Purpose 1: Preparation
For citizens to be
informed and responsible, they need to be able to do more
than merely access information. In a high-tech world with
information saturation, students and citizens must learn to
discern. They need the skills to critically analyze and
evaluate information. In an age when most Americans get most
of their information from television not textbooks, pictures
not print, we need a wider and newer definition of literacy.
Media literacy is that definition. Far from rejecting the
world of print and our traditional notions of literacy, it
builds on and strengthens those concepts. A student who uses
the Internet to access information, for example, will
employ new technologies to locate information but will still
process print. As is the case with most web sites, however,
the student will encounter images as well as text. Words and
images will combine to create the message and its effect.
Media literacy strengthens this student by providing
communication skills for today and tomorrow. There is no
difficulty finding these skills specifically addressed in
various state curricula. In Oklahoma, for example, students
access, organize, and use information with computers. Idaho
expects students to communicate effectively in reading,
speaking, writing, listening, and viewing. As such, these students
learn to participate in the process of democracy by
accessing information that they are then capable of
critically analyzing and evaluating. Further, they have the
skills to verify and validate the information because they
can access alternative points of view and perspectives from
a range of sources. Today no single text, teacher, or
website can be relied upon as the dominant source of
information or authority on any given subject. But media literacy is
about more than accessing or analyzing information from
other sources. Just as traditional literacy requires the
ability to both read and write, comprehend and create, media
literacy also has a production/communication component. At
the most basic level, students would experience working with
computers, developing skills with word processing as they
engage in researching and writing term papers or in creative
writing. TAs we have already
noted, computers consist of images as well as words.
Students need to be taught graphic design skills so they can
access, store, create, and display images, graphs, charts,
maps, animation, clip-art, photographs, and other visual
materials. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop are two
examples of software that provide this experience. Students
can also work with video cameras, digital cameras, and other
technologies as they develop new ways of both seeing and
saying. Students who have skills
in these areas will not only do well in school, where they
are likely to be both motivated and productive, they will
also find themselves increasingly sought after by employers
as they enter the workplace prepared with advanced
techniques. This fact was recognized earlier in the decade
when then secretary of labor Lyn Martin received the SCANS
report (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
1991). The document pinpointed the skills that the
commission believed U.S. workers would need as they enter
the 21st century. Among these are the ability to evaluate,
process, and use information that closely approximates the
informal definition of media literacy, and an awareness of
how information technology affects society. While media literacy can
be taught without a production component, those who actively
engage students in production suggest that theoretical
concepts, aesthetics, camera angles, audience analysis, and
other subject matter come to life and become more meaningful
when students are given the opportunity to create. The
result is that students are not only more connected to
course content, but they are also becoming prepared for
workplace skills, not the least of which is the ability to
work cooperatively with others, one of the most consistent
goals of any production process. "Preparation" also means
preparation for responsible and informed involvement in a
democracy, certainly relevant in all civics and social
studies classes. In Oklahoma this is evident as students
interpret and analyze political cartoons, while Georgia
requires students to evaluate the impact of mass media on
public opinion.
Continued in
next column.