Today’s students are bombarded with a constant stream of information coming at them from all directions in many forms and formats. We have become a globalized and hyper-connected society that requires digital citizens to possess the skills necessary to navigate and engage within our interconnected world (Gretter & Yadav, 2016). Now, more than ever, we must strive to develop students who will be productive citizens in an ever-changing, technology-rich society teeming with information. Our students must be able to participate in the culture by creating and critically analyzing media. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a framework for supporting students in developing the skills necessary to be successful in college, careers and in life in the 21st Century (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2015). The explosion of information and media has led to the need for global citizens who look at everything with a critical lens.
As digital literacy has become so critical in developing life skills for our students, organizations such as the National Association of Media Literacy Education, Common Sense Media and Media Sense have devoted themselves to supporting educators with standards and resources that promote these new literacies. According to Renee Hobbs of Temple University, “For people to achieve the personal, professional, and social benefits of thriving in a digital age, these skills are not just optional or desirable—they are the essential elements of digital citizenship.” The Common Core State Standards allow and encourage teachers to seek out opportunities to implement media literacy in their classrooms and promote 21st century skills (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010; Redmond, 2015). With students engaging with multi-modal information for hours each day, it is more important than ever for adolescents to critically engage with content.
Gretter, S., & Yadav, A. (2016). Computational thinking and media & information literacy: An integrated approach to teaching twenty-first century skills. TechTrends, 60(5), 510-516.
Hobbs, R. (2011). Keynote empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 13.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Framework for 21st Century Learning. Available at http://www.p21.org.
Redmond, T. (2015). Media Literacy Is Common Sense: Bridging Common Core Standards with the Media Experiences of Digital Learners. Middle School Journal, 46:3, 10-17, DOI: 10.1080/00940771.2015.11461910.