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This initial essay in the Media Literacy Symposium serves two purposes. First, we introduce the nine authors who have written the eight essays especially for this symposium. Second, we provide a broad context for the thinking expressed by those nine scholars. In building that context, we discuss a range of conceptual and application issues. The conceptual issues focus on the range of definitions for both media and literacy. The application issues include considerations about curriculum design, teaching, and the assessment of media literacy.Media are penetrating cultures and inundating people with information at an everaccelerating pace. Around the world, there is a sharply growing realization among educators that it is essential to teach people to understand the media and their messages. Though the calls for media literacy are not new, what is new is the rise of relatively inexpensive media that allow students to produce their own works, the rapid transnational transmission of programming, and the concerted effort by several countries over the last 2 decades to develop national curricula. Yet, even with the reemergence of media literacy as a key area of interest, the construct itself remains a complex and dynamic phenomenon. For this symposium, we asked several scholars to address the fundamental question: "What is my conceptualization of media literacy?" The scholars used this question as a springboard into other theoretical areas (such as the components of literacy and how humans interpret information) and practical areas (such as challenges for parents and regulators of media industries).The scholars in this symposium generally reflect two orientations. The first four have focused their media literacy efforts on children and adolescents, reflecting about challenges and issues associated with media literacy education and how we

Recent assessment trends suggest that those interested in media literacy in higher education will need to clearly define the term and develop standards and competencies to measure media literacy student-learning outcomes. Standards, one from an accreditation agency and the other from an academic association, are presented as starting points for further conversation.

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