Preservice Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Media Literacy, Digital Citizenship, and their Relationship
Abstract: This case study examines preservice teachers’ perspectives on digital citizenship, media literacy, and how they relate to each other in the context of the elementary English language arts classroom. Reflecting on scholarly definitions of digital citizenship and media literacy, preservice teachers enrolled in a literacy methods course were asked to reflect on these concepts and note their connections within the ACTS Framework (Analyze, Create, Then Share). The results demonstrate that the preservice teachers see deep connections between the terms, especially in areas such as credibility, access, and safety. They conceptualized digital citizenship as being well-informed, critical consumers of media who work to help their communities, while media literacy was conceptualized as being able to discern source validity, access information, and safely navigate multiple sources. These results, especially the interconnectivity conceived between digital citizenship and media literacy, provide meaningful insights into existing work on the importance of developing students’ ability to become critical consumers of information who are well-informed and active citizens.