“We are immersed from cradle to grave in a media and consumer society and thus it is important to learn how to understand, interpret, and criticize its meanings and messages”
I think this quote says it perfect. Media is a part of our everyday lives, it affects how we live. Technology is developing at an exceptional speed, and we are introducing it to our children at younger and younger ages. Many of our students are learning their ABCs, how to read and how to write through the use of technology instructional aids. Each generation is more technologically advanced than the previous generation. The use of technology is a way of life, without the knowledge of how to use it, it is nearly impossible to accurately function in society.
“Developing a critical understanding of how texts position individual students must always extend to helping them understand how others might read texts, construct and/or resist textual meanings” (33).
This is such an important quote! Each person can read into media and hidden ideologies differently. Students must be able to analyze media and understand the different meanings and interpretations that others might get from the production. Many of our students are unaware of messages that can be represented in multimedia whether they are intentional or unintentional. This is a major concern about cyber bullying; students might make a post that they believe is harmless and funny; however the targeted student might feel differently about the post. This can even be associated with post about race or other cultural references – they might see their intentions as harmless – however others might be highly offended. It is important for students to understand this possibility so they don’t get involved in a situation that can escalate and become sever.
In many ways, the recent focus on standardized testing, teaching to tests, and widespread use of uniform curricula leave little room for cross disciplinary approaches to media education. In addition, the history of media education in the US has traditionally been under-funded and ignored by policy makers and educators alike (Goodman 2003).
I agree with this quote when we are considering the use of technology availability in our core and required classes; however I disagree with the overall statement. Our schools are offering opportunities for students to explore areas of media education. I teach Web Design, Desktop Publishing, and Digital Imaging which focus on media, its development, and its use in real life situations and business. These courses are offered in our school systems; however they are not required for our students to take, they are rather a career cluster. Our education system is teaching the cohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifurses that are necessary for the media education; however it becomes the students responsibility to be placed in these classes, unless they are “stuck” in the class by chance. Our schools do lack in the funding of technology; however I believe that is an area that is being addressed and improved as much as possible.
When concerning the differences between Media Literacy and Critical Literacy one of the major differences is that critical media literacy focuses on schooling and curriculum to support “instructional reasoning”. Critical Media Literacy emphasize the importance of media production in aid with education to develop skills necessary for surviving in society.
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