Media and Information Literacy to Teachers and Students

Liza Lacandola Narciso

The world we lived in today has evolved in so many aspects from the past decades and one of it is the technological advances and innovations present in the 21st century. Media is also affected by the advances in technology that happened in the world. The word media refers to the content that every individual has expend their energy and effort to read, watch and experience. Example of media includes social media posts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.), news articles, television, radio, advertisements and many more. Every day, individuals encounter media in their life and it is increasing in numbers which result to countless media that appear and being produced. This is where media and information literacy take place. Media and information literacy is the ability of a person to analyze and criticize different type of media and know the true information it conveys to the people. It is important for both the teachers and especially, for students to have knowledge about media and information literacy as they absorb and consume more media. For the teachers, it is important for them to have sufficient knowledge and appropriate skills to teach the students about the literacy in media and the information because it is a pressing issue for the youth which consumes a lot of media and are easy to deceive. With the media and information literacy subject, teachers can help their students to distinguish and to think critically about a certain media they saw in the internet or in television. And so, teaching media and information literacy has become a beneficial and vital factor to teachers to impart to the students. On the other hand, students can benefit to media and information literacy as it provides them with various skillset. It allows learners to be more conscientious of the media they see every day and making informed decisions about it by critically analyzing the data, determining if it contains deceiving, misleading or unethical information and identifying the real message behind. It also leads to students performing better in research as well as improving their writing and speaking skills. Despite the Covid19 outbreak, the knowledge of a person about media and information literacy will stay as an advantage not just for this generation but for the future generation as well. Particularly in today’s world, media and information literacy will here to stay as a vital tool for individuals to possess.