When most people talk about ecology, they refer to the organic processes by which our natural environment exists. Such natural environments function as a matrix where science strives to explain the complex interconnecting relationships that exist between both living and non-living systems. According to Strate and Lum, there is another form of ecology worth exploring, a “media ecology” centralized around the systemic interactions between humans (living) and media (non-living) systems (2000). Media ecology is a study of the interconnectedness of technology related to our human experience and its effects on our constructs of reality; “understanding media as environments and environments as media’ (Strate & Lum, 2000).
It is essential to point out that media ecology is “a field of study that is ever-evolving,” it is only natural then that we should pair media ecology with another ever-evolving field of study, that of education (Lum, 2000). An educational media ecology would require a systematic approach to the intersection of human knowledge and media to create rich learning environments.
Since time immemorial, education has taken place in the form of socially transmitted knowledge, utilizing oral, observational, and experiential practices. Learners would express interest and gifts in certain areas, which would further direct their education. This form of education runs the gamut of past, present, and future, grounding in both place and culture. In the educational media ecology matrix, this forms the strands by which the core of a person’s educational identity occurs.
In utilizing a wholistic definition of media, physical objects, and intellectual methodologies, we can explore the multiple facets of educational media ecology. As an institution of school, education is evolving from a system with a limited perspective, focused on correctness and uniformity, and into one that is interest-driven and media-rich. In our current educational system, there are limits in transferring educational media into our everyday life. A shift towards interest-driven education will help to reintegrate socially transmitted knowledge into the institution of school, thus developing a more robust network within educational medial ecology.
As McLuhan states, “A new medium is never an addition to an old one, nor does it leave the old one in peace,” meaning every evolutionary change in technology or education has the potential to change the ecological matrix in which both are supported (1964).
References:
Casey Man Kong Lum (2000) Introduction: The intellectual roots of media ecology, New Jersey Journal of Communication, 8:1, 1-7, DOI: 1080/15456870009367375
Lance Strate & Casey Man Kong Lum (2000) Lewis Mumford and the ecology of technics, New Jersey Journal of Communication, 8:1, 56-78, DOI: 1080/15456870009367379
Marshall McLuhan (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York Signet Books.