Media literacy: A bridge between communication and education

Abstract

The widespread use of information and communication applications in digital media has changed the way pupils and students embark on the learning process, the terms of learning engagement, and their perception of the value and usefulness of information and knowledge. However, curricula in Greece do not follow this change, at any educational level; students' needs are not supported in a digital, interactive, environment; nor is the importance of digital communities valued in school life. The introduction of selective digital literacies in a "skills zone" in secondary education is invalidated as an innovation by the number and irrelevance of subjects fitted into this one teaching hour per week; furthermore, this training is delivered by teachers who have not received any MIL education. This challenge can be resolved by introducing MIL courses in formal curricula and by training active and future educators.