What is Reading Mediations?
Reading Mediations
Mediate: to bring about, to convey; to occupy a place between two objects or positions; not direct or immediate. Mediation is an action that makes things apparent, or a movement between them. Like a lens, it can clarify an image or distort it. Language––both words and text––mediates thought, and the more complicated communication becomes, the more it is mediated, both by its form and its context. The intention of this instructional resource is to call attention to the mediated nature of what we read online, and to help users understand the complexities of accessing, evaluating, and circulating information in a virtual environment, which are mediating activities in and of themselves.
Reading Mediations is an interactive, web-based guide for teaching and learning critical online reading skills. Best used with high school or college students, it includes a selection of critical reading tools and verification resources, guided readings, and structured learning activities. It also presents opportunities for independent exploration and critique of the online news and information ecosystem, with live content provided through Twitter and several news websites.
The guiding principle of Reading Mediations is that the epidemic of misinformation, propaganda, and poor journalism online cannot be eradicated by fact-checking tools alone. It must begin with us, the readers. Learning first about how we consume information, and then learning how to do so in a savvy, responsible, and self-aware manner, readers will be better equipped to absorb and share what they engage with online as critical thinkers. Reading Mediations takes advantage of the networked environment in which we read, both to model best practices and to provide users with direct experience. The guide's readings are organized in a semi-structured but non-linear way––not only because this is how we tend to read online, but also because reading in a networked manner can help us navigate and evaluate the surfeit of information available.
The goal is to familiarize learners with the basics of critical information literacy, as well as metaliteracy, which is specific to the online environment and the circulation of information. "Metaliteracy promotes critical thinking and collaboration in a digital age, providing a comprehensive framework to effectively participate in social media and online communities. It is a unified construct that supports the acquisition, production, and sharing of knowledge in collaborative online communities".1
Reading Mediations by Lisa Ann Hirschfield is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cuny.is/fmaus.
