Blog 5 for INTC 5001: Digital Media Embracing a New World Order.

Digital media has been the earthquake to the foundations of classical education. With the explosion of You Tube, images on line, news programs with images, television and phones that take pictures and video what does the youth of today believe? It has been this very explosion that has educators looking at how to address the needs in this changing media overload. This article points out that teaching the written word is no longer preparing the youth of today for what they need to be critical thinkers in this global world. That education must address the visual literacy component 84% of the youth survived for this article said that they need more instruction on how to trust the news media and the digital images they see everyday. News literacy challenges the student to become well-informed, globally evolved and critical thinkers of the world around them. Three main points are discussed: Learners have different opportunities, Transparency issues of how the digital media molds perceptions, and finally the Ethical problem of breaking down traditional training and socialization which may help them prepare to answer questions, that question what they are seeing. So that is the problem how do we as educators help the students gain news literacy, by asking these questions, who created the message? What did the creator do to grab my attention? What points of view are presented or omitted in the message? How many others view this message differently? Encouraging students to answer these questions the youth of today will have more thinking skills tools allowing them to decide whether to, like Ripley says, “believe it or not”. By guiding our students through these basic questions we are helping give them the critical thinking skills they need for the 21 Century.