"media literacy" definition & discussion:

Though the definition of "literacy" is rapidly changing, now more than ever, it involves consciously and criticlly
PAYING ATTENTION to "that man behind the curtain" - makers, motives, subtexts and systems of significance. Perhaps the first thing to note here is that the term "media" is very broad and can include any and all systems of communication from linear alphabetic writing (alphawriting) to current technologies like audio, video and web communication. Though Wysocki and others have questioned whether the term "literacy" with all its bookish limitations is still the best term to use for indicating competence with various communications media available today. Her point is well noted because, as McLuhan has noted, the rigid linearity of alphawriting and the mass, identical reproduction possible in printing have had a profound impact on the human mind and culture - an impact that is often invisible to us.

Though it is clear that new technologies are allowing us to move beyond alphawriting, opening up new possibilities for expression and thinking, it is also clear to me that the most successful navigation of these new tools is built upon a strong alphaliterate base. Without advanced traditional reading and writing skills, we are not likely to understand or use them for more than mere entertainment.

Media literacy then is a term signifying a certain level of practical competence in the use of various communication tools, not the least of which is alphaliteracy, or traditional reading and writing skills. However, if we stop there, we are likely to get left behind or lost in the massive universe of high speed information that flows through our lives daily.

(a note about "our lives" and the "we" often used in discussions of technology: "our lives" and "we" represent only 10% of the whole world that has access to these new tools, so it may be important for us to keep this in mind to keep our enthusiasm in perspective and to begin critical discussion about the most progressive use of these tools for the purposes of human evolution)