The "Digital revolution" contributed to the media interconnection of all forms of education and learning of adults-formal or informal, intentional or unintentional learning "en passant". Due to the influence of new media that spreads onto the whole living continuum, existing concepts of literacy, viewed through the optics of contemporary social requirements, demand re-conceptualization.

These potential changes carry numerous difficulties, especially those expressed on the theoretical and practical level. On the theoretical level the problem is that of creating an adequate concept that will successfully encompass existing theoretical knowledge and application of digital technology. On the practical level, numerous problems that appear are mainly linked to economical aspects.

For more than a decade now in the focus of the public, three concepts of approaching to media literacy have been crystallized. The first approach assumes media literacy as a capability of understanding, using and evaluation of communication. Understood in such a manner, media literacy emphasizes necessity of learning about the media themselves. The process of learning is achieved through access, analysis, evaluation and production of communications in different forms. A concept of media literacy that promotes learning about media is a consequence of the dominant influence of media on political and cultural life, mediation of all indirect experiences, media offer of final models of value and behavior, and influences that media have on us on the subconscious level, but also of increased pleasure that knowledge on media offers, as well as possibilities of activation of relations towards media through understanding of them.

The second approach to defining media literacy is not related only to learning about media themselves, but also to learning with the help of media, which should support the development of the democratic nature of a society. Understood in such a manner, media literacy includes capabilities of reading, writing, listening and speaking, approaches to new technologies, capabilities of critical observation, as well as the making of personal messages by using different technological accomplishments. However, knowledge of the aforementioned skills does not lead a priori to the acquisition of capabilities of critical thinking, but due to its organic, permanent ties to adult education, about which is today not possible to discuss without taking into account mass communication and means of its accomplishment, certainly leads to a large, more democratic comprehension of itself and self-environment.

The third, rather simplified, concept of media literacy is computer literacy as a new form of mass literacy of society and of information that is attained by acquiring psychomotor skills necessary for the work on a computer that is completely opposed to the very essence of the field of andragogy, because it emphasizes the importance of informal education as contrast to continuing education. In this concept the process of acquiring computer literacy is regarded as a way of intentional learning with the limited possibilities of adult education.

We, however, think that learning only on media through media opens the door of active inclusion in the world of contemporary reality. Its assumed open nature gives possibility of understanding the problem of participation of media in creation of attitudes and values, forming of social reality, deciphering of propaganda techniques and persuasion that is characteristic for modern media, as well as its constraints.

However, a necessary condition for thinking about media literacy is the acquisition of basic literacy (in a sense of alphabetic-language and mathematical literacy), but also the knowledge of the English language.

This understanding of media literacy leads us to the following question: Does media literacy open the door for broadening the gap between developed and undeveloped countries?

Marginal groups of adults, as well as the whole adult population in developed countries see in the application of the digital technology "magic stick" that solves numerous problems (active participation in public life, possibility of professional advancing, better salary, active usage of free time). However, all these assumptions were brought to life in developed countries.

Researchers in andragogy, often blinded by successful application of digital technology in all aspects of education and learning sometimes overlook limitations that it bears, or most frequently they stop at the didactic level. However, in optics of the concept of media literacy as learning about media through media with previous acquiring of necessary competencies one can recognize other potential limitations.

Undeveloped countries have a "chronic disease" of being unable to eliminate even basic illiteracy. Functional literacy in these countries is still on the level of abstractly given goals, while in many of these countries the problem of media literacy is still been debated, mostly on the theoretical level. Potential modernization of economy depends on the possibility of application of digital technology. However, the first condition for acting on this plan is learning of English. This condition, although at the first sight looks rather simple, on the practical level is being transformed into real "andragogical nightmare". Developing and especially undeveloped countries have most frequently inadequate or insufficient human resources in the field of education and learning of adults.

On the other side, population of illiterates is constantly increasing, and is made of persons that are not capable or that are not motivated enough to undertake activities of learning of foreign languages. Multiplication of inadequately professionally trained manpower leads to deepening of poverty through impossibility of incorporating of contemporary production technology and further, to global poverty of undeveloped society. Such societies are frequently not capable to provide adequate financial help to the field of adult education. In such a manner, application of digital technology becomes a sword that can turn out either way - on one hand it becomes means for "liberation" and on the other hand, means of subtle "constraining".

Copyright © 2000 Kristinka Ovesni and Srdjan Samurovic All Rights Reserved

Kristinka Ovesni is Research Assistant on the Faculty of Philosophy, department of Pedagogy and Andragogy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Srdjan Samurovic is astrophysicist from Belgrade, Yugoslavia presently in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Trieste, Italy.