Media Literacy: What we know, what we don’t know, what we could do now Andrew Burn Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media Institute of Education University of London

1.The value of the OFCOM definition 2.The importance of media literacy: (i) democracy, participation and active citizenship; (ii) the knowledge economy, competitiveness and choice; and (iii) lifelong learning, cultural expression and personal fulfilment (LSE review) 3.Key barriers: demographic; flip side of enablers Key enablers: education, community provision and social networks, the family, the media itself The research

5. The need for further research: The move from functional to critical literacy Models of progression in media literacy Engagement with online content, mobile technologies Creation of media texts (adults and children) Inequality and exclusion The relation between media literacy and print literacy The function of and relation between the barriers and enablers

Culture as well as Information; Fiction as well as Fact; appreciative as well as critical understanding The importance of creation – future of the creative industries and the arts as well as fully-participating citizens (compare music and art?) Joined-up policy: DCMS, Home Office, DFES Broadcast and online media – film and print? Some concerns

Four things we could do immediately for the citizens of the future: Train media teachers Integrate media literacy into the National Literacy Strategy; put media literacy in the ‘writing’ as well as ‘reading’ section of the English National Curriculum Co-ordinate the efforts of the specialist media arts colleges to develop models of progression in media literacy Broadcast and exhibit the media work of young people Four possibilities