Ask an expert: Why teach media literacy?

Fran Trampiets teaches graduate courses in media education

October 18, 2000
Web posted at: 11:59 AM EDT (1559 GMT)

By Fran Trampiets

Question: Why should we take time away from traditional subjects and teach about the media when children already spend so much time with media and often know more about it than adults?

Answer: It’s not a case of replacing traditional subjects with media studies, but of teaching traditional subjects in new ways -- ways that reflect the realities of today’s information age. The traditional classroom, where the teacher and textbook were the primary sources of information, has evolved into learning centers where computers open up whole new worlds of learning opportunities. The critical factor is teaching students to use computers and use information wisely.

Media education teaches students how to set learning objectives and how to access information that will help them reach those objectives. It teaches them how to analyze and evaluate the information they find and to determine what’s most relevant and helpful. Media education almost always results in more enthusiasm for learning because it gives students more control over their information searches and their ways of demonstrating what they’ve learned.

Learning today isn’t just listening, reading and writing. It’s gathering information from a variety of sources and presenting findings using a variety of media. Children love demonstrating what they’ve learned using electronically produced newsletters or posters, Web sites, video productions or multimedia presentations. Our neighboring elementary school has third-graders locating, interpreting and applying information on the Internet that they then present to their classmates.

Children often know more about technology than their parents or teachers. What they need to learn is how to interpret media messages. For example, they need to learn that media aren’t a “window on the world,” but that media messages are carefully crafted representations of reality that contain underlying ideologies and values. They should know that the media are businesses and that their first consideration is ratings and revenue.

Most importantly, students should learn to recognize the techniques that media use to attract and hold their attention so they won’t be so easily manipulated. They should understand that no matter how skilled the creators of media messages are, it’s the individual in the audience who determines the meaning of the message and has the power to accept or reject it.

Fran Trampiets teaches graduate courses in media education at the University of Dayton's School of Education.

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