evaluating media literacy as competences: what can we agree on?
DESCRIPTION
Slides from a presentation given at EuroMeduc (Second European congress on media literacy - Italy, Bellaria, 21-24 October 2009). This is the 'full version'; my actual presentation had to be trimmed down to 2/3 of the slides.TRANSCRIPT
EVALUATING MEDIA LITERACY AS COMPETENCES: WHAT CAN WE AGREE ON?
Pierre FastrezGroupe de Recherche en Médiation des Savoirs
Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Where do I stand? (a few oratorical precautions)
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
2
What I intend to bring to the table a social/cognitive/communication scientist’s
point of view a newcomer’s perspective
EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
A simple observation…
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Media Education, a vivid field Media Literacy evaluation
is still in its infancy still lacks systematic efforts to make it a
coherent endeavour
Assessing ML : what priorities?
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
4
Agreement: Regarding theoretical definitions of Media
Literacy Not on definitions and frameworks But rather on how these definitions and
frameworks relate Regarding methodological principles for
assessment
Outline
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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1. Assessing Media Literacy: what can we agree on?
a. Theoretical issuesb. Methodological issues
2. A few proposals regarding Media Literacy competence assessment
Theoretical issues
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Assessing ML requires an agreement on what it is
Defining ML is dependent on Historical and cultural context Media landscape development Policies Epistemological views
Theoretical issues
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Goal: identify common ground for Media Literacy definitions Independent of cultural contexts That can be specified and interpreted in these contexts
Media Literacy lies in the individual’s competences not the media environment:
media literacy is not equivalent to media education Outcome vs. process
Evaluating the process is evaluating its efficiency with respect to the outcome
Benchmarking outcomes is a sine qua non condition
Theoretical issues
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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A fundamental hypothesis: Media Literacy is related to a number of generic skills
E.g. media and communication technologies as mindtools These skills are generic in that they are not related to
specific media (film, print, internet…) specific activity domains
E.g. commercial information, product placement, minor protection, civic participation…
A bi-lateral relationship (virtuous circle) These skills can be developed through specific media use and
specific media education practices The more these skills are developed, the more they facilitate
other media appropriation processes
Theoretical issues
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Consequence of this hypothesis: we need to relate specific skills to their “common ground” E.g. “digital” skills are not of a different nature than
“traditional media” skills E.g. Film studies vs. media education
appreciating one’s media cultural heritage relies on the same skills as appreciating other cultures’ contribution to the media environment
E.g. Understanding the semiotic specificities of a given media: Representing time in blogs and twitter (input flow and chronology) Representing time on the silver screen (editing and rhythm)
E.g. Building typologies: reading the news and managing bookmarks
E.g. Perceiving the producer’s intent: watching a documentary and moderating a forum
Methodological principles
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Methodological issues regarding ML evaluation Definition of levels Competence and performance Assessment tools validation process
Levels of Media Literacy
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
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There are degrees of complexity in competences
Operationalization: Levels (when it makes sense) Tools for researchers Not meant for unilateral ranking
Which would assume one can weigh the relative importance of skills
Rather, a multidimensional analysis tool
EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
Competence vs. performance
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Competences are virtual, and can only be observed when actualized in practical and concrete tasks
Evaluating competence through performance Consequences:
The production vs. reception distinction should be set (for now) at the performance level (vs. as categories of skills)
Performances are connected to different competences E. g. moderating a forum: social and cognitive
competences
From concept to indicators
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Concept •Media Literacy
Dimensions •Competences•How can we group them? (technical, social, cognitive)•What levels can we define?
Indicators•Performances: specific tasks•What activity domains?•What media?
From concept to indicators
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Concept •Media Literacy
Dimensions •Competences•How can we group them? (technical, social, cognitive)•What levels can we define?
Indicators•Performances: specific tasks•What activity domains?•What media?
2. An attempt at breaking down the Media Literacy concept
Cognitive vs. social(vs. technical) skills
Semio-cognitive vs. socio-cognitive skills
Conceptual distinctions independent of specific activity fields
Representation
Information
Intention
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
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EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
Cognitive vs. social(vs. technical) skills
Semio-cognitive vs. socio-cognitive skills
Conceptual distinctions independent of specific activity fields
Representation
Information
Intention
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
17
EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
2. An attempt at breaking down the Media Literacy concept
2. An attempt at breaking down the Media Literacy concept
Cognitive vs. social(vs. technical) skills
Semio-cognitive vs. socio-cognitive skills
Conceptual distinctions independent of specific activity fields
Representation
Information
Intention
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
18
EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
Semio-cognitive skills
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Dimensions (inductive grouping) : Reading (decoding / synthesizing /
evaluating) Writing (coding, creating, producing) Navigating (searching, exploring, managing
uncertainty) Organizing (keeping, sorting, annotating) Using responsibly (knowledge of use
regulation, stakes and principles)
Socio-cognitive skills
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Pragmatic socialization: The extent to which an individual poses communicational acts that establish social relationships in more or less extended social spaces.
Informational socialization: The extent to which each individual extends and diversifies their relationships as a receiver, a relay, or a producer of information within social space.
Socio-cognitive skills
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Social levels logic (criteria, not thresholds) From contact and participation, to networking and active
presence, to cooperative networking Diversity (from tribe to society) Creativity and involvement (from follower to autonomous
agent) Decentration (from egocentric to allocentric)
Dimensions: Reception: media selection and exploration Expression: communicative acts, idioms and receivers Pragmatics: relational contexts and interactions Ethics: perceived rules and lines of conduct
Socio-cognitive skills
Informational socialization
Reception
Expression
Are informational socialization skills only socio-cognitive?
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
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EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
Theoretical questions left open
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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How are Media Literacy skills correlated? From an analytical to a systemic point of
view: connecting after having distinguished E.g. does critical thinking development
facilitate creativity? Ethics as a socio-cognitive skill and responsible
use as a semio-cognitive skill …
Need to work on the structure of ML as a concept federating a set of competences Not just conceptually, but empirically
Back to methodology: validation
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Building relevant ML assessment tools takes time and a lot of research
ML dimensions (skills) can (and must) be translated into multiple indicators related to different media / activity domains
Validation requires Multiple indicators for the same skill Internal consistency evaluation
Back to methodology: validation
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009
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Data / indicators based on (roughly in order of preference) Observation of specific tasks
Experiments Participant observation
Analysis of traces Personal environments / personal information spaces Including statistics
Interviews and surveys Self-assessment tools
Triangulation: a requirement for validation
Conclusions and implications
Pierre Fastrez [GReMS/UCL]
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Working on competence definitions and their operationalization is a requirement for ML assessment.
Constructing ML assessment tools are a means for setting objectives for media educators bridging the gap between
asymptotic goals (“be an active citizen and media user”)
and practical know-hows (“know how to frame a close shot”)
EuroMeduc Bellaria – Oct. 22nd, 2009