Digital media

About: Digital media is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 17508 publications have been published within this topic receiving 266693 citations. The topic is also known as: machine-readable data.

Media Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and the Role of the Social Environment in Context

Abstract: Health literacy describes skills and competencies that enable people to gain access to, understand and apply health information to positively influence their own health and the health of those in their social environments. In an increasingly media saturated and digitized world, these skill sets are necessary for accessing and navigating sources of health information and tools, such as television, the Internet, and mobile apps. The concepts of Media Health Literacy (MHL) and eHealth Literacy (eHL) describe the specific competencies such tasks require. This article introduces the two concepts, and then reviews findings on the associations of MHL and eHL with several contextual variables in the social environment such as socio-demographics, social support, and system complexity, as a structural variable. As eHL and MHL are crucial for empowering people to actively engage in their own health, there is a growing body of literature reporting on the potential and the effectiveness of intervention initiatives to positively influence these competencies. From an ethical standpoint, equity is emphasized, stressing the importance of accessible media environments for all—including those at risk of exclusion from (digital) media sources. Alignment of micro and macro contextual spheres will ultimately facilitate both non-digital and digital media to effectively support and promote public health.

The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media

Abstract: When we speak of clouds these days, it is as likely that we mean data clouds or network clouds as cumulus or stratus. In their sharing of the term, both kinds of clouds reveal an essential truth: that the natural world and the technological world are not so distinct. In The Marvelous Clouds, John Durham Peters argues that though we often think of media as environments, the reverse is also just as true - environments are media. Peters defines media expansively as elements that compose the human world. Drawing from ideas implicit in media philosophy, Peters argues that media are more than carriers of messages: they are the very infrastructures combining nature and culture that allow for human life to thrive. Through an encyclopedic array of examples from the oceans to the skies, The Marvelous Clouds reveals the long prehistory of so-called new media. Digital media, Peters argues, are an extension of early practices tied to the establishment of civilization such as mastering fire, building calendars, reading the stars, creating language, and establishing religions. New media do not take us into uncharted waters, but rather confront us with the deepest and oldest questions of society and ecology: how to manage the relations people have with themselves, others, and the natural world. A wide-ranging meditation on the many means we have employed to cope with the struggles of existence - from navigation to farming, meteorology to Google - The Marvelous Clouds shows how media lie at the very heart of our interactions with the world around us. Peters' book will not only change how we think about media but will provide a new appreciation for the day-to-day foundations of life on earth we so often take for granted.

Digital Skills: Unlocking the Information Society

Abstract: Digital Skills systematically discusses the skills or literacies needed in the use of digital media, primarily computers and the Internet. Following the work of van Dijk's The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society, it uses conceptual analysis and empirical observations to show what digital skills are, how they are distributed, how skill inequalities develop, and how these inequalities can be remedied by designers, educators, policymakers, and different types of Internet users.

Portable media player as a low power remote control and method thereof

Abstract: A portable multimedia player (102) is used to wirelessly access and control a media server (104) that is streaming digital media by way of a wireless interface (116) to a media unit (106) such as a stereo/speakers in the case of streaming digital audio. In one embodiment, the portable multimedia player is wirelessly synchronized to a selected one(s) of a number of digital media files (109) stored on the media server in such a way that digital media file metadata (song title, author, etc.) associated with the selected digital media file(s) only is transferred from the media server to be stored in the portable media player.

The features of interactive whiteboards and their influence on learning

Abstract: In a small‐scale study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)‐rich primary school, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) were found to be the predominant ICT tools used by teachers. The study sought to identify how the teachers used features of ICT to enhance learning, based on a list of ICT’s functions published for teacher education programmes. This list did not appear to account for all the aspects of the IWB’s influence that were described by teachers and observed in their lessons. Interview and observation data concerning digital whiteboard technology were probed further, using a framework for analysing activity settings designed for teaching and learning. This process generated a new taxonomy of features of ICT involving two levels: those intrinsic to digital media and devices and those constructed by hardware designers, software developers and teachers preparing resources for learning. Pedagogical actions supported by these features were identified and views concerning the impact of these actio...