The bar is so high, there is already so much to do, covering curriculum is already overwhelming and to now add in digital literacy, especially when it is something you know nothing about makes teaching in today’s world feel almost impossible. Anyone else ever feel that? I am not sure what is going on with everyone else but finding a balance to meet all demands is becoming overwhelming especially with what COVID has done to students education; reading scores are low- so get them up, math scores are low- get those up too, focus on extra Religion minutes we have to promote our Catholic faith more and faith permeate into our other curricular lessons, but we are back to regular curriculum minutes, and now for the betterment of our students please consider adding digital literacy, citizenship, and medias; the plate just keeps getting more full, something is going to topple over soon- these is common thoughts amongst teachers. As I continue my education in this area I become aware of its importance, and I am able to see how I can fit it into my curriculum time already and it is actually not a whole bunch more work, my students are benefiting greatly, and I find I do not have to moderate the chats on my google classroom as often.
So What is Media Literacy Anyways?
Bart summed up what is media literacy perfectly this week in our presentation from his article What is Media Literacy and Why Does it Matter
Media Literacy is important because the digital world is full of fake news (which we are reading about this upcoming week), media bias, and I think the most important to me is the mental health concerns that are associated with media use as outlined in the article; this one hits home to so many of our students, cyberbullying is real, and is done so silently; as parents or teachers, if we are not checking in, watching our children’s behaviours change right in front of our eyes this could have serious implications on children’s wellbeing. Being more informed and involved in a age where it’s easy to become distant due to technology is crucial to supporting the mental health.
Teaching media literacy is newer to me, I kind of did it before but with no real intent, it just flowed into class conversations; just as quickly as the conversations happen it left and never appeared again. Throughout my article What is media literacy, and why is it important? I quickly realized how effortlessly teaching the 6 essential skills to media literacy intertwined into teaching reading literacy at a grade four level; in grade four a big switch is made in literacy instruction, it is not about learning how to read anymore but reading to learn. The skills listed below are already teaching points I do in teacher time so when I go to teach these skills during a media literacy lesson I can quickly have them connect to prior knowledge that has already been instilled. It was such a relief to see the connection and to realize it was not going to be an overbearing task to take on.
The biggest section in the article was the questions to ask students when thinking critically:
- Who created it? Take a look at the author (company, private, anonymous)
- Why did they make it? Informative, opinion, to make you laugh, get you to buy something
- Who is the message for? Is it for adults, babies, little kids, big kids, boys, girls,
- What techniques are being used to make this message credible or believable? Take a look at its sources (this is a tough one for younger kids, but opening up the conversation is a good starting point)
- What details were left out, and why? Observe the view points, more importantly look at what is missing.
- How did the message make you feel? Feelings of yourself, others, would people agree or disagree?
As I did further research for additional resources I came across this TedTalk and what resonated with me the most was to pay attention to what is missing or not being included; this offers such a powerful message in itself, “Once students have learned to deconstruct media, they have gained a superpower”, this was my favourite quote in her talk.
Can Everyone be Fully literate?
I believe everyone if given the proper tools and education can become literate but just as we know in reading and math not everyone will become “Fully” literate in digital medias. This then opens up the conversation to who is included in being allowed to become media literate, and more importantly who is being left out (see how I tied Andrea Quijada’s message in here) ? Considering Mike Ribble’s 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship focusing on the first element of Digital Access being “about the equitable distribution of technology and online resources” do all students in Saskatchewan have equal digital access in our first world country? We know the answer is no, and that is a problem. Take a look at this article I tweeted about today Digital Equity for Indigenous Communities. We have quite a digital divide right here at home which prevents all students from becoming media literate.
Have you considered students who have disabilities? I typically do but that comes from a passion of inclusion, my teaching experience, and certificate of extended studies. A study done in Malaysia explored digital literacy strategies and the ability to help teachers develop their digital literacy skills to create and design effective teaching and learning strategies for students with disabilities. Everyone deserves access to fair education and media literacy should be included. Check out the study here.
I like the way you have shared about equality of education for Indigenous communities and students with disabilities. The articles mentioned above show a clear understanding of these issues. With Media Literacy, we gain critical thinking skills that empower us to understand and make sense of information. The inclusion of Media Literacy is imperative for the curriculum.
This is great, Christine! I love that you took a different approach and spoke about equity in digital literacy. I have considered the idea that Indigenous communities may not have access to technology that is needed and that allowed many people to keep their jobs during the last two years. Like it says in the article: “The UN has declared access to the internet a human right”. There’s simply no excuse that some communities still do not have what they need to in 2022 to have access to the internet/devices.
Great post! The way you structured and wrote your post was unique, and it was an interesting read. I like how you discussed access to technology, for a variety of reasons. I think that in today’s world we assume that everyone has access or can find access somewhere, but we don’t always take the many different factors into consideration. Internet access, rural vs. urban, technology access, and more. I think access is a key factor in digital citizenship and literacy and I think a lot of people can get themselves into trouble when they haven’t had time to learn how to use technology and begin to use it by themselves with no mentorship.