Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (6 page)

Media Literacy and Twenty-first Century Skills

As author James Naisbitt wrote in his 1982 book
Megatrends
, “We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge” (24). This phenomenon of the information age has led many in the literary field to expand the concept of literacy to better prepare students for twenty-first-century realities. Consequently, formal media literacy curricula, as part of a complete ELA program, have been growing in scope and importance in school districts throughout North America and around the world. Various terms are used to describe this expanded definition of literacy that accounts for today's merging and converging media. “Media literacy,” “media education,” “twenty-first-century literacies,” and others are used, but, for the purpose of this essay, we will utilize the term “media literacy.”

Numerous organizations like CML (the Center for Media Literacy) and NAMLE (the National Association for Media in Education) have formed in recent years to promote the concept, but more interesting is the support for media literacy from groups like the near century-old NCTE and even the American Pediatrics Association.

The CML defines “media literacy” as follows:

Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to assess, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms—from print to video to the Internet. Media Literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.

Similarly, a position statement adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee states, “As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies.” In the same position statement, the NCTE lists key competencies for twenty-first century ELA students, all of which encourage a proactive rather than passive/receptive approach to technology:

To develop proficiency with the tools of technology

To build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally

To design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes

To manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information

To create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts

In addition, a policy statement issued by the American Pediatrics Association in August 1999 states that “given the volume of information transmitted through mass media as opposed to the written word, it is as important to teach media literacy as print literacy.”

Why are pediatricians and ELA teachers, learned professionals who work with children, supporting media literacy in the classroom? Simply put, composing, implementing, and analyzing messages using the latest effective communication tools can greatly benefit today's students. The digital age has torn down previously existing walls between media; the printed word, photography, film, video, graphic art, animation, voice tracks, music, and the Internet now constitute an emerging “mega-medium.” As a result, everyone with access to a computer can both consume and create massive amounts of information in various forms. Students must learn to master this flow of digital assets; one route to this learning is through innovative teaching of literature.

Educators who first attempt to create and assemble a multimedia lesson/unit plan will find that their students are exposed to and arguably bombarded with a constant assault of information in various forms and of varying quality. By introducing and embracing twenty-first-century technologies and curricula in the classroom, teachers can train their students to be critical readers, viewers, and creators of all of this information. From digital photo essays, to character studies using Twitter, texts, and blogs, to electronic journalism reports—the possibilities are seemingly endless. What have up to now been considered by some as superficial social networking tools or multimedia software toys are seen by “digital natives” like today's high school students as vital means of communication. Best of all, when embedded in a well-developed lesson plan, these tools can force students to use the higher-level thinking skills demanded in our standards and benchmarks. To create an effective multimedia message, students will, among other things, be required to analyze, appraise, select, evaluate, assemble, write, design, and create remarkably effective communication projects.

Although “book culture” will continue to be valued and traditional literacy media (i.e., the original printed publication) will remain an important component of ELA education, we encourage twenty-first-century teachers to throw away the notion that
only
the printed word and classic means of information transmission are worthy of critical analysis. For ELA students to be best prepared for the information challenges of the twenty-first century, they need to become critical consumers and creators of nonprint information, communication, and entertainment. By embracing media literacy-based tools and lesson plans across the curriculum, including the traditional English classroom, we can help students to better navigate the sea of information while growing as well as feeding on a wealth of knowledge.

Learning with Technology,
Not from Technology

Incorporating proactive multimedia and online research methodologies to teach
To Kill a Mockingbird
has great potential. However, technology alone is an ineffective teacher. For example, simply consulting one website for the definition of “Jim Crow laws” or downloading the film adaptation of
To Kill a Mockingbird
is not the most effective, efficient, or productive use of media in the classroom. These constitute passive learning
from
technology: that is, information is recorded through technological devices and the data is then delivered to the student, a passive recipient of technology's output. Unfortunately, this does not promote higher-level thinking skills, nor does it implement technology to the fullest potential.

Instead of students learning from the technology, they should be partnering with, or even “teaching,” the computer as they learn. Technology must be perceived as more than hard- or software. David Jonassen, Jane Howland, Rose M. Marra, and David Crismond, in the book
Meaningful Learning with Technologies
, identify the underlying principles of learning with technology:

Its designs, environments, and intellectual “tool kits” engage learners and build meaningful interpretations and representations of the world. It can be a reliable technique or method for engaging learning and encourage cognitive learning strategies and critical thinking skills. It encompasses any activity that engages learners in active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative learning rather than passively conveying or communicating meaning. It fulfills a legitimate learning need. It is learner-initiated and learner-controlled. It fosters an intellectual partnership between learners and technologies. (8)

Technologies also foster learning by affording students the opportunity to convey ideas, understandings, and beliefs by creating and organizing their own multimedia messages. In this way, technology serves as a comprehensive information vehicle through which students assess information and compare/contrast perspectives, beliefs, and worldviews. Instead of consulting just one or two textbooks or library resources as in the past, students can now access and assess numerous information sources due to the power and speed of the Internet and other online tools. Students then can use this technology to create their own product or project. This supports students through learning by doing and by solving real-world problems.

Technology can also be used as a “social” medium, allowing learners to collaborate with others in the same classroom, or around the world. This can enable global discussion in which arguments, consensus, and synergistic discourse can be developed. Hence, technology can be an intellectual partner to students, helping them articulate and represent what they know, allowing them to reflect on what they have learned, and support mindful thinking (Jonassen et al. 5). It can also foster critical thinking, helping students learn from thinking about their actions, their beliefs, and the actions of others. According to Jonassen et al., a wide variety of thinking processes are fostered by learning with technologies, including causal or prediction; analogical (using analogies and comparing something to an idea that is already understood); expressive (where learners express what they know); experiential (personal experience that results in the most meaningful and resistant memories); and problem solving—what information to include, how to structure the information, and what form it should take (9). All of this can encourage students to build knowledge through open-ended, student-directed research projects where students are encouraged to “harvest” the Internet's vast information bank and learn as much as they can about a topic, determine what is important, and develop their own questions. It is essential that the students be in charge of the project, making key decisions about what topic to research and where to search for information as well as looking for primary as well as secondary information sources.

What should an open-ended, student-directed research project look like in the twenty-first century? One good example is the WebQuest. Like many new techniques and learning technologies, WebQuests have been misrepresented and misunderstood. The creator of the WebQuest, Bernie Dodge, did not intend for them to be simple electronic worksheets where students use the Internet to “fill in the blanks” in a set of questions. Instead, Dodge's intent is for students to incorporate cooperative learning, consider multiple perspectives (which the Internet makes remarkably easy), analyze and synthesize information, and create original products that demonstrate the acquired knowledge. An ideal WebQuest requires students to select and research the topics of their choice, provided that each meets the teacher's learning objectives. This is best done after a class
room brainstorming session. Effective WebQuests implement the GAP model (Caverly, qtd. in Jonassen et al. 25), which is comprised of the following steps:

•
G
athering information

•
A
rranging information into meaningful formats

• Using technology tools to
P
resent that new knowledge to others

All of this promotes higher-learning abilities and critical-thinking skills as students are forced to present and defend the information they found. Learners can use online tools, such as Inspiration software, to create concept maps of their projects and create Web files to compile and share information. As stated by Jonassen et al. in
Meaningful Learning with Technology
, “The cognitive and social skills required to construct WebQuests offer a motivating, deep learning experience. Students made interdisciplinary connections and were challenged intellectually. At the same time, they gained experience with technology presentation skills—and had fun!” (26).

Teaching
Mockingbird
with Technology

What makes
To Kill a Mockingbird
particularly appropriate for using multimedia learning tools is its potential for exploring the timeless issues and topics addressed in its plotline. The novel allows for the study of early twentieth-century American Southern history and culture as well as traditional, New Critical literary analysis. Although time constraints may limit the amount of time spent on the sociohistorical aspects, even limited attention can constitute an important step in the student's deeper understanding of its connection to the novel. Through extensive online research, partnered with proactive multimedia presentation methods, students can explore such historical topics as the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Great Depression, racial inequality, the Scottsboro boys incident, and the Emmet Till trial—all of which have been identified as relevant to study in conjunction with the reading of
To Kill a Mockingbird
. Other aspects of the novel as analyzed in the critical literature, including characterization (particularly pertaining to Scout and Atticus), coming of age, and parent/child relationships, may also be explored through technology-driven teaching and learning. Some specific classroom activity ideas for teaching
To Kill a Mockingbird
using timely, interactive technology without sacrificing traditional literary and interdisciplinary content follow.

1. PowerPoints and Photo Essays to Teach
Mockingbird
-Related History

Students can demonstrate as well as actively convey their understanding of the historical contexts and events connected to
To Kill a Mockingbird
through the creation of PowerPoint/photo essays. An example of such an assignment is as follows:

Students, working in groups, select one of the aforementioned historically related topics. They then research their topic by comparing and contrasting the content of at least four online resources, executing a critical analysis of the website material as they assess the reputation, organization, and accuracy of the website.

Armed with this information, the students select and assemble what they consider the most appropriate and important information on the topic. This information should be comprised of photographs and other graphic elements in addition to text. For example, photographs of key civil rights leaders and/or moments could provide the visual content. The final step requires the students to create, design, develop, and write a three- to five-minute, prerecorded PowerPoint and photo essay that effectively communicates their findings and interpretations to the class. After each presentation, students discuss the topics and the group's findings in a full class setting.