Reflect on why digital and media literacy matters for learning and teaching
The Digital Learning Horoscope is a 48-item Likert scale instrument that assesses teachers’ perception of the value and relevance of six conceptual themes, namely: attitudes toward technology tools, genres and formats; message content and quality; community connectedness; texts and audiences; media systems; and learner-centered focus.
Visit the Set Your Motivations website
At this website, you can take the quiz and receive a customized profile that invites you to reflect on your values and motivations for bringing media and digital literacy to learners. You can create a Group and invite people to complete the quiz and use the data to create reflection on the benefits of having teaching staff with different motivations for digital and media literacy.
FACE TO FACE LEARNING
You can use this short handout to invite participants to self-reflect on their motivational style preferences. You can also use these brief descriptions of the 12 motivational profiles as a tool for discussion.
The quiz is informed by theory and based on the observation that teachers have differential levels of attachment to empowerment-protectionist beliefs about the affordances or liabilities of media and technology.
The instrument measures differential levels of teacher valuation of:
(1) technology tools, genres and formats;
(2) message content and quality;
(3) community connectedness;
(4) texts and audiences;
(5) understanding media systems; and
(6) learner-centered focus.
The digital learning motivation measures feature the these 12 profiles: Techie, Professional (technology tools, genres and formats); Tastemaker, Professor (message content and quality); Activist, Teacher 2.0 (community connectedness); Alt, Trendsetter (texts and audiences); Watchdog, Demystifier (media systems); Motivator, Spirit Guide (learnercentered). There are four statements associated with each of the 12 profiles.
Two have a valence with themes of protection and two have a valence with themes of empowerment. For example, an example of an Activist item with a valence as protection is: “It’s my job to help students examine how and why social institutions can be unjust and inequitable.” An example of an Activist item with a valence as empowerment is: “Civic engagement should be activated by the use of media and technology in the classroom.”