Information+and+Media+Literacy

__What is INFORMATION and MEDIA LITERACY?__ According to The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, "People in the 21st century live in a technology and media-suffused environment, marked by various characteristics, including: 1) access to an abundance of information, 2) rapid changes in technology tools, and 3) the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions on an unprecedented scale. To be effective in the 21st century, citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills related to information, media and technology."  __What does this mean for learners?__ Students need to be able to access information both efficiently and effectively, and evaluate this information critically and competently. In addition, learners of the 21st century will need the skills to create media products utilizing the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions, and analyze that media to understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what purposes.

__What does this mean for teachers? __ Wiske (2005) notes that "schools and teachers must prepare today's students for a rapidly changing and interdependent world by teaching them how to think with their knowledge and to apply it flexibly and responsibly (p. 15)." Both teachers and instructors of 21st century learners need to assist their students in gaining the skills to use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand, while managing the flow of information from a wide variety of sources and examining how media can influence beliefs and behaviors of all people. In addition, educators need to teach their students how to apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of media.

References Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2004). //A Framework for 21st Century Learning//. Retrieved June 30, 2010, from []

Wiske, M. S. (2005). //Teaching for understanding with technology. San Fransisco:Jossey-Bass.//