"The Medium is the Message"
Herbert Marshall McLuhan 1911-1980
I find that it is hard to write about a subject matter without exploring it's origins. Herbert Marshall McLuhan should be one of the names that one encounters in exploring media literacy. He is one of the most controversial and noted as being one of our original thinkers of our time. Know as the "Father of Communications and Media studies" He is the one who predicted that the world would become a global village. He was a visionary of his time. To give you greater understanding on his comment "The Medium is the Message" as stated by McLuhan (1964)
"Each medium, independent of the content it mediates, has its own intrinsic effects which are its unique message. The message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of work and leisure. This happened whether the railway functioned in a tropical or northern environment, and is quite independent of the freight or content of the railway medium".
What Mc Luhan is making reference to the railway is analogous to the electronic age of media of print, television, computers and the world wide web the internet. " The medium is the message" It is the "medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action".
As I was reviewing some research about Media Literacy I found a great article written by Barry Duncan a former graduate student of Marshall Mc Luhan's called "Media Literacy Makes it Possible to see Both the Forest and the Trees-Teaching Backgrounder he states
"Almost everyone knows that traditional literacy is associated with the skills needed to decode the
printed word. Thus, media literacy is about decoding the mass media, especially television. Since most of us already know a fair amount about the subject, what becomes essential is a willingness to learn more and to see things from a fresh perspective".
He writes about a immigrant that has little experience seeing television and how he is bombarded with unlimited, breaking news, comedy, drama, suspense, relief from constipation, instant beauty and 24 hour news. You see media literacy has grown into a virtual spider web called the internet. Instead of watching we are participating and collaborating and applying critical analysis to everything we do and experience. Our diverse perspectives and resources are giving more empowerment to the global village. We are agents of change and having that persuasive power of entitlement in how we learn. There are no borders or boundaries our ability to disseminate information in a virtual world as a virtual person(Avatar) is unbelievable. We actually go into an artificial environments and teach or train individuals from each corner of the globe in different languages at the same time. Our access to Web 2.0 tools is phenomenal and soon in a flash that to will evolve in to web 3.0. Why are we so stuck into the colonialist teaching for our youth. We will need these new media literacy skills to compete on a level playing field in real world applications. Study after study have been done they say it's the administrators they say it's the teachers. We have the skills we have the tools lets guide them perhaps they will guide us. They already are self directed have peer to peer collaboration perhaps they will find the opportunities like Mit's Open CourseWare funded project where they can combine formal and informal learning to lessen the gap of traditional learning.
MIT Milestone Celebration| Keynote speaker Thomas Friedman Columist (2008)
I will have my learners participate in digital storytelling project, subject focus THEMSELVES as a way to share collaborate with their families and friends. To enrich each others lives, culture, values, heritage and self esteem. Digital storytelling is layered with writing, rich narrative, video, role playing, performance, reflection, graphics and art. It makes their stories and their lives important and presented in a more cohesive format. To be continued......
References
McLuhan, H. M. (1964) Understanding Media. n.y. 1964 , p. 8, 9.
Retrieved September 13, 2009 from http://www.eric@marshall-mcluhan.com
Duncan, B. (1991) Media Literacy Makes it Possible to see Both the Forest and the Trees-
Teaching Backgrounder: Education Forum, Ontario Secondary Teacher's Federation, V17(1),
Etobicoke, On, Canada Retrived September 13, 2009 from
http://www.media -
awarness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/medialiter
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