The late 20th century saw the rapid evolution of digital technologies with the rise of television. Television became an important function of American livelihood, and as many as 90% of households owned television set by 1971. With the advent of new technologies also came new cultural customs, along with a “new language” of symbols, cues, and meanings (Moody, 1993). This included a “whole different wave of music…entertainment…and media-oriented activities,” such as TV dinners for uninterrupted viewing (Jensen 2014). Theorist John Culkin coined this as a “media literacy,” or ones ability to analyze, understand, and evaluate these symbols. In the early second half of the 20th century, this meant making sense of messaging used in film, television, print, and the radio.

During this time, educators began to consider media literacy as a practice of civic engagement, “part of the exercise of democratic rights and civil responsibilities” (Hobbs & Jensen, 2009). Civic education recognized that students must be prepared to understand “the motivations, impacts, and consequences” of mass media on cultural history and civil life (Hobbs & Jensen, 2009).

This inspired educator Ron Curtis to develop “Media Now” toolkits, a series of modules, lesson plans, and open-ended discussion guides for K-12 media literacy curriculum. These popular tools were designed to help students recognize how emerging technologies influenced their everyday lives. For example, Media Now included a “Build your Own Camera” module, which guided students to write film scripts, practice animation and special effects, and learn basic camera functions (Friesem et al., 2014). Here, students were exposed to emerging technologies, practiced creativity, and discovered new mediums to communicate with others.

Over time, the term “literacy” collected other domains and forms of communication, such as information literacy, health media literacy, and digital literacy (Hobbs, 2010). Each reflects different contexts and approaches but have a shared desire to help individuals interpret and interact with the world around them. This dichotomy is important when we consider how swiftly media technology develops. Media literacy education has long promoted “responsiveness to changes in media and technology systems” (Hobbs, 2010). As new technologies emerge, so do their cultural contexts, and “literacy” represents an ongoing effort to interpret their meanings within a person’s experiences.