Media literacy and the concept of ‘technologies’ in primary school classrooms: moving beyond technical skills

Abstract

Media literacy education in Australia is underpinned by the key concepts of media education: technologies, representations, institutions, audiences, languages and, more recently, relationships. The conceptual approach to media literacy education continues to offer a way for teachers and students to critically examine the media. In Australia, this usually occurs through the subject strand of Media Arts; however, little research explores how the concepts are used in primary school classrooms. This study investigates how the key concept of ‘technologies’ was enacted in three primary school classrooms. A case study methodology was employed to gain insight into how teaching and learning experiences develop an understanding of the concept of ‘technologies’. A thematic analysis determined that the concept of ‘technologies’ was explored in the case study classrooms. However, technology was used as a tool to complete tasks rather than a nuanced examination of how technology enables and constrains production and distribution.