Digital and Media Literacy:

Digital and Media Literacy 

I want to start off by saying I had to do some heavy research to know exactly what digital and media literacy was and how it works. Google defines it as "the ability to effectively find, identify, evaluate, and use information." Not everyone has access to these skills which is why there are multiple non profit organizations that work to help teach these skills and more. People around the globe don't have access to the internet like we do on a daily basis which makes learning these skills a lot more difficult. 

Last month Apple announced that they will be partnering with non profit organizations to help media literacy programs in the United States and some parts of Europe. Their efforts are going to help advance young peoples ability to use their critical thinking skills that they believe are necessary to survive in such a digital heavy world.  Apple's CEO Tim Cook stated "News literacy is vital to sustaining free press and thriving democracy, and we are proud to be collaborating with organizations on the front lines of these efforts." The News Literacy Projects mission is to teach middle school and high school students skill they need to be active and smart consumer of news or other information. They then decided to released the 'Checkology Virtual Classroom' in 2016 the classroom  has major success. More than 17,800 teachers are using the program and over 124,000 students have had positive results from the NLP. Students have said since being involved in the program that they feel more confident in creating credible information. The News Literacy Project says there goal is to see news literacy what they say is a 'critical life skill' infused into our current educations systems. I also want to discuss get ready it's a mouthful, Osservatorio Permanente Giovani-Editori is located in Italy and has been the leading independent organization for the past 18 years. Rather than working hands on with the students, this organization works directly with the educators to bring these media literacy projects into their classrooms. Apple is working in partner with both of these organizations to help improve media literacy around the globe and give students a chance to understand an era that is media focused.

Europe recently celebrated European Media Literacy Week on March 18 through the 22. The purpose of the week is to promote media literacy projects in schools. The purpose of these projects are to help students make informed decisions later in life in such a digital age. What they are really hoping for is that these new skills will be applied when they are doing important things like voting for a new leader with an election coming up in May 2019 these skills are very important. There was a large conference hosted during the awareness week by the commissioner of Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel. The conference was held in Brussels and brought in the most skilled experts in media literacy to debate on the topic. They also gave out awards to educators who completed the most effective media literacy projects like 'Media Literacy Project with the Greatest European Potential' and many other awards. The whole purpose of the week is to hopefully get children involved with current news stories and learning how to critically analyze the news. Each day of the week had a new idea that was promoted each week Monday through Friday. On Monday they kicked things off with a panel with the BBC and more news channels asking questions about the importance of the media literacy in our youth. The next day was called Tuesday News Day, which encourage teachers to ten minutes each week on news and current events with their students. On Wednesday, Eleanor Palmer Primary School students got a chance to sit down and chat with digital minister Margot James. The sixth graders got to pretend to be reporters asking her questions about why she does what she does and many other topics. Towards the end of the week young journalists competed for the Hugo Young Award which is awarded to the best political opinion article written. Europe is taking the steps needed to work with a topic that doesn't get near enough attention as it should.

Facebook has recently stepped up the game in media literacy by adding a new feature to the infamous What'sApp. First they deleted and shut down multiple accounts known for spreading fake and manipulative information. The creation of the Checkpoint feature on the app allows users to send in pictures, articles, and even videos so they can be validated on whether or not they are truthful. This has been extremely helpful in the political world more specifically in India where a Presidential election will be happening in May of this year.

BuzzFeed recently did an article covering "What An Aging Population Means for the Future of the Internet". Janae Wheeler who works with AARP does workshops for elderly people to help them with the rapidly evolving world of technology. They bring in around 25 senior citizens ages 50 years old and older to help them with basic tech skills. They teach them things like how to use Siri, to text, and to even take a selfie. The free workshops have been given since 2016 and explains the basics of the apple iPad. According to the US Census people 65 and older will soon be the largest single age group in the United States. Recent studies show that older demographics are the ones most likely to share false or misinformation on social media platforms. Scientist like Kevin Munger says "They're alone, relatively wealthy, alienated, and stuck in places where they don't know anybody and feel angry." which cause them to feel the need to be heard and share news whether it be true or not. That's why teaching this demographic the importance of technology and just how to use it is so important.

Digital and Media Literacy is growing in attention and is finally getting the much needed acknowledgment. Young students and the elderly demographic both need education in the world of technology and how to identify fake news stories. Thats why classes like the one mentioned above and Apple helping bring out the importance of this subject is so necessary in todays technology heavy world.