Building and Enhancing Curriculum
single perspective is not media literacy.
Media and Cyber or Digital Literacies
Media Literacy
Aufderheide (1993) the ability to access,
analyze, evaluate, and communicate
messages in a wide variety of forms
While Christ and Potter (1998) the ability
to access, analyzes, evaluate, and create
messages across a variety of contexts
Hobbs (1998) the process of critically
analyzing and learning to create one’s own
messages in print, audio, video, and
multimedia.
The ability to identify different types of
media and understand the messages they
are communicating” (Common Sense
Media, n.d,).
The exact type of media varies television,
radio, newspapers, magazines, books,
handouts, flyers, etc. but what they all
have in common is that they were all
created by someone, and that someone had
a reason for creating them.
What Media Literacy is Not
Criticizing the media is not, in and of
itself, media literacy. However, being
media literate sometimes requires that one
indeed criticize what one sees and hears.
Merely producing media is not media
literacy although part of being media
literate is the ability to produce media.
Teaching with media (videos,
presentations, etc.) does not equal media
literacy. An education in media literacy
must also include teaching about media.
Viewing media and analyzing it from a
True media literacy requires both the
ability and willingness to view and analyze
media from multiple positions and
perspectives.
Media literacy does not simply mean
knowing what and what not to watch; it
does mean “watch carefully, think
critically.”
Digital Literacy
Digital literacy (also called e-literacy,
cyber literacy, and information literacy)
Is no different although now the “text” can
actually be images, sounds, video, music,
or a combination thereof.
can be defined as the ability to locate,
evaluate, create and communicate
information on various digital platforms.
Put more broadly, it is the technical,
cognitive, and sociological skills needed to
perform tasks and solve problems in the
environments. (Eshet-Alkalal, 2004)
The Skills and Competencies listed by
Shapiro and Hughes (1996)
Tool literacy – competence in using
hardware and software tools.
Resource literacy – understanding forms of
and access to information resources;
Social-structural literacy – understanding
the production and social significance of
information;
Research literacy – using IT tools for
research and scholarships;
Emerging technologies literacy – 1.
understanding of new developments in it;
and
Publishing literacy – ability to
communicate and publish information.
Critical literacy – ability to evaluate the
benefits of new technologies.
It should also come as no surprise
that digital literacy shares a great deal of
overlap with media literacy; so much so
that digital literacy can be seen as a subset
of media literacy, dealing particularly with
media in digital form. The connection
should be fairly obvious – if media literacy
is “the ability to identify different types of
media and understand the messages they
are communicating,” then digital literacy
can be seen as “media literacy applied to
the digital media,” albeit with a few
adjustments.
The term “Digital Literacy” is not new;
Lanham (1995), “digitally literate person”
as being skilled at deciphering and
understanding the meanings of images,
sounds, and the subtle uses of words so the
he could match the medium of
communication to the kind of information
being presented and to whom the intended
audience is.
Paul Gilster (1997) “the ability to
understand and use information in multiple
formats from a wide range of sources
when it is presented via computers”.
Bawden (2008) collated the skills and
competencies comprising digital literacy
from contemporary scholars on the matter
into four groups:
Underpinnings – skills and
competencies that “support’ or “enable”
everything else within digital literacy,
namely: traditional literacy and
computer/ICT literacy.
2. Background Knowledge – to knowing
where information on a particular subject
or topic can be found, how information is
kept, and how it is disseminated-a skill
taken for granted back in the day when
information almost exclusively resided in
the form of printed text.
3. Central Competencies – these are the
skills and competencies that a majority of
scholars agree on as being care to digital
literacy today.
Reading and understanding digital and
non-digital formats;
Creating and communicating digital
information;
Evaluation of information
Knowledge assembly;
Information literacy; and Media literacy
4. Attitudes and Perspectives
Bawsen (2008) suggests that it is these
attitudes and perspectives that link digital
literacy today with traditional literacy,
saying “it is not enough to have skills and
competencies, they must be grounded in
some moral framework”, specifically:
Independent learning – the initiative and
ability to learn whatever is needed for a
person’s specific situation; and
Moral/social literacy – an understanding of
correct, acceptable, and sensible behavior
in a digital environment.
Information Literacy within Digital
Literacy
Eshet- Alkalai (2004) draws attention to
Information literacy as a critical
component of Digital literacy as “the
cognitive skills that consumers use to
evaluate information in an educated
manner.
In effect, Information Literacy acts as a
filter by which consumers evaluate the
veracity of the information being presented
to them via digital media and thereupon
sort the erroneous, irrelevant, and biased
from what is demonstrably factual.
Socio-Emotional Literacy within Digital
Literacy
According to Eshet-Alkalai (2004) this
Socio-Emotional literacy requires users to
be “very critical, analytical, and mature” –
implying a kind of richness of experience
that the literate transfers from real life to
their dealings online.
Digital literate users know how to avoid
the “traps” of cyberspace mainly because
they are familiar with the social and
emotional patterns of working in
cyberspace- that is really just an
outworking of human nature.
Digital Natives
-This was popularized by Prensky (2001),
generation that was born during
information age and who has not known a
world without computers, the internet, and
connectivity.
Educators, and parents alike latched onto
the term, spawning a school of thought
wherein the decline of modern education is
explained by educators’ lack of
understanding of how digital natives learn
and make decisions.
A popular misconception borne out of the
term digital natives and the educational
ideas, the generation in question is born
literate.
“How can digital immigrants teach digital
natives a literacy they already have?”, the
answer is “they cannot.”
The problem here is that digitally literate is
popularly defined as the ability to use
computers or use the internet.
forms only one part of the crucial skills
and competencies required to be digitally
literate.
Expanded view of the term “literate”, the
digital natives in our classrooms are most
certainly familiar with digital systems, this
does not mean they automatically know
how to read, write, process, and
communicate information on these
systems.
in ways that are both meaningful and
ethical, especially when the information
does not involve technology’s most
common use; personal entertainment.
Good example, the difficulty many Senior
High School instructors have in teaching
research; Students who are at a loss in
locating, accessing and understanding
information from research journals and
websites.
Another problem, misconception that
everyone belonging to the generation is on
more or less equal footing in regard to
digital literacy.”
-no one is truly “born digital
Children born to poorer families will affectively motivated to do so-in other
naturally seem less digitally literate for words, a person can do amazing things
lack of access to technology and on when they really want to. Harnessing this
education in said technologies, while those natural desire to explore whatever interests
born to privileged families will display them will go a long way in improving
more of the literacies. media and digital literacy education in
your classroom.
Master your subject matter. Whatever it is
you teach, you must not only possess a
thorough understanding of your subject
matter, you must also understand why you
are teaching it, and why it is important to
learn. After all, teaching is in itself a kind
of media the students are obliged to
consume; if is only fair they know why.

Think "mufti-disciplinary.” How can

educators integrate media and digital
literacy in a subject as abstract as
Mathematics, for example? The answer
lies in stepping-out of the "pure
mathematics” mindset and embracing
communication as being just as important
to math as computation Once
communication is accepted as important,
this opens-up new venues where the new
literacies can be exercised. It is just a
matter of believing. as educators, that how
we communicate is as important as what
we communicate.

Explore motivations, not just messages.

While it is very important that students
learn what is the message being
communicated by any media text, it is also
important to develop in them a habit for
asking why is the message being
communicated in the first place. The
objective here is not so much to find the
correct answers, but rather to develop the
habit of asking these questions.

Leverage skills that students already have.

It is always surprising how much a person
can do when they are personally and
ECOLOGICAL LITERACY
‘The development of ecological
understanding is not simply another
subject to be learnt but a fundamental
change in the way we view the world.’ —
JOHN LYLE, 1994
We are now at a critical point with many
environmental issue such as climate
change and rampant environmental
destruction. Alienation from nature greatly
contributes to the aggravation of these
environmental problems. Ecological
lteracy are important to business and
political leaders, and to all levels of
education
Ecological literacy
-refers to an individual'understanding not
only to ecological concept, but also of his
or her place in the ecosystem (Meena &
Alison,2009)
In David Orr essay ‘’Ecological literacy’’
in 1989. he was first introduced the term
ecological literacy. He indicated that
knowing, caring and practical competence
form the form the foundation for
ecological literacy
He pointed out that the root of
environmental crisis is the individual ‘s
inability to think about ‘’ecological
patterns ,systems of causation. And long-
term effects of human actions’’ (orr. 1994)
He emphasized the importance of
experience in one’s natural environmental
that can enable humans to shift perspective
from one of an economic emphasis to one
of balance amongst economics ecology,
and culture
Orr (1992) also argued that the
ecologically literate person understands
the dynamics of the environmental crisis ,
which includes an understanding of how
people have become so destructive.
Therefore , identifying school students’
ecological literacy levels is a necessary
step to investigate their behavior
Attitudes ,sentivity, and behavioral
intention .In order to create awareness
among students, it is important to foster
correct knowledge to ensure positive
approach to environment (Hares,
Eskonheimo, Myllytaus & Luukkanen ,
2006)
Kahyaoglu (2009) also stated that positive
attitudes and values toward the
environment are occurred with a good
knowledge
Developing environmetally responsible
behavior requires correct knowledge
about climate change. The cause of global
warming.carbon emissions, and carbon
footprint (Kuo & Chen, 2009).
The current literature on ecological
literacy emphasizes the role of scientific
knowledge and ecological thinking in
identifying cause-effect relationships in
socio-environmental systems , in order to
allow more enlightened decision-making;
therefore , its primary pedagogical goals
are cognitive and experimental. Which
incorporates civic literacy that pertains to
changes in values and behaviors, and thus
also contains affective moral pedagogical
goals (McBride et al. 2013).
Ecological literacy is meant to enable
conscious and participants citizens to make
informed decisions or take action on
environmental issue. (jordan et al. 2009).
Efforts in this direction include books by
experienced ecologist for the general pulic,
of which two outstanding examples are
Levin (2000) and Slobodkin (2003).

Characterizing an Ecolltorate Persons

Dr. Tom Puk (2002) of Lakehead

University characterized an ecologically
literate person of the 21st century as “the
responsible, lifelong learner who strives to
improve human condition and the
environment within the context of self,
human groups, the biosphere, and
ecosphere.

An ecolliterate person should become;

A reflective learning

An inquirer Greening Initiatives in Colleges and

Intelligently self-directed
Seek self-transcendence
Ecologically responsible
Morally responsible
An ecoliterate person is prepared to be an
effective member of subtainable society,
with well-rounded abilities of head, heart,
hands, and spirit, comprising an organic
understanding of the world and
participatory action wihtin and with the
environment
Universities
Increased awareness of environmental
degradation and concern for rehabilitation
have prompted colleges and universities to
green their composes. A green campus is
“a place where environmentally
responsible practice and education go
hand-in-hand and where environmentally
responsible tenets are bone out by
example.