Elizabeth Daley
EDUCAUSE review. March/April 2003. pp 33 - 40.
What is your definition of “literacy”? I, like a majority of people would say, the ability to read and write, for that is the definition I grew up with. But what about media literacy? Is that different from “literacy”?
Elizabeth Daley’s article, Expanding the Concept of Literacy, suggests four arguments for an expanded definition of literacy:
1 – The multimedia language of the screen has become the current vernacular.
2 – The multimedia language of the screen is capable of constructing complex meanings independent of text.
3 – The multimedia language of the screen enables modes of thought, ways of communicating and conducting research, and methods of publication and teaching that are essentially different from those of text.
4 – Lastly, following from the previous three arguments, those who are truly literate in the twenty-first century will be those who learn to both read and write the multimedia language of the screen.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0322.pdf
I want to concentrate mostly on argument #4, but also want to highlight a few phrases from the first three; phrases I feel are the highlights of each section.
#1 - “Metaphors from the screen have become common in every aspect of daily conversations. Close-up is synonymous for “in-depth” and “penetrating.” We speak of flashing back to our earlier lives. We frame events to put them in context. We cut to the chase when we are in a hurry.”
#2 - “The author, a respected art historian, asserted that it was time for the academy to give up a deeply ingrained suspicion of images and realize that the visual could indeed contain intellectual content…”
“Like text, multimedia can enable us to develop concepts and abstractions, comparison and metaphors, while at the same time engaging our emotional and aesthetics sensibilities.”
“Think also for a moment of historic cinematic moments: the first moon landing; the planes slamming into the World Trade Center. What would it be like to try to fully share these and other momentous events without access to the language and power of the screen?”
#3 - “Accepting the language of multimedia as co-equal with text will require a major paradigm shift that challenges the domination of science and rationality, abstraction and theory.”
“Interactivity as a core factor in multimedia is in some ways closely related to performance and can enable the viewer/reader/user to participate directly in the construction of meaning.”
#4 – “Even with this history and ample evidence of the skill required to construct media, the attitude widely help by both faculty and administration is that complex media texts do not deserve classroom or research time, especially if such study might take emphasis away from traditional activities such as essays and research papers.”
“No doubt, young people today have less fear of the computer and more technical ability with software for rich media; multimedia is needed in their everyday language. However, they have no more critical ability with this language as do their elders – perhaps less. They need to be taught to write for the screen and analyze multimedia just as much as, if not more than, they need to be taught to write and analyze any specific genre in text”
My question to you:
Do you think a “beginners” multimedia class should be included in the freshman or sophomore required classes, no matter what the major might be? When you were an undergrad, did you wish you had known more about the multimedia world? Did you need it as an undergrad?
Would you have taken a multimedia crash course the summer before you started your Master’s program if it had been offered? If it was online? What if it was required?
Personally I would have loved a crash course in the basic multimedia software I have used during my two years in this program – both AHRD and Ed Tech. It is very frustrating for me to stumble my way through assignments and yet not have the real time to sit down and discover the functions on my own. When school is out, that is when I have my free time. And you can be assured I will be playing with all of the software I can to gain the confidence I need going into my last year of the Ed Tech program!
What is your definition of “literacy”? I, like a majority of people would say, the ability to read and write, for that is the definition I grew up with. But what about media literacy? Is that different from “literacy”?
Elizabeth Daley’s article, Expanding the Concept of Literacy, suggests four arguments for an expanded definition of literacy:
1 – The multimedia language of the screen has become the current vernacular.
2 – The multimedia language of the screen is capable of constructing complex meanings independent of text.
3 – The multimedia language of the screen enables modes of thought, ways of communicating and conducting research, and methods of publication and teaching that are essentially different from those of text.
4 – Lastly, following from the previous three arguments, those who are truly literate in the twenty-first century will be those who learn to both read and write the multimedia language of the screen.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0322.pdf
I want to concentrate mostly on argument #4, but also want to highlight a few phrases from the first three; phrases I feel are the highlights of each section.
#1 - “Metaphors from the screen have become common in every aspect of daily conversations. Close-up is synonymous for “in-depth” and “penetrating.” We speak of flashing back to our earlier lives. We frame events to put them in context. We cut to the chase when we are in a hurry.”
#2 - “The author, a respected art historian, asserted that it was time for the academy to give up a deeply ingrained suspicion of images and realize that the visual could indeed contain intellectual content…”
“Like text, multimedia can enable us to develop concepts and abstractions, comparison and metaphors, while at the same time engaging our emotional and aesthetics sensibilities.”
“Think also for a moment of historic cinematic moments: the first moon landing; the planes slamming into the World Trade Center. What would it be like to try to fully share these and other momentous events without access to the language and power of the screen?”
#3 - “Accepting the language of multimedia as co-equal with text will require a major paradigm shift that challenges the domination of science and rationality, abstraction and theory.”
“Interactivity as a core factor in multimedia is in some ways closely related to performance and can enable the viewer/reader/user to participate directly in the construction of meaning.”
#4 – “Even with this history and ample evidence of the skill required to construct media, the attitude widely help by both faculty and administration is that complex media texts do not deserve classroom or research time, especially if such study might take emphasis away from traditional activities such as essays and research papers.”
“No doubt, young people today have less fear of the computer and more technical ability with software for rich media; multimedia is needed in their everyday language. However, they have no more critical ability with this language as do their elders – perhaps less. They need to be taught to write for the screen and analyze multimedia just as much as, if not more than, they need to be taught to write and analyze any specific genre in text”
My question to you:
Do you think a “beginners” multimedia class should be included in the freshman or sophomore required classes, no matter what the major might be? When you were an undergrad, did you wish you had known more about the multimedia world? Did you need it as an undergrad?
Would you have taken a multimedia crash course the summer before you started your Master’s program if it had been offered? If it was online? What if it was required?
Personally I would have loved a crash course in the basic multimedia software I have used during my two years in this program – both AHRD and Ed Tech. It is very frustrating for me to stumble my way through assignments and yet not have the real time to sit down and discover the functions on my own. When school is out, that is when I have my free time. And you can be assured I will be playing with all of the software I can to gain the confidence I need going into my last year of the Ed Tech program!
