Media and information literacy

This module is a resource for educators teaching digital and/or media literacy in their classrooms. This module aligns to the Australian Curriculum General Capability description for Digital Literacy and with general literacy capabilities as described across the Learning Areas of the Australian Curriculum.

Using this resource

This module provides information and frameworks through which students and educators can develop an understanding of both the importance of good information, media and digital literacy and the skills to put these literacies into action.

Through examples drawn from the Library's collections, this module provides opportunities to explore how and why digital and media literacy can and should be exercised.

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin audio recordings

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin is the Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) in the United States. Through her work, Lipkin has helped NAMLE grow to be the preeminent media literacy education association in the U.S. Her passion for media literacy education stems from a very personal place.

In 2017, in conjunction with the United States Embassy, the Library hosted an event with Michelle Cuilla Lipkin and U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Gavin Sundwall. The event covered the need for strong media and informational literacy and how to evaluate and identify the bias presented in the media. Throughout this module, snippets of this event are embedded and provide more information about this topic.

Full Audio - Media Literacy Basics Bias & Agenda Event

Topics in this module

A page of a newspaper with the headline 'LITERACY: FACT and FICTION'. The page also includes cartoons and black and white photos

N.S.W. Teachers' Federation & New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation. (1919). LITERACY: FACT and FICTION, Education : journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-710682297

Defining literacies

Topic

Media, information and digital literacy, by their most basic definitions, relate to a person’s skills and ability to locate, create, use and engage critically with information in a range of formats.

Digital Classroom

Man wearing face mask and purple vest standing new a doorway. On the wall around the door are instructions on how to vote in a federal election.

Sandy Scheltema, Australian Electoral Commission officer standing next to a 'How to Vote in a Federal Election' poster outside the polling place in Glenlyon Hall, during the Australian federal election, Glenlyon, Victoria, 21 May, 2022, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3108998796

Why do we need these skills?

Topic

We interact with information in a vast array of forms from any number of sources every day. It is becoming increasingly apparent that, to fully participate, navigate and thrive in the modern world, people need the skills and abilities to engage critically with information presented to them.

Digital Classroom

A black and white photograph of a group of men standing at a white information desk. Above the desk is a large sign that says INFORMATION. Men behind the counter and speaking and hanging out brochures.

Wolfgang Sievers, Information desk at German stand, Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria 1966, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161478886

Where to start?

Topic

Information is all around us, every day. Regardless of whether we are looking for the information or having it presented to us unexpectedly, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of data we are exposed to.

Digital Classroom

Interpreting the collection

Wolfgang Sievers, Information desk at German stand, Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria 1966, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161478886

Art: The Death of Cook

Topic

Within the Treasures Gallery in the Library hangs a large oil painting in a gilded frame. The artwork was painted in 1781 by British artist George Carter (1737–1795). It is titled Death of Captain Cook.

Digital Classroom

A yellowed sheet of paper with the headline '[Co]nventional Lies of the Anti-Federal Party'. The 'C' and 'O' of the word 'conventional' is missing as the corner of the page has been torn off. The very small text is set out in four columns

(1899). Conventional lies of the Anti-Federal Party, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135107257

Commentary: "Conventional Lies"

Topic

The idea of Federation of the states had been discussed in Australia from about 1850, with the movement gaining real momentum in 1889 after a speech by veteran New South Wales politician Sir Henry Parkes.

Digital Classroom

The front page of the Tribune newspaper. The headline reads 'USA FORCED TO DROP CUBA INVASION'. There is a black and white photograph of 5 people holding protest signs.

(1962, October 31). Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991), p. 1, nla.gov.au/nla.news-page25610837

Print media: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Topic

Under legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act (1968), one copy of everything that is published in Australia must be lodged with the National Library of Australia. As a result, the Library’s collection holds a vast array of Australia’s printed news media.

Digital Classroom

A large red and yellow poster with a bold headline reading 'COAL IS VITAL TO VICTORY!'. The poster has three sub headings that read 'Switch off PROMPTLY' with a picture of a light switch, 'Turn that GAS down!' With an image of a pot on a gas cooktop, and 'Don't waste WATER!' with an image of a running tap.

Commonwealth Coal Commission from New South Wales. Department of Health. & Commonwealth Salvage Commission (Australia). & Commonwealth Coal Commission (Australia), Coal is Vital to Victory!, from [Posters Relating to the Australian Civilian War Effort During World War 2]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2633341080

Public service announcements: For the war effort

Topic

The posters on this page were published during times of conflict.

Digital Classroom

Curriculum links

This module aligns with the Australian Curriculum v9.

This module provides information and opportunities to exercise information, media, and digital literacy skills by drawing on the collections of the National Library of Australia to provide examples. By the nature of the collection items used, Humanities and Social Sciences, English and Languages Learning Areas are represented specifically, but the information and media literacy skills can be applied more broadly in Learning Areas across the curriculum.

This module makes connections with other General Capabilities described by the Australian Curriculum including Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking and Digital Literacy.

For more information about the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities, please see the Australian Curriculum website.