Media Literacy Educators in the Article Critique

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As an alternative to the protectionist approach, Kellner advocates a media literacy that demonstrates the potential of new media and technology to empower students. Media can be used as strong avenues of self-expression and social activism (7). We should use media as a tool, and cease viewing the media as the enemy to educated civilization, as a pedestrian form of social expression. Protectionists fail to recognize the positive power of all media by overemphasizing the relevance of print. On the other hand, Kellner notes that educators must "avoid an uncritical media populism," in which we pander to the lowest common denominator in popular culture (8). Kellner's message is on balance and critical thinking. What modern educators need is a blend between the glorification of pop culture imagery and censorship. When technology is adapted for the use of education, it can be an immensely powerful tool. For example, students who are encouraged to create their own websites can learn about how media affects the ways they are perceived by others.

In the third and final section of Kellner's "Multiple Literacies," entitled "New Technologies, Multiple Literacies, and Postmodern Pedagogy: The New Frontier," Kellner bridges his opinions regarding multiculturalism and media literacy with the specifics of information technology. Kellner asserts that computers definitely encourage student participation in the classroom and allow them to take more control over their own education. With computers, students can participate in the "production of culture," according to Kellner," (9). Kellner wisely notes that computer literacy means more than just knowing how to open Microsoft Word or how to surf the Web. Computer literacy extends beyond knowledge of programming languages as well. According to Kellner, computer literacy implies a mastery of the specific discourse of information technologies, including an appreciation of the nature of hypertext and the implications of interpersonal Internet communications.

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Computer literacy means knowing how to decode what we read on the Internet, including staying abreast of jargon as well as new software developments that can enhance learning.

Kellner concludes by emphatically stressing the importance of print media, as only by becoming familiar with the fundamentals of reading print materials can students fully grasp the importance of electronic media. With a foundation in print media, students and educators can also better appreciate the differences between different types of writing and journalism. Through reading print, students can become more critically aware of the differences in quality between different forms of media expression. The educator's job is to help students decipher the subtexts and learn how to recognize symbols, signs, and stereotypes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

A true postmodern pedagogy incorporates a myriad of different forms of media and does not necessarily favor one over the other except when a specific situation demands it. The crux of multiple literacies is reached through an embrace of all means of human creative and intellectual expression, which can allow individuals to express themselves in the most meaningful ways. Included in Kellner's analysis of postmodern pedagogy are practical applications, which range from conflict resolution to improvements to the environment, which is why "Multiple Literacies and Critical Pedagogy in a Multicultural Society" is a meaningful….....

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"Media Literacy Educators In The" (2005, April 26) Retrieved May 15, 2024, from
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"Media Literacy Educators In The", 26 April 2005, Accessed.15 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/media-literacy-educators-63835