The Knight Commission has released “Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action,” a new policy paper by Professor Renee Hobbs, BTMM, and founder of the Media Education Lab. In it, a detailed plan positions digital and media literacy as essential life skills and outlines steps that policymakers, educators and community advocates can take to help Americans thrive in the digital age.
Coming the day after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released the National Education Technology Plan, “Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action” provides four broad strategies and 10 specific recommendations on how to provide students and adults with the knowledge and critical thinking skills to sort through the overwhelming amount of digital information they receive every day in our media-saturated society.
“Full participation in contemporary culture requires not just consuming messages, but also creating and sharing them,” writes Hobbs. “To fulfill the promise of digital citizenship, Americans must acquire multimedia communication skills and know how to use these skills to engage in the civic life of their communities.”
This is why the commission recommended that digital and media literacy be integrated as critical elements for education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state and local education officials, and that public libraries and other community institutions be funded and supported as centers of digital and media training.
The paper focuses on steps to ensure that citizens are equipped with the analytical and communications skills they need to be successful in the 21st century. It also proposes the integration of digital and media literacy into advocacy campaigns, education curricula, and community-based initiatives. From parents concerned with online safety issues, to students searching for information online at home, schools and libraries, to everyday citizens looking for accurate and relevant health care and government resources, all Americans can benefit from learning how to access, analyze and create digital and media content with thoughtfulness and social responsibility.
(The Knight Commission press release)