Document Type

Dissertation

First Faculty Advisor

Baran, Stanley

Keywords

Reading; Media; Literacy; information; technology;

Publisher

Bryant University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look at media literacy and how it is taught. Considering the rapid advances in technology which have led us to read more than just books, this research argues for a new form of literacy. Through focus group discussions and an analysis of a background questionnaire in support of those discussions, this study discovered that media literacy education in its current state may be having more of a negative effect on students than it anticipates. This research demonstrates the students who have taken media literacy courses, in direct comparison with those who have not, are more likely to demonstrate cynical attitudes toward media and be impacted by the third-person effect. The consequences of this, as well as suggestions for improvement, are discussed in relation to interaction versus dismissiveness and cynicism versus skepticism.

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