i am taking the responsibility of starting the research project with introduction of digital media literacy. First of all, this term is a not a historical concept without a long history story as other issues. Personal speaking, i think DML is based on digital era, it is the production of modern digital technology boom. In terms of profession and acedemic definition, there are some different views to decribe it, i picked up some of them, and i will gather them and summarize out a new paragrph for our research.
1.
what is digital media literacy, and why is it important? According to Laura Gurak, it is “…the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyse information using digital literacy. It involves a working knowledge of current high-technology, and an understanding of how it can be used. Further, digital literacy involves a consciousness of the technological forces that affect culture and human behavior” (Gurak, Laura (2001). Cyberliteracy. New Haven: Yale University Press).
2.
Media literacy educators typically define media literacy as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media (or some variation of that). Recently, some have been adding to that list skills related to social media and the increasingly interactive nature of media production and consumption – namely, the ability to collaborate and participate using a variety of media.
Digital media literacy means more than just understanding how to use Facebook or conduct an effective Google search – it means being able to use and create digital media to participate in civic life and collaborate around the issues that matter to us. It also means changing the way we think about accessing, analyzing, and evaluating media, as the web provides us with an increasing number of choices for information, news, and entertainment and complicates our media landscape with new advertising and marketing tactics.
As we talking about digital inclusion, closing the digital divide, and broadband policy, it is important not to leave the issue of literacy out of the conversation. In addition to ensuring that everyone has access to the web, we need to make sure everyone has the skills to use it to its full potential.
3.
Media literacy is the ability to access, enjoy, interpret, analyze, produce, and evaluate messages in all varieties and combinations of print, visual, and digital formats. Media literate individuals can use communications media to solve problems. They have a critical, informed understanding of the way that both individuals and organizations construct media messages. In addition, they recognize the role of the audience in both processing those messages and creating meaning from them. They are aware of the political, social, cultural, economic, and educational role of the mass media in society including knowledge of how media organizations operate. Through these understandings, media literate individuals are able to assess their own relationship to the media, and assign value, worth and meaning to media use and media messages (NCA, 1998).
We do not prepare use too many words on defining the concept, therefore, those material is probably enough for the beginning.
