Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Media literacy today can be viewed as a set of skills that allow people to understand messages they receive through writing, sound, or visual images. At one time individuals were considered literate if they could read and write. Today, that is no longer sufficient, because, most of the information comes through pictures that include television, video games, music videos, advertising. Most current undergraduate students have never known a life without the internet – it is the glue that holds their personal and social lives together. It makes sense that university lecturers should nurture students’ familiarity with technology, encouraging its use in teaching and learning, and paying attention to developing broader digital literacy skills. However sensible this might seem, the reality is somewhat different. University lecturers, who are powerful role models for students can be very resistant to adopting new digital teaching practices, and will vary in their ability to engage with the online world. While they complain about the undergraduate students’ in ability to read and write effectively in the traditional way, they show varied degree of resistance to digital media usage in their day to day teaching and learning activities. Many seem to complain about lack of digital teaching and learning resources within their universities, and yet these are easily available at the palms of their hands in form of smartphones and tablets. This theoretical paper highlights the challenges that this situation poses to achieving desirable literacy levels within public university learning environment in Kenya today.