Media Literacy Education

The Evolution Of Technology And Concepts Of Media Literacy Education

Media literacy is not a new concept but it has been redefined and altered over time. Seymour Papert, a mathematician and educator, first introduced the concept of using computers to teach children in classrooms in the 1960’s. He believed that computers would offer many opportunities for children and could revolutionize the way they learn (Armstrong & Casement, 1998). Over the following few decades, as schools witnessed a decline in student achievement, a new approach of ‘back to the basics’ reemerged, and the computer and its software programs were implemented as a convenient tool to improve student test scores through drill and practice (ibid). In the 1980’s, when the CD-ROM emerged, the computer was recognized as a valuable tool for research and information, and many schools incorporated programs in their curriculum that necessitated the integration of computers into the classroom instead of confining them to the school computer rooms. During the late 1990’s, a new advancement of technology emerged in the form of the Internet, which brought with it a great opportunity for global communication. With this revolutionary tool, schools could no longer teach in the traditional way, as a new form of literacy emerged, and with it the need for a new approach to teaching this technological phenomenon.