Guidelines for promoting media literacy among youths with hearing impairments

Abstract

The purposes of this study were 1) to design and develop the effective training materials on media literacy for young people with hearing impairments, and 2) to develop and promote media literacy among youths with hearing impairment. The samples for this study were 100 youths with hearing impairments, and the statistics used for this study were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and paired-sample          t-test. The study revealed that 1) the youths with hearing impairments used conventional devices such as television, radio, audiobooks, and electronic or digital devices such as telephones, smart phones, desktop computers, and tablets to access information suitable to their everyday needs , as well as learning and recreational devices designed specifically for the hearing impaired; 2)  the youths’ overall media literacy prior to the training was found to be at a very high level, with careful consideration given prior to making purchases advertised on various media platforms (  = 4.17) at the highest, followed respectively  by the ability to recognize advantages and disadvantages in receiving information through various types of media   (  = 4.11), refraining from sharing information if not certain of its accuracy  ( X = 4.09), and the decision to follow reliable sources of information (  = 3.29) at the lowest ; and 3) the youths’ overall media literacy after the training was revealed to be at a very high level, with careful consideration given prior to making  purchases   advertised on various media platforms at the highest (= 4.71), followed  respectively by refraining from sharing information if not certain of its accuracy            (  = 4.51), the ability to recognize advantages and disadvantages in receiving information through various types of media (   = 4.43) , and the ability to distinguish   true from untrue  information  (  = 4.00) at the lowest; and 4) the youths’ media literacy was revealed to be higher after training with a statistical significance of .01.