTED.
• MEDIA MESSAGES ARE PRODUCED WITHIN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL,
POLITICAL, HISTORICAL AND AESTHETIC CONTEXTS.
• THE INTERPRETATIVE MEANING-MAKING PROCESSES INVOLVED IN
MESSAGE RECEPTION CONSIST OF AN INTERACTION BETWEEN THE
READER, THE TEXT AND THE CULTURE.
• MEDIA HAS UNIQUE “LANGUAGES,” CHARACTERISTICS WHICH TYPIFY
VARIOUS FORMS, GENRES, AND SYMBOL SYSTEMS OF
COMMUNICATION.
• MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS PLAY A ROLE IN PEOPLE’S UNDERSTANDING
OF SOCIAL REALITY.
WHAT MEDIA
LITERACY IS NOT
CRITICIZING THE MEDIA IS NOT, IN AND OF
ITSELF, MEDIA LITERACY.
MERELY PRODUCING MEDIA IS NOT MEDIA
LITERACY.
TEACHING WITH MEDIA (VIDEOS,
PRESENTATIONS, ETC.) DOES NOT EQUAL
MEDIA LITERACY.
WHAT MEDIA
LITERACY IS NOT
VIEWING MEDIA AND ANALYZING IT FROM A
SINGLE PERSPECTIVE IS NOT MEDIA LITERACY.
MEDIA LITERACY DOES NOT SIMPLY MEAN
KNOWING WHAT AND WHAT NOT TO WATCH;
IT DOES MEAN “WATCH CAREFULLY, THINK
CRITICALLY.”
CHALLENGES TO MEDIA LITERACY
EDUCATION
HOW DO WE TEACH IT?
HOW TO MEASURE AND
EVALUATE ITS SUCCESS?
PURPOSE
DIGITAL LITERACY
(E-LITERACY, CYBER LITERACY, INFORMATION LITERACY)
THE ABILITY TO LOCATE,
EVALUATE, CREATE AND
COMMUNICATE INFORMATION
ON VARIOUS DIGITAL PLATFORMS.
IT IS THE TECHNICAL, COGNITIVE, AND
SOCIOLOGICAL SKILLS NEEDED TO
PERFORM TASKS AND SOLVE PROBLEMS
IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS
(Eshet-Alkalai, 2004)
More than just knowing how
to operate a computer or
phone, digital literacy
involves skills that enable
individuals to navigate the
digital world safely, ethically,
IT FINDS ITS ORIGINS IN
INFORMATION AND COMPUTER
LITERACY, SO MUCH SO THAT THE
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES LISTED
BY SHAPIRO AND HUGHES (1996)
IN A CURRICULUM THEY
ENVISIONED TO PROMOTE
COMPUTER LITERACY SHOULD
SOUND VERY FAMILIAR TO
READERS TODAY:
• TOOL LITERACY
COMPETENCE IN USING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
TOOLS
• RESOURCE LITERACY
UNDERSTANDING FORMS OF AN ACCESS TO
INFORMATION RESOURCES
• SOCIAL-STRUCTURAL LITERACY
UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL
SIGNIFICANCE OF INFORMATION
• RESEARCH LITERACY
USING IT TOOLS FOR RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
• PUBLISHING LITERACY
ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH INFORMATION
• EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LITERACY
UNDERSTANDING OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN IT
• CRITICAL LITERACY
ABILITY TO EVALUATE THE BENEFITS OF NEW
TECHNOLOGIES (NOTE THAT THIS LITERACY IS NOT THE
SAME AS CRITICAL THINKING WHICH IS OFTEN REGARDED
AS A COMPONENT OF INFORMATION LITERACY)
DIGITAL LITERACY
CAN BE SEEN AS A
SUBSET OF MEDIA
LITERACY, DEALING
MEDIA IN DIGITAL
FORM.
DIGITAL LITERACY
AS THE ABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND AND USE
INFORMATION IN MULTIPLE
FORMATS FROM A WIDE
RANGE OF SOURCES WHEN
IT IS PRESENTED VIA
COMPUTERS.
BAWDEN (2008) COLLATED THE SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
COMPRISING DIGITAL LITERACY FROM CONTEMPORARY
SCHOLARS ON THE MATTER INTO FOUR GROUPS:
• UNDERPINNINGS
• BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
• CENTRAL COMPETENCIES
• ATTITUDES AND PERSPECTIVES
UNDERPINNINGS
THIS REFERS TO THOSE SKILLS AND
COMPETENCIES THAT “SUPPORT” OR “ENABLE”
EVERYTHING ELSE WIHTIN DIGITAL LITERACY,
NAMELY: TRADITIONAL LITERACY AND
COMPUTER/ICT LITERACY (I.E., THE ABILITY TO
USE COMPUTERS IN EVERYDAY LIFE)
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
THESE ARE THE SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES THAT A
MAJORITY OF SCHOLARS AGREE ON AS BEING CORE TO
DIGITAL LITERACY TODAY NAMELY: READING AND
UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL AND NON-DIGITAL
FORMATS; CREATING AND COMMUNICATING
DIGITAL INFORMATION; EVALUATION AND
INFORMATION; KNOWLEDGE ASSEMBLY;
INFORMATION LITERACY; AND MEDIA LITERACY.
ATTITUDES AND PERSPECTIVES
BAWDEN (2008) SUGGESTS THAT IT IS THESE ATTITUDES AND
PERSPECTIVES THAT LINK DIGITAL LITERACY TODAY WITH TRADITIONAL
LITERACY, SAYING, IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE SKILLS AND
COMPETENCIES, THEY MUST BE GROUNDED IN SOME MORAL
FRAMEWORK, “ SPECIFICALLY”
- INDEPENDENT LEARNING - THE INITIATIVE AND ABILITY
TO LEARN WHATEVER IS NEEDED FOR A PERSON’S SPECIFIC SITUATION
- MORAL/SOCIAL LITERACY – AN UNDERSTANDING OF
CORRECT, ACCEPTABLE, AND SENSIBLE BEHAVIOR IN A DIGITAL
ENVIRONMENT
CHALLENGES TO DIGITAL LITERACY
EDUCATION
• HOW SHOULD IT BE TAUGHT?
• HOW CAN IT BE MEASURED AND EVALUATED?
• SHOULD IT BE TAUGHT FOR THE PROTECTION
OF STUDENTS IN THEIR CONSUMPTION OF
INFORMATION OR SHOULD IT BE TO DEVELOP
THEIR APPRECIATION FOR DIGITAL MEDIA?
CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
OF MEDIA LITERACY
• TEACH MEDIA AND DIGITAL LITERACY INTEGRALLY
• MASTER YOUR SUBJECT MATTER
• THINK “MULTIDISCIPLINARY”
• EXPLORE MOTIVATIONS, NOT JUST MESSAGES
• LEVERAGE SKILLS THAT STUDENTS ALREADY HAVE
WRAP UP
MEDIA LITERACY IS THE ABILITY TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT
TYPES OF MEDIA AND UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGES THEY
ARE COMMUNICATING, INCLUDING WHO IS THE INTENDED
AUDIENCE AND WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE
MESSAGE.
DIGITAL/CYBER LITERACY IS A SUBSET OF MEDIA LITERACY;
THE ABILITY TO LOCATE, EVALUATE CREATE, AND
COMMUNICATE INFORMATION ON VARIOUS DIGITAL FORMS.
THIS INCLUDES THE ABILITY TO VERIFY INFORMATION AS A
FACTUAL AS WELL AS IDENTIFY AND AVOID COMMUNICATION
WITH DECEITFUL, MALICIOUS, EXPLOITATIVE CONTENT.
INFORMATION LITERACY IS A SUBSET OF MEDIA
LITERACY; THE ABILITY TO LOCATE, ACCESS, AND
EVALUATE INFORMATION FROM A VARIETY OF MEDIA
SOURCES.
OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO BOTH LITERACIES (MEDIA
AND DIGITAL) IS THE ABILITY TO ANALYZE AND THINK
CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT IS BEING COMMUNICATED.
THIS MEANS MAKING VALUE JUDGEMENTS ABOUT THE
MESSAGE (I.E., IDENTIFYING TRUTH FROM FALSEHOOD,
RIGHT FROM WRONG, ETC.), AND GOES BEYOND SIMPLY
COMPREHENDING THE WHAT IS BEING SAID.