Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Morrell's exploration of successful cyber-media campaigns, coupled with the need for increased critical media literacy, is especially relevant to our society today. As he states, we are currently in the midst of a communications renaissance. Teaching students how to properly approach online information, in order to inform themselves, is necessary. An increasing trend nowadays are faux-news stories which go viral on facebook, which people believe and share without further exploration. With an increased focus on internet literacy, online manipulation will decrease.

Teaching children how to effectively use the internet and social media in order to facilitate social activism was a great focus as well. Very often, people like to lament the woes of technological progress. Rather than focusing on the perceived negative effects, educators need to embrace this social shift and use it as an agent for good. Educating children on potential methods for online revolution is not only more proactive than attacking social media, but it gives the students life skills that they will need as adults.