An Introduction to the Concept of “Media Ecology”
Strate and Lum’s (2000) article was a biography of a founding media ecologist, but they don’t make clear their definition without looking at the authors’ other works. Reading Lum (2000), it seems that media ecology has to do with communications technologies, how they – and their use – have evolved over time, and how they tend to serve larger constructs like the capitalist political and war “machines.” Different interpretations seem to exist and their validity an ongoing argument, but my main takeaway is that communications technologies (CTs) do not and can not exist outside of culture, and the interaction between CTs and culture is bidirectional.
As I see media ecology, we are looking at a system of at least four components: humans, tools, the physical and virtual structures we create (with those tools), and communication. Viewing the interactions between these four from a biological paradigm we can talk about them as an ecosystem because the parts don’t interact with one another independently of their context – there is an interaction with the context as well: We develop and have these technologies; we use them, they interact, evolve, are changed, fail or persist; and they influence us.
Now, in terms of what I think an educational media ecology would have to involve, I should start with my attempt at a distillation of what Education is and should be:
- “Stuff you should know”
- “Learning how to think”
By “stuff you should know,” I mean a critical role of education in the life of the individual (student) is essentially to get everyone “up to speed” as a human in society; how did we get here, why are things the way they are, and what do we know?
By “learning how to think,” I mean the other key role of education in a liberal democratic society is to afford every individual with the competencies and skills to be successfully adaptable in the future; ought things be the way they are, what is the role of inquiry and criticism, and what are the open, unanswered questions?
<<Updated 04 Oct. 2020>> Finally, I’ll attempt to address what facets and complexities an educational media ecology has to encompass, but I feel like I won’t be able to adequately address the question until the end of this course. Here is a beginning of an attempt based on what I know now:
First, a clarification: “media ecology” is the study of media analogous to an ecosystem, just as “ecology” is itself the branch of biology which studies “the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings” (Apple Dictionary). An educational media ecology (EME) would therefor specialize in the examination and study of the media, user interactions, and context (environment) of educational settings. EME would, for example, investigate (and potentially attempt to prove hypotheses surrounding) the presence of, and/or influence of hegemony, inequity, echo chambers, or the intrusion of intolerance in educational media ecosystems. EME would also look at whether a media ecosystem is growing in a progressive or maladaptive direction (for users); as another example, the reconciliation movement in Canada doesn’t have the “answers” to right wrongs, it exists to encourage acknowledgement and dialogue, which are steps in the direction of progress. EME would examine this dialogue AND the infrastructure facilitating the dialogue, and their influence on one another. EME evaluates whether there is equity of access, freedom of expression, and moderation to protect the infringement of the rights of others.
In the field of EME, as with any scientific field of study, it is important to be aware of, and prevent, bias. Therefore peer-review and self-criticism are crucial. However, there is validity to different perspectives within EME as a field of study, just as there are two schools of thought within media ecology itself (i.e. the North American and European “schools”). As an example: it can be viewed in media ecology that there is always a struggle or tension between “man versus the machine” (Strate & Lum, 2000). EME would study educational ecosystems from a perspective of teaching and raising children/students/users as critical consumers and thoughtful producers with strong digital literacy – are the students mastering technology to improve the benefits of a useful tool, or are they learning to become masters because they must, because technology is insidious and unavoidable?
References:
Lum, C. M. K. (2000). Introduction: The intellectual roots of media ecology. New Jersey Journal of Communication: The Intellectual Roots of Media Ecology, 8(1), 1-7. doi:10.1080/15456870009367375
Strate, L., & Lum, C. M. K. (2000). Lewis mumford and the ecology of technics. New Jersey Journal of Communication: The Intellectual Roots of Media Ecology, 8(1), 56-78. doi:10.1080/15456870009367379