The Media Equation
As Reeves et al. discuss in the "The Media Equation" two of the benefits of understanding the media equation -- first, the ability to use the knowledge that people respond to media to design better media/interfaces and second, the use of "the media equation" as a means for developing a foundation for evaluating and critiquing media. Both of these concepts influence librarianship and education. From this point forward, I'll break the discussion into sections according to these two points.
Improving the Design of Media
Reeves et al. comments on the idea the using the media equation design rules can be created to capitalize on human expectations and response to media. This started me thinking about many of the interfaces commonly used in libraries today. How would applying the media equation design principles to library catalog and database interfaces improve ease of use and functionality? Some users may love their library catalog, but most would probably like to see it improved so that they can more easily find what they need. The chapter touches on some of the design principles, but for more detail and concrete ideas on re-designing library interfaces I'll need to read the later chapters.
Evaluating Media
Depending on the institutional goals and definition of information literacy, there is overlap between information literacy and media literacy. A key component of media and information literacy is evaluation. Teaching students to find information and media is useless without teaching them to thoughtfully critique and evaluate what they find. Assessing the source of the media, the accuracy and or quality, and any biases are essential skills. Given the ideas inherent in the media equation, that media=real life, teaching evaluative skills takes on an entirely new meaning. Does the fact that many of us seem media as real life effect our evaluation abilities? Does it change the way we teach students to evaluate media? These are all issues that librarians teaching information and media literacy should consider.
Labels: information literacy, library instruction, media equation, media literacy
posted by Mary @ 12:34 PM
2 Comments:
I certainly agree that evaluation of media is an essential skill. From my perspective in television, I see my colleagues create shows all the time. There are many factors that go into the production of a show (product). There is the money thing. How much tape can I shoot, how many nights on the road can I spend, how much archival material can I purchase the rights for? There are the constraints of editing time. How long can I spend in the editing suite? There is the personal bias of the shooter, editor and producer. All of these things combine to influence the product. I think that is a key term to remember, product. I saw a producer rant and rant recently that his show was art and not a product. Please, give me a break. We must teach our young people that media is produced by people for many different purposes, not all of them obvious.
You asked "...Does the fact that many of us seem media as real life effect our evaluation abilities? Does it change the way we teach students to evaluate media?"
I would argue that we ask (or should ask) our students to self evaluate all the time in terms of their life and work. Reflection is an important skill in the learning/editing process. As a result, that same reflection can be applied to media, epecially media that kids think IS real.
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