Avgerinou's studies on visual literacy especially in the digital age presents a need to reassess the skills required to navigate this new and changing visual world. Avgerinou questions the visual literacy skills of young people. Even with continuous exposure to digital media, this article argues the misconception that merely being exposed to media results in the development of important visual literacy skills.
I think that Avgerinou's article was able to effectively highlight the importance of efforts to increase visual literacy skills. It is also necessary to teach students the complexities of visual messages and the overstimulation that comes with social media. Images are deception and lies, understanding this and being able to decide what is fabricated and what is real is a new challenge we have to overcome. It is difficult when the media is all we know and we don't know the manipulation and power that the media can have over us.
Knowledge of visual vocabulary and critical viewing provides a basis to understanding the components that are essential for navigating the visual world. The integration of visual literacy into education and being able to recognise its importance is necessary to ensure future generations are equipped to understand the world they grow up in. I definitely agree with the message that Avgerinou makes in urging educators and institutions to include visual and media literacy as a requirement to education in this new era dominated by images.
I was born in 2002 and I don't remember a world that wasn't filled with some type of technology. I've made mistakes on the internet as I'm sure many people have. It can be dangerous to engage with technology that we don't fully understand. Social media has become one of the most popular, universal, and powerful tools in the modern age and learning how to navigate the complexities that accompany access to this technology should be necessary.
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