The Importance of Media Literacy

Media Literacy

  While I am happy to see that media literacy courses are now required in Illinois high schools, I think that we should start educating our students on this essential topic in the earliest possible grade. Students are being exposed to an increasing amount of media each day, and it is important that we as educators ensure that students know how to consume this media safely and effectively. According to the Media Literacy 101 video, media literacy refers to our interaction with media and the messages that we take away from it. Media Literacy is our ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act on the media messages that we receive. If we can teach students how to be media literate at the earliest possible age, we are empowering them to be the most successful 21st century learners that they can be. 

   

Renee Hobbs' 5 Competencies

    Media literacy expert Renee Hobbs believes that there are five competencies that all students need to know in order to be successful media consumers. 

Image Source: Renee Hobb's Twitter

According to Hobbs: 

1. Access- Students must be able to find and share appropriate and relevant information using technology tools and media texts. Students must be able to effectively locate and identify relevant information depending on the task at hand. This is important when students are researching and can be facilitated using instructor created presentations or by reading books, articles, or websites. As educators, we must realize how important access to relevant and appropriate information is. We also need to become competent digital consumers ourselves before becoming successful digital media educators. I know that there have been numerous professional developments on this topic, but I do believe that there is a gap in knowledge when you compare older and younger teachers in the classroom today. 

2. Analyze-This involves, "using critical thinking to analyze message purpose, target audience, quality, veracity, credibility, point of view, and potential effects or consequences of messages." In my opinion, this is the most important skill that students can learn. This can help students determine which sources are credible, if they are consuming "fake news", and decide which perspectives are being portrayed by the text. Being able to analyze media is an essential skill to becoming a 21st century learner. 

3. Create- Students must be able to create content as a form of self expression and share it with the appropriate audience in digital media form. Students who are consuming media at the rate that they are currently doing so should be able to contribute to the digital world in some form and being capable content creators is a wonderful way to do so. Content creation is imperative to teach our students because many of them focus on the consumption aspect of things. As teachers, we need to encourage our students to create projects and share with others so that they can engage responsibly. The creation of digital media will also help students prepare for their futures. 

4. Reflect-This step is essential to ensuring that our students are responsible consumers of digital media. Students must be able to regularly reflect on the content that they are creating and consuming. "This skill of reflection helps our students become humane consumers and creators of digital and media content."

When I think of myself as a consumer of digital media, sometimes reflection includes taking a social media break. When I do not feel like I am engaging in a positive way, I take a break to reflect on why this is. I tend to encourage my students to do the same, although, it proves to be much more difficult for them. Sometimes, I give them extra credit for logging off and doing something outside or engaging with others outside of the technology realm. 

5. Act-This step involves using the digital platform to better the world. This means collaborating with global and local communities to help solve problems. This implies that students should not just use their media literacy to go on Facebook to complain, but to help solve bigger issues. Being an informed digital citizen can lead to helping solve issues collaboratively. Having access to the internet gives us insight into so much of the world and I hope that our students can see how privileged they are to have this tool. 

    While I feel that all of these competencies are extremely important, I believe that the ability to analyze information is the most crucial today. If a student can effectively analyze the media that they are taking in, they will be able to create, reflect, and act with more success. If a student is unable to analyze the media they are consuming, they are unlikely to be successful digital citizens as they won't be engaging responsibly. 

                                    Image Source: Renee Hobbs Medium

 The Medium is the Message

   Truthfully, I think that it could be argued that each of Renee Hobbs' five competencies could be applied to McLuhan's Medium is the Message philosophy depending on how you look at it. In my opinion, I think that Hobbs' Create competency intertwines with McLuhan's belief the most because a media creator would want to consider the medium that they are using in the creation of their message. For example, a video could be much more powerful than a longer text if the creator wanted to evoke a certain emotion in a shorter amount of time. Sometimes, a creator might choose to use a short witty Twitter post to gain quick attention, rather than writing an entire article. I do find this theory fascinating and will continue to think about it while consuming media on a daily basis. 

 

The Laws Protecting our Students

 COPA,CIPPA,and a little SOPPA

    As someone who was a teacher for 9+ years, I was ashamed at how little I actually knew about the details of the laws that support our students' online safety prior to this module. While I have always known that there were laws in place, I was definitely enlightened by all of this week's material on COPPA, CIPA, SOPPA, and beyond. There are so many dangers lurking on the internet, and as educators, it is important to review and discuss the laws that are keeping students safe. The internet can be a scary place and as this video puts it,"The internet has opened new doors to authentic learning, but the dangers for students are real." 

Image Source: Brenda's Thompson's Pintrest/Rezzly

    CIPA, or the Children's Internet Protection Act, was signed into law in 2000 (updated in 2011) and is regulated by the FCC. CIPA is designed to protect students from online predators, inappropriate content, and cyber bullying. CIPA mandates that all U.S. educational institutions that are receiving E-rate funding have policies in place to protect their students. This also means that all online activity regulated by the school or library must be monitored and that students must be educated on digital literacy. 

    COPPA, or the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, was developed in 1998(updated in 2013), and is regulated by the FTC. COPPA aims to promote student safety by ensuring that parents(or grownups as I like to say)have full control over what information is collected about their child(ren). COPPA holds online websites and applications accountable for the privacy of users under the age of 13. Under COPPA, students are unable to submit information about themselves online without parental consent. Guardians should always be suspicious of applications and websites that do not ask for minimum age requirements. 

   After reading the material provided this week, I was also introduced to more details on SOPPA, or the Student Online Personal Protection Act, which became effective exclusively in Illinois on July 1, 2021. This helpful PDF details SOPPA and how it requires all public schools in Illinois to have signed agreements with operators that collect student data, both paid and unpaid. SOPPA also says that all public schools must "maintain reasonable security practices."  

Image Source: Online Safety Tips

Thoughts and Feelings

 Although I am not currently in the classroom, I do plan to be in the future and believe that our students' privacy is of the utmost importance. While I do think that the laws that are currently in place are extremely necessary to maintain student safety, I do worry that there are still ways for students to skirt around these regulations. Like I mentioned before, I felt rather uneducated about these laws before reading through this week's materials. I was teaching elementary school at a public school receiving E-rate funds for two years and was unaware of what an E-rate was before this week's reading. I have handed out several AUPs (or RUGs) to students to bring home, but I would not have been confident explaining them to guardians. I believe that it is extremely necessary to educate the teachers within a district about these laws for them to be the most effective. 

    CIPA is necessary, but as this video highlights, monitoring a student's personal device can be extremely tough. This is even true when it comes to district provided technology. One of the suggestions that was presented in the video was to create engaging lessons so that students are less likely to send inappropriate content on their phones. Imagine you have a classroom of 30 students. Can you truly monitor each student device effectively while trying to engage a large class? This puts an extreme amount of added stress on the classroom teacher. I think it is essential to have a strong district wide monitoring system in place to fully adhere to CIPA rules. 

    Even while being monitored, I have had students find a way to pull up extremely inappropriate content. In 1:1 environments where devices are provided, I have had students look up vulgar content when on their own WiFi codes at home and share with students in class. There is a lot of gray area here and I would love to read about more ways to address these concerns. After reading the case of Levy vs. Mahanoy, I was reminded of how many times my students discussed using Snapchat at home. This case begs the question: What content is off limits when posting on a personal device concerning an issue with school? I think that there will be many more cases like this that are a result of being in the CIPA gray area. 

    The researcher danah boyd believes that COPPA is encouraging kids to lie and thinks that the internet creates a space where "everyone is 14". I couldn't agree more with danah based both on my research and my own experience (I found this interesting NPR article where she discusses her research on online behavior. I think I'll have to read her book soon). There are several examples of students using websites and apps that are not age appropriate; a tragic one is mentioned here. I have had several under age students openly discussing the use of Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. Like this article mentions, many parents and guardians are often the ones who allow their students to access the online platforms. Last year before Youtube was forced to change its policies, my students were bombarded with inappropriate ads and were often allowed to click on videos with vulgar language while in school. Our content filter did not block Youtube because it was used for educational purposes, but this wreaked havoc in the classroom. 

    In this day in age, it is extremely important to protect our students from all of the dangers lurking online. CIPA, COPPA, and all of the other laws in place to protect our students are helpful, but other steps need to be taken to maintain online safety. Students' guardians need to be vigilant in protecting their kids by ensuring they are not using apps underage. Districts must educate teachers on the laws that are governing the schools. While teachers can do their best to monitor student devices while they are in school, guardians must take the reigns while at home. 

Social Media Audit

   Digital Tattoos, much like the ones on our skin, are extremely difficult to remove. The pictures, information, and comments that we make on social media are even more permanent than I previously thought. I thought that it would be appropriate to start by answering the question posed in Nicole's Video: Do you have any tattoos? I have three tattoos and in fact, posted each one to my Instagram account immediately after getting them. They are not very big, but each one represents a special memory that I had while living in Asia. Each one falls into the decoration/inspiration category and are constant reminders of how special my experiences were (cheesy, I know). The first tattoo was from the most magical experience that I have ever had; zip-lining to and staying three nights in different tree houses in the Laotian jungle (Check out The Gibbon Experience if you are keen on traveling to Asia. It was life changing). The next tattoo was paid for by one of my best friends who wanted to get matching tattoos to remember her first trip to Thailand by. The final tattoo was done in Saigon to commemorate what I thought would be my last week living there (I would end up going back for three more years after that tattoo was done). Phở is a way of life in Saigon and I ate it almost five days a week, sometimes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thai basil is said to better survive under the heat and pressure than regular basil and that resonated with me as living in Saigon was full of constant heat and pressure. At this current point, I am happy to report that I do not regret any of these tattoos, but of course, that is subject to change. 

Image Source: Blog Author's Instagram

                                                                            

Image Source: Blog Author's Instagram

Image Source: Blog Author's Instagram

  While luckily I can say that I don't regret my actual tattoos, I can't say the same about the tattoos that have been left on several of my social media accounts.This week, I decided to choose the Audit option as my adventure. I currently have Instagram, Snapchat,LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Like I have mentioned before, I chose to deactivate my Facebook page in 2020 due to it causing me much more harm than good. This video, while extreme, always reminds me of the toxicity of social media. I have always felt like we carefully curate our social media presence to highlight the positives while leaving out the negatives. I actually had a blog while I was living in Asia and one of the main purposes was to highlight that my life wasn't all beaches and fancy vacations. I would always get messages from my friends saying,"I'm so jealous, you're always at the beach." Which inspired me to start my blog, Vietnammed. I wrote it and posted it to Facebook often to share that in fact, my life was not just a beach. Here is a post highlighting that if you care to peruse: Misadventures After a Failed Attempt at Island Life).  

  In 2020, I felt like anything that I was posting was irrelevant to the chaos that was happening around the country. I often posted political posts, posts in support of teachers in the pandemic, and my support of the Black Lives Matter, Anti Asian Hate, and other movements happening around the country. Leading up to the 2020 election, I felt like Facebook was a mind field of political posts and found myself getting caught up in the mess. I also found myself feeling more isolated by seeing any positive posts. Teaching during the pandemic ripped my heart out and the toxic positivity that I was seeing on Facebook was suffocating. Although my account is usually deactivated, I will admit that reactivating Facebook for this course brought me some joy. It turns out that although I don't love Facebook for most things, it IS great for birthdays. I often use Facebook as a way to connect with friends on my birthday. I often post something like this:

Image Source: Blog Author's Facebook

    It just so happened that I had a birthday last week and selfishly, I loved having Facebook on that day. I often struggle with how to connect with my friends without
Facebook. It was a social crutch for so long and I often miss friends' birthdays, events, and life updates. Despite this, I think I will deactivate it soon and continue to check in periodically. It is impossible for me to delete Facebook because it houses so many of my photos and that is why I think it has a hold on so many people. 

    While I do have Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn accounts, I barely use them. I do check LinkedIn when I am hunting for jobs, but since I am currently not looking for a job, I don't find the need to go on. I also feel like LinkedIn is a bit awkward. I often get requests from people that I met once in college asking me to endorse their skills. How am I supposed to endorse people that I have only met once at a party. I suppose I could endorse their communication skills? I have never been much of a Twitter user either. I had one while I was in Vietnam but only posted three updates. When I was teaching in the states, I was forced to get a Twitter account for my classroom. I never used it and often found it feeling disingenuous. Once, after being very excited about a project my students created in the pandemic, I invited my principal to join our Zoom room. She posted about how proud she was about the project at the same time e-mailing me about a petty concern she had with one of the pictures that one of my students had used in a project. After that incident, I never checked our school Twitter. I only use Snapchat to keep in touch with one specific group of college friends, but otherwise, I go days without checking it. 

    My most used social media account is definitely Instagram. While I love looking through pictures, I also struggle with this app. I constantly delete Instagram, only to download it a day later. This is silly, but sometimes I will archive posts if they involve someone that I am having a conflict with. This seems crazy, but sometimes I just feel weird about having pictures up when I am struggling with a personal event. When I deleted Facebook, I went three months without Instagram, but eventually craved the connection and re-downloaded it. I feel like these breaks are necessary for my mental health, but I think I will continue to use Instagram as my main social media platform for now. During the pandemic, I came to terms with the fact that I was going to post my true feelings on Instagram sometimes, despite the like count. The hidden like option definitely helps with this. I have decreased the amount of posts that I actually make these days and am more of an observer. 

Image Source: Blog Author's Instagram 

     I am definitely guilty of deleting posts that would be the equivalent of someone getting a tattoo with the wrong spelling. For example, as I was revisiting my old blog, I cringed at the photos that I had with a tiger. While traveling in northern Thailand for the first time, I was unaware of the terrible things that these tigers endure while in captivity. Obviously, tigers that are taking photos with humans are under a lot of stress and on several drugs to keep them calm. Now, I try to use my experience to teach others to avoid those places at all costs. So--if you see someone riding an elephant or posing with a tiger in their dating app profile--you can swipe left 😂.

    For now, I am just going to keep Instagram as my main form of social media. Who knows what other forms of social media will pop up in the next few years!? I will leave you with one of my favorite examples of "a bad digital tattoo" from my former Facebook self. Just look at the timing on both of those posts!

                                 Image source: Blog Author's Instagram

      One more quick note: Writing this has definitely made me worried for my former students and their posting habits. If this post was made by an 18-year-old me, imagine the posts that 10-year-olds think are appropriate to share. As this article notes, our brains are not fully developed until we are 25. I should not have had a Facebook at 18 and they surely should not have pages before that. I know that many apps have age limitations, but I know many of my students have skirted around the rules. My hope is that when they are old enough they will watch The Social Network, take internet privacy rules seriously, and listen to their grown-ups and teachers about the implications of digital tattoos. 

Gone Phishing

On the hook

    "Hello, I know this seems odd but I don't have access to my phone and I need you to e-mail me a $250 Amazon gift card before tomorrow. It is an emergency and I need this for my nephew!" 

    Befuddled, I reread this e-mail from my former boss(principal) at 7 P.M. while waiting in the busy airport on a Friday night. Why would she be sending this e-mail on a Friday? What emergency would require an Amazon gift card? Does Amazon have hospitals now?

    Back in 2019, I was a new teacher at the elementary school that I would eventually come to regret ever walking into. As a newbie, I was constantly nervous that I was doing something wrong and as such, always wanted to appease my boss. I was very cautious but also nervous that she was really in need of emergency Amazon bucks, so I sent her a text. About 10 minutes later, the entire school staff received a message that the e-mail had been a scam and not to reply. Duh, I thought...but I also wondered how often people fall for something like this. Just yesterday, I received this e-mail via my Dominican e-mail account: 

                                                      Image Source: Blog Author's email

    I am sure that some of you received this too. While I knew immediately that this was a scam because I've dealt with phishers before, I wonder how many folks jumped at this exciting opportunity. It sounds like a great deal! The e-mail even came from an account that had a picture attached and seemingly belonged to a faculty member or student. Expert phishers know how to reel you in.

                                                                     Image Source: Knowbe4

   

                                                         Image Source: Phishing Quiz (Blog Author's Results)

                                  (Looks like I still need a bit of phishing help) 

     Phishing Scams, Don't Take the Bait offers helpful suggestions on ways that schools can mitigate phishing risks. While one off e-mail security trainings are deemed ineffective, sending out e-mail reminders about phishing risks, connecting with users on a personal level, recognizing that mistakes happen, and constantly reevaluating current policies are helpful ways to ensure that schools stay scam resistant. I will say that the weekly e-mails that we received at my last school started out as helpful and then just felt incessant. However, I am grateful that I was able to gain insight into how to avoid phishing scams. While the AUP policy of my last school does not discuss phishing directly with students, I think it is important to discuss as students are even more vulnerable to these attacks. 

    

My Former District's AUP

    Since I am not currently in a classroom, I decided to take a look back on my previous school district's AUP. While they do include the AUP in their extensive portion of the handbook that addresses technology, their specific guidelines are called RUG, Responsible Use Guidelines.After reading the article, Acceptable or Responsible, I noticed that while District 100 did change their terminology to reflect Responsible Use Policy, they still created a long, vague document to outline their expectations.  Pages 31-36 of the online student handbook discusses many issues, including privacy, digital citizenship, device guidelines, and cyber bullying. While I was teaching in District 100, I remember sending the students home with a slip of paper that they needed to be signed and then that being the end of it. Of course, we had discussions about digital literacy and cyber bullying, but I truly do not think that my students understood the dangers that were present on their iPads. In my opinion, the district stressed keeping the devices in perfect condition over the digital safety of staff and students. 

    Our Zoom classrooms were hacked multiple times last year. Some of my fourth grade students started having separate Zoom meetings and inappropriate conversations during class time. Students would constantly enter Zoom meetings and type inappropriate messages under different names. On the first day of Zoom class, before students knew how to create their own names, my life was threatened by one of my students via chat (turns out, she was one of the most soft spoken and sweetest girls in class). She thought that she was anonymous and had no idea that our tech team could discover who the message came from (Honestly, I think it was a case of trying to see what she could get away with). On all of these occasions, there were little to no repercussions for these actions. It is imperative that administrators enforce the AUP (or RUG) guidelines in order to maintain internet safety. 

    While extensive, the language in my old district's AUP is vague and not at all relatable. I guarantee that if you sat down with students and read them this nearly 6 page long section of the handbook, they would be extremely confused. I don't think parents would have the capacity or patience to read it either. I would suggest that the district created an AUP that is much more digestible and easy to understand. I would recommend an info-graphic and a presentation by technology specialists. I also think it is extremely important to ensure that this presentation is available in all languages and that support is available in all languages present in the school community. 

    Often times, our administrators last year would tell staff, students, and parents to "see the handbook!" That isn't very accessible. I highly recommend a revamp to encourage safe internet and device usage throughout the district moving forward.