Media Studies

Media Literacy

To be literate in the 21st century, is to encompass media literacy

Media Literacy. [Online Image]. (2012). Retrieved
October 15, 2016 from 

Teaching in the 21st century is vastly different than previous generations because we are now living in the digital age.  Technology is ubiquitous, you can't escape it regardless of where you go and this applies to the classroom.  Because of students continuous engagement with technology in their day to day lives, educators have found ways to implement it into curricula to help children understand media.

Why Teach Media Literacy?

Instead of resisting the growth of media, educators now help students to understand, analyze, evaluate and create media through the media literacy section of the curriculum.  Just as students are expected to asses and critically analyze various forms of texts, students are expect to reflect and critically evaluate different media forms, formulating meaning and discovering various ways to utilize media, making students competent media users.  But what makes a competent media user?  That's where digital citizenship comes into play.  Teachers look to instill proper digital citizenship within their classrooms by showing students what is appropriate and responsible usage when dealing with technology.  Just as society has its rules and norms, so does the web and these rules need to be instilled in students to create a safe and harmonious environment.

What is Digital Citizenship?

Digital Citizenship [Online Image]. (2016). Retrieved
October 15, 2016 from http://bit.ly/2duStao

Digital citizenship encompasses a variety of norms that should be followed including cyber bullying, knowing your digital footprint, recognizing harmful sites, digital etiquette (often refered to as netiquette), digital law etc.  The list is expansive, but most importantly it teaches children how to be safe on the internet.  Students need to become familiar with the openness and availability of the internet, which does not exclude personal information.  Therefore, teaching students about privacy and their digital footprint becomes imperative among the youth.  Further, teaching students how and when to recognize bias', racial comments, and cyber bullying.  Teachers often use the acronym THINK before you speak and have now expanded it to express the digital world and urges to students think before you share- be kind, don't share passwords and avoid scams.

The following link on Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/article/digital-citizenship-resources provides an abundance of resources to assist teachers in media studies instruction.  One resource I found of particular interest is titled Are we Addicted to Technology?

Think Before You Post. [Online Image]. (2016)
Retrieved October 15, 2016 from http://bit.ly/2dZTN63

This resource highlights how saturated the world actually is with media and technology, stating "According to Pew Research Internet Project, over 90 percent of American adults own a cellphone, and 73 percent of American adults online use a social networking site of some kind." Integrating technology into the classroom is a must, but I also find it important to teach this side of technology to our students. Yes, it is useful and Yes, we need to gain media literacy in order to communicate in our current society, but knowing the line of what is too much technology is also imperative. The article titled "Are we Addicted to Technology?" also formulates a list of short videos to show how addiction of media and technology are encapsulating the world. All giving great insights into the dangers of too much technological use and posing critical thinking questions for students to ponder over.

Balancing Technology    

Knowing how to balance technology in the classroom is also imperative for teachers. Gaining insight on how to balance technology in the classroom can be found in another great article on Education World, Library tech educator provides tips conquering tech phobia. In this article, Owen highlights how to balance technological usage in the classroom with traditional teaching routines.  This balance is also important to maintain a blended classroom environment.  While research has shown great strides for technological efficiency, face to face interaction and collaboration is still futile for a great education.

In a blended classroom, students are given the lesson or work online, this way students can work through it at their own pace.  Then in the classroom is when collaboration and activities on the lesson take place.  With the blended classroom the balance between technology and face to face interaction is key to its success.  It reminds us that media studies and integration of technology in the classroom is not about the technology itself, but rather how we utilize it to maximize student success.

Implementing technology in the classroom can be difficult, but effective nonetheless.  Students are highly responsive to forms of media because there worlds are highly saturated with different media forms.  If the answer to student engagement is technology and media than it is our duty as educators to find a way to effectively integrate these aspects into our teaching.

The question of should we integrate technology is gone, and we are now asking ourselves how do we effectively implement technology.  We all must take the stride toward this new learning order in order to provide our best form of education.

Communication Studies [Online Image]. (2015).  Retrieved October 16, 2016 from