DURATION: 2 hours
KEY TOPICS
- How media communicate meaning
- The issue of representation: how media and other information providers present information, people, cultures, images, places, etc.
- The role of users, citizens and audiences
- Engaging with media through production of user-generated content
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this unit, teachers will be able to:
- understand and describe the key concepts that are used by media and other information providers
- understand how knowledge of these concepts will help users/citizens to critically interact with media and other information providers
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES
A key part of media literacy is understanding how the media construct different types of stories, how they shape information in presenting it, and what techniques they use to organize material that otherwise would be chaotic and difficult to understand. It is important to have a basic understanding of the different techniques employed by the media, the ‘codes’ they use and how to interpret them. It may also be relevant to consider who is producing and arranging the material and how active or interactive the consumers of media and information are – whether their own perceptions impact upon the way information is presented.
In relation to MIL, the following key areas should be examined closely in order to understand how media and other information providers operate, how they convey meaning, how they can be used, and how the information being presented can be evaluated. The following areas also underpin later modules in this MIL curriculum document: