"You're a Winner": An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Exposure on Teachers' Awareness of Media Literacy

Pre-service teachers who use the Internet both for course preparation and student resources need to be aware of and also help their future students understand the influences under which the Internet operates. In this paper, the authors explore pre-service teachers’ awareness of Internet hegemonies and investigate whether and how this awareness changes after a classroom lesson, activity, and practice focused on media literacy. Qualitative methods were chosen to deeply explore the teacher education students’ ideas about, perceptions of, and process for considering the issues raised. Seventy teacher education students participated, and the data indicate that even brief exposure to media literacy principles might make a difference in the ways that teachers perceive and use computer-based media. Implications and suggestions for teacher education are noted and proposals for further research included. instantly from a Web site she was checking and she was calling to claim her prize. She couldn’t understand what the person on the phone was saying, though, and she needed Ms. Preuss to listen and help. After two minutes listening to the person on the phone, Ms. Preuss concluded that it was a common Internet ploy Kara would supposedly be entered into a drawing if she gave the person on the phone her personal information and answered questions about her interests and habits. When the flashing box with “You’re a Winner!” flashed up on her computer screen, Kara didn’t have the knowledge or skills to figure out what was going on. (A true story) DOI: 10.4018/ijcallt.2011100103 34 International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 1(4), 33-48, October-December 2011 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Many native-English-speaking students are regularly misled by offers and information on the Internet, despite the cultural and linguistic knowledge that is expected to help them avoid these pitfalls. Students with different first languages and different cultural values, like Kara, are even more susceptible to hidden Internet messages and their underlying ideologies, particularly when so much on the Internet is not explicit and is controlled by hegemonic forces rooted in Western values and behaviors. Censorship is not enough to solve this issue and may not be appropriate (Frechette, 2005). Rather, pre-service teachers who use the Internet both for course preparation and student resources need to be aware of and also help their students understand the influences under which the Internet operates what Frechette calls an “empowerment approach” (p. 555). One possible way for teacher educators to assist teachers in helping all students use the Internet critically is to focus on media literacy in teacher education courses. The qualitative study described in this paper employs a framework integrating literature on digital hegemony, media literacy, and teacher education to explore the process of teachers becoming media-aware and developing understandings to address the needs of all of their learners.