Keywords: Mass communications; Internet; integrated media education; communication technologies; information and communication technology; kindergarten to college media education; media skills diagnostics.

Abstract: This paper describes the needs of students from kindergarten to higher learning as regards information and communication technologies. It provides ideas and examples for educators interested in teaching their students the proper and efficient use of media.

By and large, social media has changed the life activities of our younger generation. The well-known media expert and philosopher, Marshall Mc Luhan, noticed back in the 20th century that we first, create a technology and then, it recreates us. This observation is valid today. Aware of Mc Luhan’s insight, we, educators, must work to restructure our field, no matter what it is, to include the study of mass communications and new technologies in order to adequately train our students for their successful entry into what is now a global information environment.

Whether we like it or not, media plays an important role in the personality development of the informational and communication cultures of the world’s teenagers.  It is no wonder that many countries consider media literacy to be a vital component of modern education in a democratic society.

Today, there are broad opportunities for the introduction of media education in Russian institutions of higher education especially in teachers’ colleges [7]. Unfortunately, the subject is not required at the elementary or high school levels. There is no direct reference to media education in the state school standards although at the elementary school there are a few objectives and activities suggested that refer to media topics [1]. In some regions of the country, schools have done some wonderful things in film, journalism and some other aspects of media education on their own. In this article, we will share the results of work on “integrated media education” of a Moscow experimental site which calls its project, “Media Education Technologies and New Forms of Education.”

The term, “integrated media education” refers to a special approach designed by L.S. Zaznobina as described in an article “The Integration of Science and the Humanities in Media Education” [2]. The article states that:

The content of activities in the area of media education is integrated into a school’s liberal arts and natural science subjects with the following objectives: the development of perception; information processing, critical reasoning; the ability to understand the obscure meaning of a message; the development of resistance to manipulation by mass media; shaping skills to identify, prepare, send and receive required information utilizing computers, modems, fax machines, media, and others. It supports the inclusion of additional material in the general education curriculum used to systematize student knowledge and skills in the subject areas.

There is a general trend in modern science towards a form of integration which helps in the conduct of widespread, interdisciplinary research and promotes the experience of a unified, holistic world. A. Einstein and L. Infeld while viewing the processes taking place in science wrote: “Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. The point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up” [8].

The romantic comparison of scientific knowledge with mountain climbing shows the importance and necessity of the integrative processes and helps us to understand an overall picture of our universe, only from a bird’s eye view. An integrated approach in education, as in science, opens new and wider views of the development of civilization. Alas, in practice, not everything is so simple. The relationship between individual disciplines in the minds of our students cannot appear by itself. We need to focus their minds on the discovery of that relationship and its unifying essence which will eventually lead them to a new level of understanding. Integrated learning processes can improve efficiency in learning and are worthy of more research.

We will try to resolve the problem of media education integration into the academic subjects that are taught in our schools. There are a number of questions that need to be answered first. What process shall we use in presenting media study to students? What methods should we employ? What form will the process take? What results can we expect?

The answer to the first question can be found in the words of L.S. Zaznobina: “The integration of media education with existing school disciplines relies on the learning objectives of each academic subject. In other words, one should find as many points of possible interaction between the subject and the contemporary information flow as possible; reinforce their intersection; and then set and solve those media education objectives that this particular information material allows. In one case, it may be criticism of what was seen, heard or read; or perhaps a technique is introduced to open the senses; another activity may suggest creating and then justifying an alternate view; a collection of arguments pro or con the opinion of the author of the material; or a search for the author’s “audience”; or a lesson on the mechanics of information interpretation. In school media education, the teacher should show the learner how the essence of a world view is communicated and with which tools is channeled to its audience. In order to interpret a particular flow of information, the learner should come to understand the limits to full perception or understanding caused by the tools of communication as well as the purpose served by the particular message” [2].

This approach was employed in test mode in classes of various disciplines. No training hours were allocated for these lessons. The field of media education was considered as trans-disciplinary. In future studies of this nature, success is dependent upon a necessary amount of methodology organization. This can be divided into three main stages.

• The Propaedeutic or preliminary instruction stage is focused on the introduction of different types of textual materials and the development of information activities for school children. In this context, the methods used to work with information, ethical and moral issues of the activities should be discussed and responsibility for their activities should be developed. The content matter of the training is primarily linked to information and methods of experiencing it. The teacher should pay attention to the fact that the methodology employed is determined by the specifics of the information under study. Work with each kind of mass media information needs to be carried out systematically with consideration for the age of the children, their training level and their interests.
  
  
• The second stage is the media education stage. It includes education activities with media texts as well as interaction with mass communication. Media texts whether in print, audio, video, or digital are cognitively interesting. They affect the readers, listeners, or viewers emotionally. They contribute to the development of one’s imagination and creativity. That is why mass media are the most effective means of affecting people. There are a number of mandatory requirements for the educational use of mass media. These are the intersection of media education and methodologies; the orientation on perception; the organization of textual materials; examination of the educational functions of textual materials; and a system for examining materials.
  
  
• The third stage is the creative stage. It includes the development of school media and media projects. The best way to understand how media technologies work is through creating mass media. This kind of activity requires the use of the tools of mass media creation but also the formation of actual and useable media text. During this process, the student begins to understand the internal workings of the various types of media publication. The student becomes a real publisher him/herself.

Just the kind of educational project described above in stage three was developed and utilized in 2014. It was called “A Media Festival for Schoolchildren” and can be found at: http://art.ioso.ru/mediafestival/2014/. It is a presentation of research and creative works that help children express themselves in a vibrant artistic, journalistic form. It takes shape in slide-films, videos, animations, computer presentations, websites, newspapers, and magazines. The motto of the festival is: “Tell me and I will forget; show me and I will remember; let me try it myself and I will learn.” A master class on the festival, its goals and activities can be found at: http://art/ioso.ru/mediafestival/2014/mk.htm.  Here, one may find information on technologies for media creation, choose a theme for further expansion and develop a plot. The master class is a tool for consulting on methodologies and engineering pedagogical situations. It can help to stimulate production, solve socio-cultural problems, and create a media product.

Education activities in “A Media Festival for Schoolchildren” help an educator to:

• Generate interest, responsibility and readiness for group activities;
• Develop knowledge, analytic, problem-solving and editing skills;
• Organize collaborative events, simulations, games, and research while shaping students’ skills in the colorful and clear presentation of their activities as well as the results of those activities and discoveries made during the projects;
• Achieve solutions to social and cultural problems by means of shaping student multi-disciplinary organizational, communication and media skills;
• Increase the efficiency of socialization as well as media product creativity.

The “Media Festival” concept gradually becomes a unique and cosmopolitan resource center. Aside from the methodologies and techniques exemplified, the actual creative work of the child is exciting in its own right.

During the Moscow site’s implementation of this integrated, media education project, other concepts were investigated. They include:

- The creation of conditions conducive to the organization of student cognitive activity as regards mass media and the development of “information competence.”

 Education systems should have as their aim the preparation of graduates who will have the necessary skills for maximum usage of their knowledge. Media education should become part of the foundation of a general education.

- The educational process using different forms of communication.

This part focuses on the integration of traditional forms of education with elements of “distance learning.” The involvement of children in various learning activities was made possible by computer tools.  Especially popular were those Internet technologies that filled the “information education” environment with new content and focused student activity on the creation of positive content. Some of these were the following: virtual tours, virtual master classes, virtual exhibitions, wiki projects, conference calls, voice chats and the like. From a technical point of view, these forms of communication are quite comfortable to use and interesting. From a didactic point of view, they require the solution of a number of ethical, legal, communication and visibility problems.

- Media education and information security.

Another issue requiring special attention from adults (teachers and parents) is informational security which can restrict the child’s computer access to inappropriate resources. The most important part of this issue for parents is to understand the content of media texts. Because the problem of protecting young minds from media manipulation is becoming more acute, responsible adults must develop a new type of critical thinking. One of our new priorities is to develop a form of reflection that can help one understand oneself and one’s connection to surrounding media. Teachers must use information beyond the boundaries of their particular subject during their classes. They must work to interpret it for their students. They must identify the undertones of “messages” and form positions pro or con. They must develop the necessary skills to perceive information from the screen. Only a well-trained and skilled teacher can help a student to understand the complex and dynamic media at work in the world.

- Media education diagnostics.

Diagnostics may spot problems and indentify areas for further work. The first draft of diagnostic methods has been developed. It takes the form of a media education portfolio that allows one to estimate the readiness level of both teacher and students to interact with various mass media sources; their communication skill levels; and their ability to use information obtained.

- Increasing the qualification of pedagogical personnel.

The experimental site has always maintained the educational activity of the teacher as its priority. A system of media education training for teachers was developed which includes such topics as communication forms; communication skills; business games for assessing communications culture; project activities; information resources for media education; classroom and on-line workshops such as “Audio and Video Recording in the Elementary School,” “The Art of Cinema: Exploration through Creativity,” “Use of Internet Resources in Class,” “Visualization Principles in Modern Teaching Techniques,” etc.

An undergraduate course was developed entitled “ICT in Education” based on experimental research on media education. The premise of the course is based on the update and systematization of “ICT” (information and communication technology) with other learning tools. An article describing the course presents the teacher as the one who builds the vector of the educational process on the foundation of his/her own experience, the potential of new training tools and their use in different teaching situations. Modern mass media is interconnected with information and communication technologies. A new wave of interest from teachers and students in the arena of computer telecommunications is a contributing factor to the development of media education. Considering the conceptual aspect of telecommunication usage in the educational process, it is necessary to build a teaching strategy on the basic notion of “communication” as a socializing and meaningful interaction. Only then can we consider communication in its technical forms of organization.

- Media education in kindergarten.

The most important issue the preschool education community faces is the comprehensive development of the child’s personality and his/her preparation for further school studies. In this process, various kinds of play activities are the genesis for important growth and development steps needed to face new tasks ahead of him/her. The teacher must create the conditions for the formation of cognitive activities, for independence and for creativity. A child should be able to focus, listen carefully and perform the task assigned properly.

Significant didactic media resources were used in the experimental work. They provided impression intensification, the necessary positive emotional background, availability, completeness and accuracy of the educational information. Computer technologies, as experience has shown, hold truly unlimited potential for the adaptation of visual information and the saturation of educational material with attractive and diverse video forms. They allow us to control the quality of the cognitive activity of our students. This has the additional advantage of creating a game form which increases the excitement of our preschool students. We can intensify the development of attention span, memory, and imagination as well as develop observation, comparison, generalization and extrapolation skills. Using these new techniques, we can provide constant positive motivation and enthusiasm for practice.

In conclusion, we emphasize the need for education systems to develop integrated, media literacy methodologies for all levels from kindergarten through college if they expect teachers and students to master our new world of information technology.

References

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