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.

Multiple Literacies

Blog Topics
For the remainder of this class I'll be blogging about various literacies -- media, visual, and information literacy. I'm currently working on a paper about incorporating visual literacy and visual learning in library instruction. As I find good resources, articles, etc. I'll discuss them on my blog.

Today's Article -- Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. EDUCAUSE Review, 38(2), 32-40.

Daley comments on how technology is changing the traditional (if erroneous) definition of literacy from print based reading and writing to include a variety of concepts and competencies.
She lists 4 main arguments for this expanded definition of literacy:

1. ubiquitous nature of multimedia screen language
2. multimedia screen language can construct complex meanings without text
3. The types of communication and collaboration possible with multimedia screen language are very different from those possible in a text only environment
4. Truly literate people will be able to communicate in the multimedia language of the screen

Key Points:

• Most general education curricula do not include basic knowledge of media communications
• Educators need to look beyond a print only basis for communication and understand that media communication is here to stay

What are your thoughts and or experiences with incorporating various literacies into instruction? Can higher education learn from K-12 education regarding a more holistic, incorporated view of literacy?