The Importance of Media Literacy

Media technology tends to make its greatest advances by fulfilling the changing needs of consumers, as illustrated in the exponential increase we see in computer processing power every year. Many have argued that one of the driving forces behind this has been video games; a medium that requires more processing in terms of graphics and computational power than many other applications. Despite their impact on computer technology, and the pervasiveness they have in our culture, video games share much of the same stigma as television.

Critics of video games often describe playing them as a waste of time. It is thought that video games, often being violent, will lead to violent behavior in those that play them. Also it is believed that playing video games (as well as watching television) can shorten ones attention span. # The average amount of time it takes to complete a game, however, is around ten to twelve hours. This number can increase up to thirty plus hours for sandbox or open world games. Just given these two facts, we have the phenomenon of kids engaging in a difficult and time-consuming activity. The link between video games and violent behavior stems from the notion that video games are somehow a more potent form of media. James Paul Gee states,

This is akin, I suppose, to the claim that because I have planted lots of corn in Harvest Moon I will run out and plant corn in my backyard – in reality we have as little real corn from Harvest Moon as we have real killings from Grand Theft Auto (which is not to rule out the rare case of either – given enough time, even low probability events occur – though, of course, by definition, rarely). # (Gee, James Paul, 2007 p. 12)

This is another example of a medi...

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...inars and resource materials to help guide their teachers, and subsequently their students, towards developing those skills that will be so essential in today, and tomorrow's society.

Works Cited

1 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy

Futures in Education, 5(1), 59-69.

2 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy

Futures in Education, 5(1), 63

3 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy

Futures in Education, 5(1), 67

4 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy

Futures in Education, 5(1), 65