Media Literacy or Technological Competence?

During class on March 31, we watched a short video featuring six- and seven-year-olds demonstrating their “media literacy”. Children stated that they were “media literate” while demonstrating how to access the class blog, submit comments, and other computer and analog activities. While I applaud their knowledge and commend the teacher who is clearly making great efforts to expose her students to the technology that surrounds them, I question whether or not this video showcased media literacy or technological competence.

Per the discussion and activity that followed, I would argue that media literacy is a set of skills that goes far beyond simply being able to access blogs and make comments or distinguish a fiction book from a non-fiction book (with some faulty reasoning, I might add – just because the cover is a picture and the title is a “real thing” doesn’t mean the work is automatically non-fiction – those kids might find the adult fiction section of a library somewhat unnerving under those criteria!). While these children are clearly technologically competent, I am not altogether sure that they would be able to decipher the agendas behind the messages that different media outlets target at them.

The Media Literacy Project activity that we engaged in during class is one that tests the type of skills that are demanded of one who claims to be “media literate”. Media literacy requires critical thinking and evaluation of messages that are being sent via various forms of media – in written, audio, and visual form. While the children in the video might not have any trouble gaining access to the videos and images we discussed during class, I have my doubts about their ability to consistently interpret the messages that these items were conveying.

One example I immediately think of that would point to the fact that six- and seven-year-olds are NOT actually media literate is the way in which they are marketed to by food companies and toy manufacturers. These entities understand children can be manipulated into wanting to own or eat certain things if they see other kids (especially their friends) enjoying those things - Happy Meals are often as much about the prize in the box as the apple slices. Another example - the Webkins phenomenon - seems to be a combination of the early 90s appeal of Beanie Babies and the type of technological competencies that the kids in the video demonstrated. I don’t believe that the kids who collected Webkins were interested in why the world of Webkins had been created online, who they were interacting with (beyond their real life friends); they did not realize they were being manipulated by a marketing team into using a certain computer program/social network.

All of this said, I do not mean to demean what these students and their teacher are working on – the competencies that they showcased are the foundational building blocks that must be laid if we are to expect older children and teens to actually become media literate. The idea that these children are already contributing to a blog and offering (constructive) feedback to one another in a digital format is both impressive and encouraging.

Perhaps the real problem is that - in a world in which technology and media seem constantly evolving – we have difficulty nailing down a clear definition of media literacy. Indeed, my own understanding of the term has shifted and evolved over the course of this semester.