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What is Media Literacy?
Media Literacy is normally defined as: 'the ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms'. However, the Center for Media Literacy have expanded the definition to make it as relevant as possible to learners in the 21st century: Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy. [here]
Media Literacy is therefore a term that describes the ability of an individual to understand and deconstruct the various forms of media which they are constantly exposed to. It also describes the ability of an individual to understand how such forms of media are created, and the ability of the individual to create these media forms. Why is it important? The concept of 'literacy' and its fundemental importance in all education systems is well understood. From the first invention of language 'literacy' has meant the ability to interpret lines drawn on any surface as forming letters, the letters group together to form words, and words convey meaning. Teaching the young to understand letters and words in order to both receive and deliver messages (written or orally) and develop and express ever more complex ideas became the goal of education as it evolved over the centuries. Media Literacy takes the basic concept of 'literacy' and expands it to consider the new forms of communication that young people are exposed to from birth: the multi-media culture. Media Literacy is an acknowledgment that complex ideas are no longer solely transmitted through the traditional construct of language via print or oral communication . Instead, complex ideas can be transmitted through sound, still or moving images and by using a combination of all three. In order to understand these messages young people need to be aware of how carefully these messages are constructed, and that: Although mediated messages appear to be self-evident, in truth, they use a complex audio/visual “language” which has its own rules (grammar) and which can be used to express many-layered concepts and ideas about the world. Not everything may be obvious at first; and images go by so fast! [here]
In order for young people to consume multi-media messages in an informed way they must be able to 'read' and 'write' the language of images, sound and moving-images just as we teach them to understand the language of printed communications. We live in a world where the media is not just responsible for the dissemination of culture; it is culture. It is therefore vitally important that people do not consume media messages passively, but have the skills to actively question the messages that they are exposed to. Media Literacy is an important skill needed to become an informed member of society and involved in the political processes that create a healthy democracy: At its core are the basic higher-order critical and creative thinking skills—e.g. knowing how to identify key concepts, how to make connections between multiple ideas, how to ask pertinent questions, formulate a response, identify fallacies—that form the very foundation of both intellectual freedom and the exercising of full citizenship in a democratic society. [here]
Media Literacy is essentially the skills set that allows any individual to effectively question the cultures and ideologies that surrounds them. It is the ability for individuals to make informed choices, based on a fundemental understanding of the issues surrounding the choice, rather than the acceptance of a choice received through a constructed media message.
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