Media Education:A New Perspective Of Understanding Media Ecology

Media education is a new concept produced in the new media era.The broad sense of media education pays more attention to the relationship between humans,media and culture,which as same as the main concern of the media ecology in North America.Throughout the literature of the North American media ecology,since Harold Innis,the school has discussed the issue of media education scattered or centrally,and thought about this problem consciously.However,this context is mostly neglected by the academic community.Marshall McLuhan,a famous media analyst and education reformer,emphasizes that education makes us think,as long as we are willing to think,there is no absolute inevitability.And he has also tried to implement education reform,his famous book " understanding media" was expected to be the first book of media education at that time.Neil Postman has written several monographs to discuss the influence of media education,and even offered a course on media ecology,which formally introduced the curriculum of media education.As media ecological school of the third generation representative,Paul Levinson and Lance Strate are deeply influenced by the Internet culture.Levinson founded an online education company and Lance studied from the perspective of general semantics.This is because the core of media ecology focuses on the interaction between media,people and society.Education is the organic combination of these three research subjects.Through research,the author holds that the media education is the starting point of media research in North America.The early attention of most scholars on the media originated from the thinking of education.They found that the understanding of media and media is the prerequisite for the development of education,they believed that media education has the function of opening the mind and improving the spirit of critical.This core concept is consistent with the concept of modern media education and media literacy.Therefore,the media research of media ecology originates from the thought of media education,and it falls on the exploration and discovery of media education.The emphasis of education on macro literacy makes media ecology different from the school of experience and school of critical.In addition,media education is the core issue of media research in North American media ecology school.This paper takes the media education thought as the main line.Through the analysis of the media theory of the school,and combed the school's educational practice and media education thought,this paper selects three scholars McLuhan,Postman and Lance to represent the three generation of media ecology to focus on their media education thought.This school advocates the understanding of "media bias" and "humanistic care".Therefore,media education can help us to understand media characteristics and media changes,to re think the interaction of people,media and society,all of which contributes to a balance state of media ecology.The inherent "humanistic care" of media ecology is not only the beginning of media education research,but also the end of media education.It is also the most fundamental internal requirement of media education.This characteristic,which runs through the media view of media ecology and media education view,confirms that the school regards media education as the starting point and core of media research.It is of great practical significance to re-think and understand the media ecology of North America in the perspective of media education.At present,the media education has not been paid enough attention in our country,the lack of media education is highlighted by the many social problems that exist in content production,media form and media use.Media education thoughts of media ecology provides a new angle of view for us in current context.Media education should retrial the interaction between the media and the society,pay attention to the understanding the characteristics of media,and should attach importance to the humanistic care,promote the humanistic education and critical thinking,so that humans,media and the society should be unified organically.