Teaching Media Literacy in Grade Five - The Development of Technological Literacy Among Teachers and Students - A Case Study

Oct 15, 2026

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A study examines how technological literacy developed among Grade 5 students and their teachers while implementing a media literacy curriculum project in three inner-city schools in Montreal. Teachers and pupils learned two Media Literacy concepts using a SMARTboard interface, a listserv, and web resources over an eight-week period from April to June 1999. Findings highlight a positive contribution of these devices, while also raising concerns about technological determinism and the role of interpretive teaching in educational technology.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and Review of Literature

Purpose of the Research Research Questions

Teaching Objectives: The Media Construct Reality

Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology Volume 29(2) Spring / printemps 2003 Teaching Media Literacy in Grade Five: The Development of Technological Literacy Among Teachers and Students A Case Study Rachel McCabe Winston Emery Authors Rachel McCabe is a teacher of media education at Trafalgar School for Girls, Montreal. Winston Emery is associate professor of Education at the Faculty of Education, McGill University . Abstract This is the second of two articles about a study of the implementation of a media literacy curriculum project in three inner city schools Grade 5 's in Montreal. The authors describe the development of technological literacy among the teachers and students as they learned about two Media Literacy concepts . The teaching featured the use of a SMARTboard interface, a listserv and Web resources . The findings affirm the positive contribution of the devices to the development of technological literacy among teachers and pupils . But they also raise other issues : technological determinism and the role of interpretive teaching in educational technology . Résumé Il s 'agit du second de deux articles consacré s à une étude sur la mise en uvre d'un projet de programme d'études d'initiation aux médias dans les classes de c inquième anné e de trois é coles du centre ville de Montré al. Les auteurs y décrivent, en termes d'initiation à la technologie, les progrè s desenseignants et des étudiants au fur et à mesure que ceux ci se familiarisaient avec deux concepts d'initiation aux médias . L'enseignements 'appuyait sur l'interface SMARTboard, un gestionnaire list serv et des ressources sur Internet. Les conclusions confirment l'effet positif de ces dispositifs sur les progrè s des enseignants et des étudiants en termes d'initiation à la technologie . Elles soulèvent cependant d'autres questions, telles que celles du déterminisme technologique et du rôle del'enseignement interprétatif au sein de la technologie pédagogique . Introduction and Review of Literature In this article we examine the development of technological literacy among three groups of Grade 5 students and their teachers as they followed a short ( eight week) curriculum in media education. The curriculum project, initiated in three inner city schools of the English Montreal School Board ( EMSB) , ran for eight weeks from April to June 1999. The students and teachers used a SMARTboard interface, a list serv and Web resources to learn about two key concepts of Media Literacy . Our overall approach to studying the students and teachers and our observations and our commentary reflected a multiliteracies perspective ( New London Group, 1996) which emphasizes that negotiating the multiple linguistic and cultural differences in our society is central to being able to work, to be good citizens and to develop personally in this postmodern era . Our focus is on the understandings and abilities the teachers and pupils developed through using computer technology to learn about the media and to communicate . Specifically, we were informed by theories of media education and how it should be taught ( Buckingham, 1990; Emery, 1995; Masterman, 1985; Rother, 2000) and the notion that students at the elementary level can benefit from critical study of the media, ( Shepherd, 1993) . For a more complete discussion, see Emery and McCabe (2003) . Despite a plethora of programs in media education for secondary and tertiary institutions and numerous calls in the literature for the implementation of Media Literacy curriculum atthe elementary school level, there is a dearth of systematic classroom studies of Media Literacy curriculum implementation, especially at the elementary level. ( Emery and McCabe, 2003) . Our approach to research was modeled on previous work by Buckingham and colleagues ( Buckingham, 1990; Buckingham and Sefton Green, 1994; Buckingham, Grahame and Sefton Green, 1995) . Unlike the Buckingham team, however, we followed teachers

FAQs

What setting and participants were involved in the study?

The study followed three groups of Grade 5 students and their teachers in three inner-city schools in Montreal as part of a media education curriculum project.

Which tools and resources supported media literacy learning?

Learning used a SMARTboard interface, a listserv, and web resources to explore two key Media Literacy concepts.

What did the study aim to find out about students and teachers?

The research focused on students’ “literate” behavior, teachers’ perceptions of the process, and how technological literacy and Media Literacy understandings developed through classroom activities.

Oct 15, 2026

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