Contemporary media literacy competences

Contemporary media literacy competences

Pierre FastrezGReMS Groupe de Recherche en Médiation des Savoirs

RECOM Centre de Recherche en Communication

IL&C Institut Langage & Communication

UCL Université catholique de Louvain (Belgique)

Outline

• Media literacy today– An attempt at mapping the competences

• Domains of competence• Dimensions of literacy• Not media types

– To define is to choose

• What media literacy competences support active citizenship?

Pierre Fastrez – CSEM EU Conference 2Dec. 12th, 2010 – Brussels

Domains of competences

Pierre Fastrez – CSEM EU Conference Dec. 12th, 2010 – Brussels 3

Reading

Writing

Navigating

Organizing

Reading the media• Decode, understand and evaluate media documents

• E. g.: Comparing two media documents regarding – what they refer to, – the representations / languages they use, – their shape / format, – their technical context of production, – their institutional context of production, – their intentions, – their intended audience,– their effects, – their utility…


Writing media

• Create and diffuse one’s own media productions– using the appropriate languages and technologies, – and getting the relevant qualified people involved• Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge

and compare notes with others toward a common goal (Jenkins 2006)

• Adapt a media document for its usage by another audience


Navigating (with) the media

Competences strongly required in a context of over-abundance of information, technologies and opportunities for contact

Searching:•Already covered by schools in a specific context: information retrieval to document a subject matter•An old theme of media education: assessing the credibility and reliability of information sources (especially for the news media)

– A deficit of critical thinking competences, beyond the technical competences (Hargittai 2002)

– An aspect of this competence gaining importance: uncertainty management•Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources (Jenkins 2006)•Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information (Jenkins 2006)


Navigating (with) the media


Exploring:• Active and critical exploration of media landscapes, opening the

individual to diversified forms of expression– Opening (availability, curiosity) and shutting oneself (selective

attention)• An essential competence in a context where one is constantly

brought back to “what was design for them” and “what their peers already like” :– Technological integration of digital and audiovisual media (e.g.

GoogleTV)– Growing number of “niche” media and on-demand consumption– Media uses of the youth defined by their interaction between peers– Technologies of content recommendation based on collaborative

filtering (“people who bought this also bought…”)

Organizing the mediaThe ability to conceptually structure and use the relevant technical tools to organize…

•Media documents (available, accumulated, produced, shared…)– Structure to re-find: categorize, sort, annotate, tag– Keep, manage access, synchronize

•Mediatized relationships– … as a receiver:

• to situate oneself with respect to different ways of “reading” a media document

– … as an interactant• Contextual identity management• Negotiated access (Hollan & Stornetta 2000) to one’s time, representations of

self, media productions


Media literacy dimensions


Informational competences• Reference

– What do the media say, show, refer to?• Semiotics

– How do they signify? How do they function as representational system?• Form

– What are there formal properties?

• A growing variety of expression forms to read, write, navigate and organize

• Competences stimulated by the new media:– Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-

world processes (Jenkins 2006)– Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content

(Jenkins 2006)


Technical competences

• The core of digital literacy

• Using and understanding– Procedures learned from peers, tips and tricks– Understanding and ability to explain the function,

the functioning, the stakes, the alternatives…


Social competences• Media practices of the youth from a social standpoint:

– Mostly: continuous contact between close peers (« friendship-driven practices », Ito et al. 2008)

– For some: the new media as a venue for the development of an expertise on a given topic (« interest-driven networks », Ito et al. 2008)• Opportunities to diffuse their productions towards online audiences, and to develop

their visibility and their reputation• Supports the development of self-directed learning and peer learning skills• “Adult-like” forms of sociability, different from those experienced in their off-line life• Adults seen as experimented peers (not as authorities)

• Competences supported by the new media:– Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting

multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms (Jenkins 2006)– Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and

discovery (Jenkins 2006)


Social competences

• Challenges for media education:– Bring the youth to diversify their mediatized social

conducts• From friendship-driven practices to interest-driven networks

– Stimulate “meta” competences (learning to learn) and autonomy (self-directed learning) in a world where new media formats emerge every month


Mapping the competences…

Informational Technical Social

Reading

Writing

Navigating

Organizing


ME ME ME

ME ME ME

ME

ME

ME

ME

ME

ME

Competences for active citizenship• Who is the media-literate active citizen?

– As a receiver (traditional media model): an autonomous thinker, who actively looks for, confronts and synthesizes multiple perspectives on information delivered by the media, develops critical opinions and attitudes, and exerts their citizen rights accordingly

– As an interactant (new media model): an individual committed to diversified forms of responsible social engagement through interactive media• Hobbs 2010:“Reflect on one’s own conduct and communication behavior by applying

social responsibility and ethical principles” “Take social action by working individually and collaboratively to share

knowledge and solve problems in the family, workplace and community, and by participating as a member of a community”


Competences for active citizenship

• An autonomous thinker– Reading [informational and social reading]

• Evaluate the media’s intentions, target audiences, context of production…

• Put different reception postures into perspective– Searching: judgment (reliability and credibility

assessment) [informational and social navigation]

– Exploring: curiosity and selective attention (being open to multiple perspectives) [informational and social navigation]



• A committed participant– Collective intelligence: coordination and collaboration

[social writing]– Networking: find and diffuse information

[informational and social navigation]– Negotiation: navigate through diverse social spaces

and appropriate local norms and modes of interaction [social navigation and organization]

– Organization of mediatized relationships [social organization]



• Technical skills?– Know-hows: a prerequisite for access– Critical understanding of technical stakes and

options: choosing media technology responsibly [socio-technical navigation]• e.g. for sustainable development, to support the local

economy…


Mapping the competences…

Informational Technical Social

Reading

Writing

Navigating

Organizing


ME ME ME

ME ME ME

ME

ME

ME

AC AC AC

AC AC AC

AC

AC

AC

ME AC

ME AC

ME AC

AC AC AC

AC AC AC

AC

AC

AC

AC

AC

AC

Thank you for your attention

Pierre [email protected]

References

• Hargittai, E. (2002). Second-level digital divide: Differences in People's Online Skills. First Monday, 7(4). Available at http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/942/864

• Hobbs, R. (2010). Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action. Communications and Society Program (p. 67). Washington D.C., U.S.A.: The Aspen Institute. Available at http://www.knightcomm.org/digital-and-media-literacy-a-plan-of-action/

• Ito, M., Horst, H. A., Bittanti, M., boyd, D., Herr-Stephenson, B., Lange, P. G., Pascoe, C., et al. (2008). Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. MacArthur Foundation. Available at http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-TwoPageSummary.pdf

• Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Clinton, K., Weigel, M., & Robison, A. J. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (White paper). The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Available at http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF


Contemporary media literacy competences

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