Parallels Between Literacy and Media Literacy

There are three core flaws with the laissez faire approach.The first is that it does not address

the fundamental inequalities in young people’s access to new media technologies and the

opportunities for participation they represent (what we call the

articulate what they learn from their participation (what we call the

third problem with the laissez faire approach is that it assumes children, on their own, can

develop the ethical norms needed to cope with a complex and diverse social environment

online (the

participatory culture must begin by addressing these three core concerns. (Jenkins 12)participation gap).The second is that it assumes that children are actively reflecting on their media experiences and can thustransparency problem).Theethics challenge).Any attempt to provide meaningful media education in the age of

When I read this section, it reminded me of the research on how children's print literacy skills develop.  When students' literacy skills are behind those of their peers at certain points in their educations, the factors that have been determined to effect their delays are very similar to the flaws indicated above.

We know that young children who do not have access to liteacy experiences early in life (before age 2 even) do not have the vocabularies to read and understand  in ways that are typical to what their peers who have enjoyed access are able to accomplish.  Research has also shown that when young children and adolescents are asked to reflect on their literacy experiences, even as simply as drawing a smiley or frowny face in a reading journal, their understanding of and connection to the text is deepened.  Finally, in expressive literacy, an important element of students' growth is developing ethical norms that will inform their decisions about writing or communicating appropriately for a specific audience.

By granting students access, asking them to reflect often and in varied ways, and teaching them ethical norms, we have improved literacy instruction.  I hope we can recognize early on in the digital literacy world that incorporating these same strategies in our approaches to digital literacy are for more effective than hoping our students just pick it up on their own (like we did with reading and writing for a long time).