12. Obstacles, Challenges, and Potential: Envisioning the Future

Establishing documentary production support for 21st century campuses

“…Schwarz and Brown (2005:p 6) writes that while there is lack of agreement about the concept of media literacy, "… many scholars, educators, parents, and community activists agree that media literacy is essential in the 21st century." Most scholars agree that being able to produce, analyze and critique various media is an important part of media literacy competence (Schwarz 2005;Thoman and Jolls 2004) We encourage post-secondary institutions to offer documentary support services as resources permit. A short list of the basic technological resources needed includes knowledgeable staff of documentary production; recording equipment for students to check out including consumer grade cameras, tripods, lavalier microphones; computer editing labs with firewire ports, intermediate level editing software, studio microphones for narration, and extra backup storage space for projects.…”

Overcoming Cognitive and Motivational Barriers to Media Literacy: A Dual-Process Approach

“…In elementary and secondary education, media literacy is among the core "21st century skills" deemed critical to success in the emerging global economy (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). According to some advocates (e. g., McBrien, 2005;McCannon, 2009;Schwarz, 2005a), media literacy is vital to the ability to operate as skeptical consumers, autonomous thinkers, and responsible, informed citizens in a democratic society.…”

“…The challenges of implementing media literacy educational programs are only exacerbated during times of economic uncertainty. As resources become scarce, subjects viewed as supplementary, and particularly those lacking quantifiable student outcomes, are typically the first to go (Schwarz, 2005a). As such, media literacy efforts are often abandoned in favor of more traditional subjects.…”