Digital Media Literacy

Media literacy of all kinds, but social media literacy especially is important to teach students starting at a young age. As a classroom teacher, I am teaching all types of literacy skills. My school is lucky enough to have a technology teacher that would teach media literacy, but if we did not, I would have to take on that role. It is important for students to have a strong media literacy understanding because they will be using all types of digital media their whole lives, personally, academically, and professionally. At my school we have a digital citizenship week where I bring some of these concepts to the classroom. I teach my students the difference between trusted sources and other platforms. I also teach them the difference between fact versus opinion and how to spot those in social media, videos, books, etc. Our technology teacher teaches these concepts throughout the year at different levels for the different grade levels she works with.

According to Renee Hobbs, there are 5 communication competencies for digital and media literacy. These 5 competencies are: access, analyze, create, reflect, and act. While I do think all competencies are important, I believe that analyze and reflect are the most essential for students to have a strong understanding of. Analyze is the process of thinking of what the purpose of the literacy message is. Students need to be able to understand the intent behind any form of media. This will not only make sure that they are being responsible consumers of that media, but it will also help them when creating their own media posts. They will have the knowledge of analyzing other media messages and can use that same critical thinking when composing their own to make sure that their message is getting across as intended. This also goes hand in hand with reflection. After they create their own media messages, students need to know how to reflect on those messages in order to understand the impact that their words, pictures, and links will have on others. These are both essential skills to have as good digital citizens. 

Similarly to Hobb’s ideas, Howard Rheingold wrote an article in 2010 that talked about 5 social media literacies: attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness, and critical consumption. While these literacies are still true today, there are constantly new social media platforms out there and these concepts need to be adapted to tailor to the different platforms. I believe that network awareness and critical consumption are the two most prevalent concepts these days. With so much “fake news” out there, students need to learn at a young age how to analyze what they are reading to decide if it is from a reputable source and is accurate information. With so many social media platforms giving a voice to anyone who wants one, people can easily post false information causing in the most serious cases true panic amongst the public.  

Image Source: Purdue University Northwest- Library Guides

I think the idea of network awareness does tie into Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message" idea, because it makes kids aware of where the message is coming from. While you cannot believe everything you read online, there are reputable sources that people can go to for information versus turning to social media which is not verified information. Students need to know the difference between using content for entertainment versus using content for knowledge or academics. This message from McLuhan is still prevalent today, possibly even more now that there are so many social media platforms that students of all ages have access to!