Module 7 EDU 790: Media Literacy

Crap detection, one of the fundamental aspects of digital literacy under critical consumption according to Howard Reingold is the one I think is most important. 

All five are essential:
- Attention
- Participation
- Collaboration
- Network Awareness
-Critical Consumption

However, most of them directly impact the student, however the critical consumption skill can have much more far reaching consequences. As a social science teacher, I cannot emphasize enough this important skill both in print and digitally. We do so much source analysis with our students to try and help them understand how to think critically about both primary and secondary sources, including the OPCVL strategy below.

Image Source

Without the skill to detect the crap, or the fake news that is espoused daily, the very fabric of our democracy is being eroded from both outside and inside our nation. That was clearly evident in the 2016 and 2020 elections. So many users of social media cannot tell what is real and what is fake. I have a rule for myself that I will not "like" or "share" an article unless I have read it and confirmed with at least one other source. So many of my relatives share so many things that are untrue or displays a strong bias. It's hard to try and point that out without getting into a back and forth on social media. I hope to help my students with this before they graduate. 

Image Source

With the increase in media consumption, especially by young people, learning about gender stereotypes, misrepresentations, and stereotypes (with systemic racism needing to be highlighted) is crucial. As a comparison, I wasn't allowed to have a television in my room. For many years, we did not have a television in our home. We had one that played DVDs to rent movies from the library. My mom was not into television because she was more of a reader, and when my parents separated, my dad took the television with him. 

It's also incredible to learn more about the algorithms that social media companies use to maximize advertising products. Last week I finally watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix which highlights the ethical considerations technology companies need to start taking into consideration about how they control the messaging and how addictive these platforms have become. I am planning on showing it in class, and I created reflection questions for students if you'd like to use them, make a copy. I do think in the case of social media the medium is more important than the message because of how much these technology companies control the medium, much more so than a book or a magazine does. Even when you see a post in your timeline or when they deploy certain ads is highly manipulative and takes advantage of behavioral psychology, but is this even ethical? So many questions for good discussion with students. 

Image Source