Media & Information Literacy For Teachers

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  • Home
  • Introduction
  • Modules
    • Module 1 : Citizenship, Freedom of Expression and Information, Access to Information, Democratic Discourse and Life-long Learning
      • Unit 1: Understanding Media and Information Literacy – An Orientation
      • Unit 2: MIL and Civic Participation
      • Unit 3: Interactive with Media and Other Information Providers such as Libraries, Archives and the Internet
      • Unit 4: MIL, Teaching and Learning
    • Module 2: Understanding the News, Media, and Information Ethics
      • Unit 1: Journalism and Society
      • Unit 2: Freedom, Ethics and Accountability
      • Unit 3: What Makes News – Exploring the Criteria
      • Unit 4: The News Development Process – Going Beyond the 5Ws and 1H
    • Module 3: Representation in Media and Information
      • Unit 1: News Reporting and the Power of the Image
      • Unit 2: Industry Codes on Diversity and Representation
      • Unit 3: Television, Films, Book Publishing
      • Unit 4: Representation and Music Videos
      • Unit 5: Digital Editing and Computer Retouching
    • Module 4: Languages in Media and Information
      • Unit 1: Reading Media and Information Texts
      • Unit 2: The Medium and the Message – Print and Broadcast News
      • Unit 3: Film Genres and Storytelling
      • Unit 4: Camera Shots and Angles – Conveying Meaning
    • Module 5: Advertising
      • Unit 1: Advertising, Revenue and Regulations
      • Unit 2: Public Service Announcements
      • Unit 3: Advertising – the Creative Process
      • Unit 4: Advertising and the Political Arena
      • Unit 5: Transnational Advertising and ‘Superbrands’
    • Module 6: New and Traditional Media
      • Unit 1: From Traditional Media to New Media Technologies
      • Unit 2: Uses of New Media Technologies in Society – Mass and Digital Communications
      • Unit 3: Use of Interactive Multimedia Tools, Including Digital Games in Classrooms
    • Module 7: Internet Opportunities and Challenges
      • Unit 1: Young People in the Virtual World
      • Unit 2: Challenges and Risks in the Virtual World
    • Module 8: Information Literacy and Library Skills
      • Unit 1: Concepts and Applications of Information Literacy
      • Unit 2: Learning Environments and Information Literacy
      • Unit 3: Digital Information Literacy
    • Module 9: Communication, MIL and Learning – a Capstone Module
      • Unit 1: Communication, Teaching and Learning
      • Unit 2: Learning Theories and MIL
      • Unit 3: Managing Change to Foster an Enabling Environment for MIL in Schools
    • Module 10: Audience
    • Module 11: Media, Technology and the Global Village
      • Unit 1: Media Ownership in Today’s Global Village
      • Unit 2: Socio-Cultural and Political Dimensions of Globalized Media
      • Unit 3: Commoditization of Information
      • Unit 4: The Rise of Alternative Media
    • Module 12: Freedom of Expression Toolkit
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Home / Modules / Module 1 : Citizenship, Freedom of Expression and Information, Access to Information, Democratic Discourse and Life-long Learning / Unit 3: Interactive with Media and Other Information Providers such as Libraries, Archives and the Internet

Module 1 : Citizenship, Freedom of Expression and Information, Access to Information, Democratic Discourse and Life-long Learning

Unit 3: Interactive with Media and Other Information Providers such as Libraries, Archives and the Internet

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:

LANGUAGES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

LANGUAGES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

  • How do producers of a media text use different techniques or ways of representing different kinds of information to communicate?
  • How are these uses identified and accepted by the general public?
  • What are the codes and conventions or the ‘key ingredients’ or grammar of a particular medium?
  • A media commentator, Marshall McLuhan, wrote that ‘the medium is the message’,4 meaning that the medium itself – print, broadcast, Internet – affects the way we understand the world. How does the choice of media influence the kind of information we receive? How does this shape the message conveyed through the media?
REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

  • Examine media images or representations
  • Analyze image or media text
  • Analyze the context
  • Who benefits from the acceptance of media representations and who loses?
  • How do these images influence the way we see ourselves and others?
  • How do they influence our knowledge and understanding of the world beyond our immediate experience?
  • How do they influence our view of gender equality, women’s empowerment, people living with disability, indigenous peoples and ethnic minority groups?
  • Examine to what extent the editorial independence is reflected in the media text
PRODUCTION/USER-GENERATED CONTENT

PRODUCTION/USER-GENERATED CONTENT

  • Notions of human agency are important here – who is creating the media and information text and why?
  • Connects to rights of communication and expression for the citizen and the professional
  • Connects to freedom of expression, active citizenship and media and information literacy
  • Resources (human, financial, technological, etc.) and regulations are considered here
AUDIENCE AS CITIZENS AND USERS/CONSUMERS

AUDIENCE AS CITIZENS AND USERS/CONSUMERS

  • Target and active audiences
  • Active citizens and users/consumers negotiate their own meanings based on what they bring to a text
  • Audiences have expectations of media industries based on transparency, accountability and fairness
  • Users/consumers have personal, economic, social and cultural needs for information
CITIZENS AS USERS/CONSUMERS OF INFORMATION PROVIDER SERVICES

CITIZENS AS USERS/CONSUMERS OF INFORMATION PROVIDER SERVICES

  • How information providers select information resources and major selection criteria
  • How information providers, such as libraries, subscribe or purchase information resources such as books, periodical and database
  • How information providers, including public and private Internet information providers, are funded
  • How information providers generate income from information services
KEY QUESTIONS

KEY QUESTIONS

  • What is the purpose of this media/information text?
  • How is this produced?
  • Who created it?
  • Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
  • What is the main message?
  • Who benefits and what do they gain?
  • What are my information needs?
  • How can I identify and define this need?
  • Does the information I need exist in the form I need it? If not what action can I take?
  • How to understand, organize and assess the information found?
  • How can I present this information in usable formats?
  • How can I preserve, store and reuse, record and archive information?
ACTIVITIES
  • Select a media and information text of your choice and apply the key questions listed above. What can you learn about media production and industries, the messages being conveyed, as well as the intended audience?
  • Think about a personal or economic activity that you would like to undertake. Write this down. Apply the key questions above starting with, ‘what are your information needs?’
  • Write down all the activities you do during a day, from the moment you wake up in the morning until you go back to bed at night. Analyze in small groups: do you need information to participate in these activities? Write down next to each activity the information you need. For example you need to know the temperature outside in order to get dressed; you need to know the traffic situation before you take the bus; you need to know about the economy in order to know if you are going to ask for a loan. Discuss: how important is information in your daily life? How many decisions would you have difficulty making without information?
  • Using the library or the Internet, research some of the top television or radio programmes, films or advertisements from the past year. What key topics from the list above were central to their success? Describe the ways in which one or more of the above topics are highlighted by this example(s)
  • Explain why journalists should have the right not to disclose the sources of their information, other than to their editors
  • Discuss ‘Journalism is a discipline of verification’
  • Unit 1: Understanding Media and Information Literacy – An Orientation
  • Unit 2: MIL and Civic Participation
  • Unit 3: Interactive with Media and Other Information Providers such as Libraries, Archives and the Internet
  • Unit 4: MIL, Teaching and Learning

Modules

  • Module 1 : Citizenship, Freedom of Expression and Information, Access to Information, Democratic Discourse and Life-long Learning
  • Module 2: Understanding the News, Media, and Information Ethics
  • Module 3: Representation in Media and Information
  • Module 4: Languages in Media and Information
  • Module 5: Advertising
  • Module 6: New and Traditional Media
  • Module 7: Internet Opportunities and Challenges
  • Module 8: Information Literacy and Library Skills
  • Module 10: Audience
  • Module 11: Media, Technology and the Global Village
  • Module 12: Freedom of Expression Toolkit

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