In completing this module, you will be learning to:

• define the characteristics of the new media in terms of the features of digital media.

• understand the literacies involved in using these new media and how users acquire these literacies through their use of new media.

• understand how users acquire these literacies with the example of video games.

• understand how users learn the literacies involved in responding to and using websites.

• understand how to use the web as a teaching tool in a "media lab" approach to teaching media literacy.

• understand how to use and participate in two discussion sites: tappedin.org and nicenet.org

As argued in Module 1, understanding media now requires far more than traditional media forms such as film, television, radio, and print texts. It also requires an understanding of how new digital media forms have transformed or "remediated" (Bolter, 1998) these traditional media forms. And, it requires an understanding of how students can learn to use these new digital media forms as tools for producing their own media and participating in media culture.

This suggests the value of creating a "media lab" approach to teaching media literacy in which students are using the web, digital cameras, and other digital tools to analyze and share media texts. Through the very process of employing these tools, they can then reflect on and interrogate their uses of the media tools as a central focus of learning about the media.

People are increasingly using the Web as one central digital media tool in their lives. A 2003 report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 63 percent of adults use the Internet regularly for a range of different personal and business purposes. As they become more familiar with using the web, they are more likely to trust it as a means of conducting such things as shopping or paying bills. Moreover, with the increased availability of broadband connections (at 31% of homes in 2003) and wireless connections, users find the web to be more accessible. At the same time, issues of accessibility remain, with 37% of the adult population still not using the web, a function of affordability, knowledge, and lack of access in rural areas.

And, a report, The State of the News Media 2004 Report & Survey, conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that people are less likely to obtain news from newspapers (daily circulation is down11% since 1990) and network television news (viewership is down 28% since 1993) and, particularly for younger audiences, more likely to obtain news from online media sources. Although many of the online news sources are still produced by newspapers, one issue with the use of online news sites is that people will only pick and choose the information they are interested in obtaining and therefore may not be exposed to information they are not directly seeking to find.
Click here to see the full report
Click here to see the graphics from the report at USA Today

The fact that use often varies with social-economic class and region is evident in a study of young people ages 10-17 in Silicon Valley conducted in 2002 by The San Jose Mercury News and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Ninety-six percent of young people were using the web, but lower-income and Hispanics were less likely to use the web in their homes, relying more on use of the web in their schools. They spent an average of 5.5 hours a week online; 38% spent less than 2 hours a week online; 28% spent 2 to less than 5 hours a week online; 17% spent 5 to less than 10 hours a week online; and 15% spent 10 hours or more a week online. Almost half (45%) perceived it as an important resource for homework. They also used it to get information about movies, music, sports or TV shows (76%) or purchases (68%), get news about current events (65%), look for information on colleges (41%) jobs or careers (35%), and look up health information (27%). Use of the Web does not necessarily detract from reading or viewing. 18% indicated that it has caused them to spend less time reading and 26% indicated that it has caused them to spend less time watching TV. They still rely heavily on the phone, but 22% indicated that Instant Messenger is the main way they stay in touch with friends versus 8%, e-mail, and 68%, the telephone.

Seventy-nine percent indicated that their parents usually know what they are doing when they go online, while 21% indicated that their parents generally do not know what they are doing online.

Given the importance of the web in students' lives, students also need to develop "digital literacies" - their ability to understand and use various digital literacies involved in use of the web and other digital tools such as DVDs and digital photography

Understanding the new media. In addressing the question, "What is Media Literacy?" David Considine posits that:

Emerging technologies, the global economy and the Internet are changing what it means to be literate. The digital age is transforming the quantity, range and speed of information and communication in our lives. The mass media affect how we perceive and understand the world and people around us, from what we wear, eat and buy to how we relate to ourselves and others. In the 21st century, the ability to interpret and create media is a form of literacy as basic as reading and writing.

In the past decade, there has been a major shift in media from the old media of television, radio, and print to the new digital media of the Internet and digital video/photography. These new digital media are "remediating" (Bolter & Grusin, 1998) the older media, which use digital media to change their own delivery and audience involvement. For example, cnn.com or msnbc.com provide continually updated news information along with multiple hypertext links to related bits of information, a digital form that has influenced CNN and MSNBC television news broadcasts, in which updated headlines stream across the bottom of the screen or references are made to the websites for more information.

The transformation of film and television. The influence of digital media has had major influences on the production and distribution of film and television. The distribution of media content through cable, digital, and satellite technologies has resulted in an increasing global reach for media conglomerates who now can readily distribute content to all parts of world, content that is often highly American/European given the fact that these conglomerates are largely American or European.

Digital technologies have also changed film production through the use of computerized special effects. For example, in The Matrix, a "bullet-time" set of 70 still cameras and two motion cameras were used to shoot 360 shots at 500 frames per second of actors twirling in mid-air. Or, in Gladiator and The Lord of the Rings, the portrayal of large crowds or armies in battle can be created through digital animation. This increased use of digitalization has focused increasingly on the portrayal of spectacle in space, moving away from traditional focus on linear narrative (Cubitt, 2002).

Digital cameras and editing serve to reduce the costs of filmmaking allowing for production of lower-budget films. And, as theaters employ digital display units, distribution can occur through satellite, reducing costs to theaters. And, as people outside of the industry produce increasingly sophisticated digital videos and display them on the Web, the line between videos produced by the "movie industry" and amateur productions will blur.

The distribution of DVDs containing outtakes, directors' commentary, and critics' analysis provides audiences with more information about the production itself. For example, The Lord of the Rings DVDs contain lengthy material on the uses of digitized special effects. At the same, the distribution of films and music through the web may in the future make even DVDs obsolete.

The uses of digital storage tools such as TiVo that allows television viewers to view whatever programs they wish to watch without commercials have yet to take hold as of 2004, but may have an impact on how viewers watch programs according to their own schedules as opposed to the set television schedule. Given the highly commercialized nature of television, producers would need to determine ways to embed advertising appeals within the program content through product placements and references to uses of products.

Module 2: Word document

Five Principles of New Media Production

Acquiring Literacies through the Use of New Media

Literacies Associated with Digital Media

One Example: Video Games as a New Media

Studying and Using the Web

Using the Web as a “Media Lab”: Working with Media Using the Internet

Building Learner-Centered Environments through Technology Integration

Creating a Webquest

What is a Webquest?

What are the Different Parts of a Webquest?

The Webquest Design Process

A Sample Webquest using Filamentality

Final Task: Creating Your Own Webquest

Web-based Resources for Teaching Media Literacy

Using Tappedin.org and Nicenet.org

Tappedin.org

Nicenet.org

References