MODULE 7: MEDIA LITERACY

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

a. define media literacy;

b. Cite the important roles of media literacy;

c. Explain Media Information Literacy (MIL) along with various aspects and dimensions;

d. appraise the advantages and disadvantages of integrating media in the curriculum;

e.

Lesson Outline

Media Literacy

1. Lynch (2018) coined the term "media" that refers to all electronic or digital means
and print or artistic visuals used to transmit messages through reading (print media),
seeing (visual media), hearing (audio media), or changing and playing with interactive
media), or some combinations of each.

Lynch (2018) defines "media" as all electronic, digital, print, and artistic visuals used to
transmit messages through reading, seeing, hearing, or interacting.

2. Media can be a component of active learning strategies, such as group discussions

or case studies (Mateer and Ghent, n.d.).

3. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media
(Firestone, 1993). Media literacy skills are included in the educational standards in
language arts, social studies, health, science, and other subjects. Many educators have
discovered that media literacy is an effective and engaging way to apply critical thinking
skills to a wide range of issues. (http:// medialiteracyproject.org)

4. The Ontario Ministry of Education (1989) stressed that media literacy means
helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of mass
media, the techniques used and their impact.

5. Media literacy therefore, is the ability to identify different types of media from wide
array of sources and understand the messages they bring (Hobbs, 1997).
Media Literacy Concepts

1. It is the ability to critically assess the accuracy and validity of information transmitted
by the mass media and produce information through various forms.

2. Also known as Media Education, it is the ability to realize that all kinds of media show
a representation of reality.

3. It is the process of accessing, decoding, evaluating, analyzing and creating both print
and electronic media (Aufderheide, 1993).

4. It depicts experience of reading texts and designing hypertexts made possible

through technology (Hobbs, 2007).

5. It pertains to understanding how to use today's technology, how to operate

equipment, use various softwares and explore the Internet.

6. As a 21st Century approach to education, media literacy builds understanding of the

role of media in society, as well as the essential skills of inquiry and self-expression
necessary for democratic citizens.

7. It represents response to the complexity of the ever-changing electronic environment

and communication channels.

8. Critical evaluation of media requires the ability to analyze and disseminate various
features to others.

9. It is about teaching critical media management strategies, including ICTs in schools

and learning centers.

10. It includes the ability to perform effective Internet searches, awareness and respect
of intellectual property and copyright law and the ability to identify truth from fake news.
(https://www.igi-global. com/dictionary/media-literacy/18156)

Roles of Media Literacy

1. Learn to think critically.

2. Become a smart consumer of products and information.

3. Recognize point of view.

4. Create media responsibly.

5. Identify the role of media in our culture.

6. Understand the author's goal.

Social Media

Social media is a term that describes websites to connect people and involve user-
generated content, which is the hallmark of a social media site. It is sometimes called
Web 2.0, which is currently a huge opportunity to reach target audience and increase
online sales (Go, 2019).

Types of Social Media Websites

1. Social Media News Websites. It entails users to submit links to Web content like
articles, podcasts, videos, etc. that they find interesting, such as Digg, Reddit and
Stumble Upon.

2. Social Media Networking Websites. It depicts ability to upload a personal profile

that usually connects with other people, such as LinkedIn (social networking for
professionals) and facebook (social networking for everyone).

3. Social Media Photo and Video Sharing. It allows users to up- load photos through
faceboook, Instagram and Pinterest while videos through YouTube.

4. Microblogging and Blogging Websites. Sometimes called "presence apps", these

services let users post very short mes- sages like blogging, and easily keep up with
what their friends are posting.

5. Social Media Review Websites. It shows how social reviews can make or break a
company or an organization, such as Amazon and eBay.

Media and Information Literacy (MIL)

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is a combination of knowledge, attitudes, skills,

and practices required to access, analyze, evaluate, use, produce, and communicate
information and knowledge in creative, legal and ethical ways that respect human rights
(Moscow Declaration on Media and Information Literacy, 2012).

Aspects of MIL

 According to Reineck and Lublinski (2015), MIL is the optimal outcome of media,
information and communication technology (ICT) education along three aspects:
o technical skills,
o critical attitudes and
o facts about media and ICT.
UNESCO's (2011) MIL curriculum delves on "accessing information effectively and
efficiently" as an aspect put into practice.
 Baacke (1996) included compositional skills in his media competence model that
involves creating new kinds of media content, encouraging self-determination, and
increasing individuals' chances for participation.
 Moeller (2009) summarized the facets of MIL from the user perspective,
emphasizing media consumers in identifying news and understanding media's role in
reshaping the global issues.
 Norbert Groeben (2002) pointed out the importance of knowledge of the inner
workings (contexts, routines, contents) and the effects of media. Fostering certain
attitudes toward media and other information sources involves both being critical on
the negative impact of media and defending it against sources of influence.

Seven Dimensions of MIL

Shapiro and Hughes (1996) identified the seven dimensions of media information
literacy:

1. Tool Literacy. This is the ability to understand and use practical and conceptual tools
of current information technology, including software, hardware and multimedia that are
relevant to education and the areas of work and professional life.

2. Resource Literacy. This is the ability to understand the form, format, location and
access methods of information resources.

3. Social-Structural Literacy. This is knowing how information is socially situated and

produced, fits into the life of groups about the institutions and social networks.

4. Research Literacy. It is the ability to understand and use IT- based tools relevant to
the work of researchers and scholars that include computer software for quantitative
analysis, qualitative analysis and simulation.

5. Publishing Literacy. It is the ability to format and publish research and ideas
electronically, in textual and multimedia forms.

6. Emerging Technology Literacy. It is the ability to adapt to, understand, evaluate

and use emerging innovations in information technology.

7. Critical Literacy. It is the ability to evaluate critically the intellectual, human and
social strengths and weaknesses, potentials and limits, benefits and costs of information
technologies.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Media

Advantages of Media
1. Media educate people on health matters, environmental conservation and others
through various forms.

2. People get the latest world news in a very short time regardless of distance.

3. People can bring out their hidden talents in the multimedia and visual arts, comedy,
acting, dancing and singing.

4. Media increase knowledge learned from quiz programs, educational shows and other
information-giving programs.

5. People feel convenient in accessing information through mobile phones.

6. They become a vehicle in promoting products toward increased sales.

7. They serve as a good source of entertainment.

8. Television allows electronic duplication of information that reduces mass education

costing.

9. Media lead to the diffusion of diverse cultures and cultural practices.

10. They help people around the world understand each other and respect differences.

Disadvantages of Media

1. They lead to individualism. Spending too much time on the Internet and watching
television usually impedes socialization with friends, family and others.

2. Some media contents are not suitable for children.

3. A newspaper is geographically selective.

4. The increase in advertisements in television and radio makes them less attractive.

5. The internet can be a possible way for scams, fraud and hacking.

6. Media can be addictive that may result in people's decreased productivity

7. They can cause health hazards, such as radiation effects, poor eyesight, hearing
defects, and others.

8. They may induce drugs and alcohol use.

9. They can lead to personal injury by imitating the stunts showcased in media.
10. They can ruin reputation through an anonymous account, malicious scandals, false
accusations and rumors. (https://www.importantindia.com/22940/media-advantages-
disadvantages)

Integrating Media Literacy in the Curriculum

Lynch (2018) presents six ways to integrate media literacy into the classroom for
students to become media literate while making media education a meaningful and
integrated part of classroom practice.

1. Teach students to evaluate media.

2. Show students where to find digital resources and databases.

3. Compare/contrast various media sources

4. Discuss how the media edits and alters.

5. Examine the "truth" in advertisements

6. Have students create media.

Media skills. Although this is given little emphasis in the classroom, Hobbs and Frost
(1994) present the skills that students are able to possess with the media they use in
class.

To wit:

(1) reflect on and analyze their own media consumption habits;

(2) identify the author, purpose and point of view in films, commercials, television and
radio programs, magazine and newspaper editorials and advertising;

(3) identify the range of production techniques that are used to communicate opinions
and shape audience's response;

(4) identify and evaluate the quality of media's representation of the world by examining
patterns, stereotyping, emphasis and omission in print and television news and other
media;

(5) appreciate the economic underpinnings of mass media industries to make

distinctions between those media which sell audiences to advertisers and those which
do not;
(6) understand how media economics shapes message content;

(7) gain familiarity and experience in using mass media tools for personal expression
and communication and for purposes of social and political advocacy.

Approaches to teaching media literacy

Kellner and Share (2007) mentioned three approaches to teaching media literacy that
would utilize media in pedagogical practice.

1. Media Arts Education Approach. It intends to teach students to value the aesthetic
qualities of media and the arts while us- ing their creativity for self-expression through
creating art and media.

2. Media Literacy Movement Approach. It attempts to expand the notion of literacy to

include popular culture and multiple forms of media (music, video, Internet, advertising,
etc.) while still working within a print literacy tradition.

3. Critical Media Literacy Approach. It focuses on ideology critiquing and analyzing

the politics of representation of crucial dimensions of gender, race, class, and sexuality;
incorporating alternative media production; and expanding the textual analysis to
include issues of social context, control, resistance, and pleasure.

Utilizing Media across discipline

Media education can be integrated in every course discipline. The following are
examples of using media in different subject areas using PPPP (Purpose, Process,
Performance, and Product)
Assessing and evaluating media literacy work.

Canada's Center for Digital and Media Literacy prescribed two important steps in
creating objectives, comprehensive and meaningful assessment and evaluation tools for
media literacy work, namely:

(1) by using a rubric to assess the work of students; and

(2) by framing the expectations within the rubric in terms of key concepts of media
literacy.

In general, media literacy work can be evaluated in three ways:

1. Based on how well the student understands the key concepts of media literacy and
the specific concepts and ideas being explored in the lesson.

2. Based on the depth and quality of the student's inquiry and analysis of the questions
raised in the lesson, as well as his/her thoughtfulness in identifying issues and
questions to examine.

3. Based on how well the student applies specific technical skills associated with either
the medium being studied (movies, TV, video games, etc.), the medium used in the
evaluation tool, or both (http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media- literacy).

Media educators base their teaching on key concepts for media literacy, which provide
an effective foundation for examining mass media and popular culture. These key
concepts act as filters that any media text has to go through in order to critically
respond.

1. Media are constructions. Media products are created by individuals who make
conscious and unconscious choices about what to include and how to present it. It can
assess students' understanding of how media product was created and the analysis of
creators' beliefs or assumptions reflected in the content.

2. The audience negotiates meaning. The meaning of any media product is a

collaboration between the producers and the audience. It can assess students'
understanding of concepts and the elements in a relevant medium or product

3. Media have commercial implications. Since most media production is a business,

it makes profits and it belongs to a powerful network of corporations that exert influence
on content and distribution. It can assess students' knowledge and understanding of the
commercial factors influencing the creation of media product and analysis of how media
product is influenced by commercial factors or the owner.
4. Media have social and political implications. Media convey ideological messages
about values, power and authority and they can have a significant influence on what
people think and believe. It can assess students' knowledge and understanding of how
this medium communicates ideas and values.

5. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form. The content of media depends in part
on the nature of the medium that includes technical, commercial and storytelling
demands. It can assess students' knowledge and understanding of the technical
elements of the medium and the tropes, clichés, codes and conventions of the medium
and genre (http:// mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy).

Need to do list

Objectives

Videos and pictures

Summary