Renee HobbsProfessor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabUniversity of Rhode Island USATwitter: @reneehobbs

Media Literacy in Evolution

What is Life? University of Oregon at PortlandMedia Literacies RoundtableApril 8, 2017

PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING

My Argument

Media literacy evolves in response to changes in media, technology, education, and the cultural environment.

Mapping media literacy practices enables reflection on what is gained and what is lost as new paradigms displace older ones.

Historical research helps us understand how media literacy adapts to the ever-changing context of cultural ecosystems in historical context.

Educators and scholars should retrieve some older concepts as they reinvent the theory and practice of media literacy in relation to the needs of learners in contemporary society.

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What is media literacy? Q

RhetoricPrint Literacy

Visual LiteracyInformation Literacy

Media LiteracyComputer Literacy

Critical LiteracyNews LiteracyDigital Literacy

Literacy in Historical Context

#chariholearns @reneehobbs

Literacy is the sharing of meaning through symbols

Media literacy is responsive to people’s lived

experience with digital media, mass media &

popular culture

Representation

Media Effects

Interpretation

Semiotics

Political Economy

Key Key Concepts and Core Principles of Media Literacy, NAMLE

Digital Literacy

SKILLS & ABILITIES➢ Computer Use➢ Digital Skills➢ Participatory Culture

LITERACY➢ Multimodality & New Literacies➢ Media Production & Composition➢ Coding & Programming

TEACHING WITH➢ Technology Integration➢ Digital Media and Learning ➢ Connected Learning

TEACHING ABOUT➢ Information Literacy➢ Media Literacy➢ Internet Safety & Digital Citizenship

an expanding array of concepts, terms and approaches

How has media literacy changed over time? Q

1930s. How to Recognize and Resist Propaganda

1950s. The Rise of Film Studies

1960s. How to Critically Analyze Advertising

1970s. Understanding Media Industries and Media Effects

1980s. Focus on Cultural Context and Processes of Interpretation

1990s. The Rise of Youth Media

2000s. Participatory Culture

2010s. Understanding Social Media

Mapping Media Literacy History

Mapping Media Literacy HistoryAs a network of relationships between people and ideas

PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARINGIntellectual Grandparents

DEWEY. Communication & education are linked together to enable democratic societies

BRUNER. Asking questions is key to the development of critical thinking skills

FREIRE. Awareness, analysis creation & reflection enable people to take action against injustice

McLUHAN. Media & technology are immersive cultural environments that restructure human perception and values

HALL. Audiences are active. Meaning-making is shaped by lived experience & cultural context

LOVE HATE

PRINT VISUAL SOUND DIGITAL

EMPOWERMENT – PROTECTION PARADIGMPeople have a love-hate relationship with

media, technology and popular culture

Mapping

Stakeholders in Digital and Media Literacy

MEDIA

ACTIVIST

GOVERN

MEN

TLIBRARY

EDUCATIO

NRELIGIO

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What evolutionary patterns are noticeable when we look at media literacy over time?

Q

Should the media industry help to advance media literacy education?

History of Media Industry Involvement in Media Literacy

• Understanding New Media (NAEB, 1960)• Television Information Office (NAB, 1962)• Visual Learning (Kodak, 1969)• Creating Critical Viewers (ABC, 1991)• Know TV (Learning Channel, 1994)• Assignment: Media Literacy (Discovery Channel, 1998)• Taking Charge of Your TV (NCTA, 2001)• Messages & Meanings (NAA Foundation, 2001)• Media Smart UK (British Advertisers, 2002)• Adobe Youth Voices (Adobe, 2006)• Google Digital Literacy & Citizenship (Google, 2011)

Hobbs, R. (2016). Literacy: Understanding media and how they work. In R. G. Picard (Ed.), What Society Needs from Media in the Age of Digital Communication (pp. 131 – 160). Porto: Media XXI.

2012Google Digital Literacy &

Citizenship

1962 Television in

Today’s Society

50 YEARS

13 scripts / lecture notes Worksheets / quizzes / slides / reading

list / recommendations for supplemental 16mm films

Pedagogy: Presentation by local experts; Q & A session; supplemental readings and films

Multiple points of view from both inside and outside the industry

Much background information about how television works, including reflection on the unintended consequences of advertising-supported economic model

Acknowledges the pleasure people experience with television as a leisure activity

Little emphasis on the impact of television on family life, social relationship or citizenship

3 videos / lesson plans Target audience: Grades 6 – 8 (ages 11

– 13) Pedagogy: presentation by teacher;

view and discuss videos; “what if” scenario activities

Goals: Increase knowledge of tools offered by Google/YouTube to detect inaccuracies and protect oneself from inappropriate content

Little background information about how the Internet works

Tone conveys sense of urgency to follow the “do’s and don’ts”

Positions multiple points of view available online as a “problem” that needs to be solved

Pedagogy: lecture/activity plus discussionNo focus on critical analysis | No media production

EMPOWERMENT PROTECTION

Which concepts from the past should be recovered?

Q

DE-MYSTIFICATION

How does Amazon know how to make such good

recommendations for me?

How does Google autocomplete work?

Why is my browser history so valuable?

Why does my Facebook look so different from

yours?

DECONSTRUCTING THROUGH CRITICAL ANALYSIS

PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING

My Argument

Media literacy evolves in response to changes in media, technology, education, and the cultural environment.

Mapping media literacy practices enables important reflection on what is gained and what is lost as new paradigms displace older ones.

Historical research helps us understand how media literacy adapts to the ever-changing context of cultural ecosystems in historical context.

Educators and scholars should retrieve the concepts of de-mystification and de-construction as they reinvent the theory and practice of media literacy in relation to the needs of learners in contemporary society.

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Renee HobbsProfessor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabUniversity of Rhode Island USATwitter: @reneehobbs

Media Literacy in Evolution

What is Life? University of Oregon at PortlandMedia Literacies RoundtableApril 8, 2017