What are the skills needed to participate in our global society? The National Education Association believes they are collaboration, communication, critical thinking & problem solving, and creativity & innovation. Let's take a look at how these "Four Cs" can go hand in hand with media literacy education in the K-12 classroom.
Media Literacy and Collaboration:
When it comes to working with others, students need to know firstly, how to give credit to those they may be working with. When a student creates a project, they are ultimately using ideas from various authors, educators, etc. In this way, they are collaborating with those works. Students must learn how to properly give credit to the sources they have used in their own works. I know in my college days, collaborating on a project meant that everyone took a piece and someone stitched it all together, without really verifying how each person came across their information. The true spirit of collaboration would have students working together to assess the various sources used in a project, and teaching each other how to identify proper resources. Students should be working together in this respect, and it should not always be up to the teacher to tell the students if their sources are valid.
Media Literacy and Communication:
The internet has created all sorts of new ways for people to communicate. There are many different ways to email, instant message, voice chat, video chat, and so forth. It is important that students understand these different types of communications, and how to know if a communication is legitimate. Students need to be able to differentiate between an email from a family member, and an email from the Prince of Nigeria who needs some money before he can then repay you handsomely. Our students need to be taught not to click on the banner that says they have won an iPad, and not to respond to a message from a stranger asking them where they go to school. Lastly, students need to learn that the information that they send out on the internet is not private. Communication via the internet is never one hundred percent protected, and therefore, students should not give out private information.
Media Literacy and Critical Thinking & Problem Solving:
One of the ultimate goals of media literacy is not only being able to evaluate and assess sources found online, but thinking critically about the many media messages that bombard students on a daily basis. Learning how to dig out biases, see through false advertising, and think critically about these advertisements are skills that are essential to students in the 21st century. For example, we all know by now that photo altering software is used heavily in the magazine world, yet we still strive for the perfection we see on magazine covers. If more students had the skills to really think about the messages portrayed on those covers, would as many people still strive for such fake perfection? Media literacy is built upon the skills of critical thinking and problem solving.
One great outcome of teaching Media Literacy, in my opinion, is having the skills to create your own media. This not only requires technical know how, but both creativity and innovation skills. Students should be given the opportunity to both assess and create media. By learning how to create their own media, be it a video, slide presentation, picture collage, or music, students are allowing their own creativity to be woven into these media literacy skills.
Sources:
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf
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