Media, Information & Technology Literacy – Quick Study Notes

Media Literacy

  • 21st-century educational framework: access, analyze, evaluate, create, & participate in messages across formats (print, video, Internet).
  • Builds understanding of media’s role in society & supports democratic citizenship.
  • Empowers individuals to be active consumers/producers with critical-thinking skills for context, meaning, & discussion.
  • Core skills:
    • Critical Thinking & Informed Inquiry
    • Autonomy in Encoding/Decoding messages
    • Producing diverse media content

Information Literacy

  • Goes beyond access; entails understanding, evaluating, & using information for problem-solving & decision-making.
  • Competencies: adapt, generate, store, present information responsibly.
  • Focus on recognizing message intent & relevance; avoiding misreading, misuse, or wrongful sharing.
  • Key abilities:
    • Critical Thinking & independent learning
    • Analyze information for self-expression
    • Produce media content; stay informed as citizens/professionals; participate in democracy.
  • Guard against disinformation/fake news by verifying every information nugget.

Technology Literacy

  • More than hardware familiarity; requires ethical & efficient information handling via technology.
  • Involves gathering, sending, facilitating information responsibly.
  • Sub-literacies:
    • Hardware Literacy – operate physical components.
    • Software Literacy – use application packages (word processors, spreadsheets, presentations).
    • Application Literacy – run special-purpose software.
  • Overall goal: analyze, assess, create, disseminate information with technology ethically & effectively.

Media & Information Literacy (MIL)

  • Integrative competency enabling engagement with media/information providers.
  • Develops critical thinking & lifelong learning for active, informed citizenship.

Shared Characteristics of Literate Citizens

  • Critical Thinking across media, information, & technology contexts.
  • Capacity to encode/decode messages & produce content.
  • Independent, informed, and ethically responsible participation in democratic processes.