Which media literacy skills do we need?

In the 21^st century, and with the growing reliance on and popularity of technology, it is important to highlight the skills that are necessary to have.

Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society (Baker, 2009:1).

A media literate person needs to be able to read and write text, image, sound and structure of different systems, they need to be able to use the technical tools of the digital media, which includes computers, mobile phones and the internet. They also need to be able to relate these systems to the broader social and cultural contexts in which they live. They also need social and ethical skills to navigate through the media environment they are now a part of (Baker, 2009:1).

They need to be able to adapt to the ever changing ways of use of technology, and they need to be able to cope with the large amounts of information that they are being faced with. They need to be able to reason with information and judge for themselves what is true and false.

Answered by Leanda Jones