Topic 3 Media Literacy
Media literacy is the ability to access the media, to understand and to critically evaluate different aspects of the media and media contents and to create communications in a variety of contexts.’ (EC Media Literacy Portal, no date)
Media Literacy is also considered a 21st century learning approach which enables learners to:
Media Literacy is particularly relevant for the Net Generation, who have grown up surrounded by the Internet, and more recently, digital and social media.
Research emphasizes the need for having innovative classrooms which are embedded in and surrounded by increasingly mobile and digital information and communication technology (ICT), to foster modernized, inclusive learning practices which are centred on innovative teaching, and creative learning: where students are able to develop their thinking abilities and practice new skills (Bocconi, Kampylis, & Punie, 2012). These approaches to learning will allow this Net Generation of students to be critical and to interpret what is right and what is not, when they, for instance,engage in/with social networking platforms (Livingstone, 2014).
Len Masterman points to media saturation as one of the main reasons. “We are exposed to more mass media messages in one day than our grandparents were in a month”.