Cited As: Chu, S.K.W., Lau, W.W.F., Chu, D.S.C., Lee, C.W.Y., & Chan, L.L.H. (in press).
Media awareness among Hong Kong primary students. Journal of Librarianship and Information
Science.
Media awareness among Hong Kong primary students
Dr. Samuel K.W. Chu
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr. Wilfred W.F. Lau
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr. Donna S.C. Chu
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Ms Celina Lee
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Mr. Leon L. H. Chan
Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the extent to which Hong Kong primary students have access to
various media, how they evaluate the credibility of the media, what they know about the media,
and how they choose among different media, as well as teachers’ expectations towards their
students’ view and consumption of media. Since little is known about young children in the
context of media education, this paper fills the research gap by studying the media awareness and
use of upper primary students. A questionnaire on media awareness and media use patterns was
given to the teachers, who were asked to answer the questions from the perspective of their
students. The same questionnaire was administered to students during class time. The descriptive
statistics of the data were analyzed and compared. Students believed that the most reliable media
for providing news was the television, followed by the radio, the newspaper, and the Internet;
about half of the students believed that they were capable of distinguishing true from false news;
students were more proactive media users than the teachers thought. The findings of this study
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suggest that more contextual and in-depth approaches to research would be beneficial to assess
the media use patterns of students, from which relevant media education models can be derived.
Keywords
Media awareness, Media use, Media literacy, Media education, Primary students
Introduction
With the information explosion in recent years, the ubiquitous and immensely powerful media
are considered major agents of socialization for young people today. The media have become an
integral part of young people’s lives and their major source of knowledge and information.
Based on the taxonomy adopted by today’s media planners in the field of advertising, the
concept of media types has been dichotomized into traditional media and new media (Leckenby,
2005). Traditional media generally refer to media that have been in existence before the advent
of the Internet (e.g., traditional newspapers, TV, radio advertising, journalism), whereas new
media encompass any digital media that can be accessed through the Internet (Branstetter, 2011).
The Internet has become one of the most influential media. Indeed, the Internet is not
exactly a new medium for the current generation of young people. Children literally “grow up
digitally” (Tapscott, 1998) or, to be more precise, are “born digitally.” Prensky (2001: 2) coined
the term, “digital natives” to refer to people or generations who grew up and have spent their
entire lives surrounded by and using tools of the digital age such as the Internet, cell phones and
so forth. Digital immigrants, on the other hand, refer to adults or individuals who only recently
migrated to the digital world (Prensky, 2001). In view of the influence of the media on society,
the importance and benefits of media education have long been advocated (e.g. Lusted, 1991;
Tyner, 1992; Considine, 1995; McBrien, 1999). Media and education have been brought together
in two different scenarios: education through the media or education about the media. In the
former scenario, the media are used as tools to facilitate teaching, whereas the latter pertains to
the study of the media as a subject in the curriculum.
In order to understand the importance and outcomes of media literacy education, it is
necessary to specify what it aims to achieve. Although there is no standard definition of media
literacy, we adopt the definition set by the National Association for Media Literacy Education
(NAMLE), which is “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a
variety of forms-is interdisciplinary by nature” (Media literacy defined, 2012, p. 1). Media
education plays a crucial role in the process of media literacy and awareness formation
(Tanriverdi, 2008). The major goal of media education is to promote critical inquiry, analysis,
evaluation, and creative production of media messages in a wide variety of mediums, genres, and
forms (Buckingham, 2007). This enables media consumers to analyze messages critically, raises
their awareness of the political/social purposes behind media messages, offers opportunities for
them to broaden their experience of media, and helps them develop the creative skills necessary
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to make their own media messages (Media literacy defined, 2012). Given the intertwining
relationships between media education and media literacy, one cannot hope to cultivate media
literacy without first ensuring that an effective media education curriculum is in place.
Media education is most effective when teachers have clear expectations about students’
media consumption habits and media awareness levels. For the purpose of this study, the concept
of media awareness refers to (1) self-described awareness of the existing media in Hong Kong,
(2) perceived credibility of various media sources (Kellner & Share, 2005), and (3) levels of
confidence in distinguishing between true and false news. Having clear expectations is crucial to
media education as more accurate assumptions regarding media consumption habits and
awareness translate to better use of classroom time and more effective curriculum strategies,
which in turn enhances learning, media literacy, and the effectiveness of media education. For
instance, in the context of media consumption, teachers who emphasize critical inquiry into radio
content may find that 99% of their Facebook fanatical students do not listen to the radio.
Therefore, lessons should instead emphasize how to distinguish facts from fabrications on
Facebook. Without knowledge of the media consumption habits and awareness of students, the
establishment of effective media education and accurate measurement of the success of such
education is difficult (Kellner & Share, 2005). This study hence aimed to assess the media
consumption habits and media awareness of upper primary students (average age: 9-12), and
teachers’ understanding and expectations concerning these aspects of their students.
Problem statement
An accurate understanding of students’ current media consumption habits and awareness is not
only essential for teachers to design a tailor-made media education program for their students to
gain the maximum benefit but also necessary for assessing the improvement of the students and
the program itself. However, little is known about young children in the context of media
education, as the participants of most studies were high school students (e.g. Leung, 2003; Leung,
2007; Chu, 2010). Therefore, this paper attempted to fill the research gaps by studying the media
awareness and use of upper primary students. In particular, the current study investigated the
extent to which Hong Kong children have access to various media, how they evaluate the
credibility of the media, what they know about the media, and how they choose among different
media.
The second major problem is the digital divide between digital immigrant teachers and
digital native students (Prensky, 2001). Through the Internet and popular social media such as
Facebook, children today are exposed to media content from a much earlier stage and at a more
frequent rate than digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). Early and frequent exposure to media
content can promote media literacy development through increased opportunities for informal
learning. Informal learning refers to learning and engagement that occur outside school/
institutional settings. For instance, learning how to analyze and evaluate media messages on
Wikipedia would be an example of an increased opportunity for informal learning in media
literacy development. To this end, it would be unwise for digital immigrant teachers to assume
prematurely that their digital native students are the same as they have always been, and that the
same media education curriculum that worked for the teachers when they were students still suits
their students now (Buckingham, 2005).
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As teachers are those who design and provide media education to students, it is important
for them to have realistic expectations and an accurate understanding concerning their students’
current media consumption habits and awareness. On the one hand, under-estimating these
factors may mean that students waste their time on learning something they have already
mastered; on the other hand, over-estimating or misunderstanding these factors may mean
inappropriate design and misapplied and insufficient focus on media education. As teachers’
realistic understanding of students’ media consumption habits and awareness is an important
factor that affects students’ future performance and learning outcomes, the second focus of the
current paper is on teachers’ expectations regarding their students’ views and consumption of
media. From the findings of the current study, teachers will be able to know the extent to which
their thoughts are realistic, and corresponding efforts can be made in light of the findings to
implement media education.
Literature Review
Traditional and new media
Traditional media are generally characterized by their relatively limited methods of delivering
information about social, political, and economic events (Branstetter, 2011; Leckenby, 2005).
Newspapers carry factual stories and editorials accompanied by a limited amount of imagery. TV,
of course, delivers pictures together with some factual coverage, some editorial coverage, and a
significant amount of advertising. In the case of both newspapers and TV, content is usually
produced and selected for distribution by an elite minority (Hindman, 2009). Most importantly, it
is generally unidirectional. That is, there is no productive engagement on the part of the reader; it
is an exercise in information consumption only. New media, however, blur these distinctions in
new ways (Branstetter, 2011; Leckenby, 2005). On the web, one might still encounter traditional
journalism on the sites of the main newspapers. Blogs are examples of this, but they are
qualitatively different for a variety of reasons. Even further removed are Twitter comments
('tweets'), YouTube videos, Facebook statuses and many, many more diverse phenomena.
Traditional outlets have been modified with the introduction of the option to leave comments on
the stories presented.
Core competencies of media literacy
The umbrella definition coined by the NAMLE on media literacy in 2012 has been widely
adopted among scholars of the 21th century (Daunic, 2013; Garcia, Seglem and Share, 2013;
Johnson, Augustus and Agiro, 2012). Similarly, Hobbs (2010, p. vii), defines media literacy as a
“constellation of life skills that are necessary for full participation in our media-saturated,
information-rich society”. These skills include the ability to access, understand, create, reflect
upon, and act with the information that media disseminate (Buckingham, 2005; Hobbs, 2010).
The concept of access does not concern physical access to equipment; rather it concerns
with the social, cultural, and technological dimensions that affect one’s access to various media
(Buckingham, 2005; Livingstone, 2003). For instance, parental permission to use equipment and
one’s knowledge of how to use equipment are important factors that can hinder one’s access to
media. In addition, access is much more than a one-off provision of equipment; it is also about
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the skillful use of media tools and the sharing of appropriate and relevant information with others
(Hobbs, 2010). Therefore, media literate users need to keep themselves updated with the new
technologies and skills required to maintain and promote their ability to access information
through various media.
Analysis and evaluation of media content constitutes the second component of media
literacy. According to Hobbs (2010: 19), this involves “comprehending messages and using
critical thinking to analyze message quality, veracity, credibility, and point of view, while
considering potential effects or consequences of messages.” Hobbs argues that analysis skills
include the ability to identify the author, purpose, and point of view of a message; evaluate the
credibility and quality of a message; and recognize and resist stereotypes. To advance analysis
skills, it is important to build knowledge of how power relationships shape the way in which
information and ideas circulate in a culture, considering the economic, political and social
context.
Content creation involves daily communication through various technologies and
experiences of media production as well as the ability to compose media content creatively
(Hobbs, 2010). Traditionally most people are passive recipients of information from mass media,
yet nowadays most people are able to participate in creating messages in various forms (textual,
audio and visual) and broadcasting through various platforms (YouTube, blogs) with the help of
information technology. Effective expression is therefore increasingly being emphasized in
media education. Content creation is also about being confident in self-expression and creative in
generating media content, while being aware of purpose, audience, and composition techniques
(Hobbs, 2010).
The concepts reflection and action are metacognitive competencies, as people come to
know the power of communication to maintain the status quo or change the world; consider the
potential risks and dangers of media messages; and understand how differences in values and life
experience shape people’s media use and their message interpretation (Hobbs, 2010). People
who reflect and act apply ethical judgment and are socially responsible in online communication
situations and understand how the concepts of ‘private’ and ‘public’ are reshaped by digital
media (Hobbs, 2010). A media literate individual also appreciates and respects legal rights and
responsibilities (copyright, intellectual freedom, fair use, attribution, etc.) and is active in
participating in advocacy and self-governance at the local, regional, national and international
levels, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the world
(Hobbs, 2010).
Media literacy, media awareness, and media use of children
Media literacy
Media educators have promoted media education by referring to the positive aspects of media
literacy. Hence, those advocating media education have argued, among other things, that media
literacy is an essential life skill (Kubey and Baker, 1999; Hobbs 2010; Lee, 1997; Media
Literacy Defined, 2012), and that media literacy can empower young people (Kellner and Share,
2005; NAMLE, 2012; Thoman, 1995). Media literacy is also believed to be a vital component of
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democracy education (Kellner and Share, 2005; Tyner, 1992). Moreover, scholars have argued
that media literacy nurtures higher-order critical thinking skills (Considine 1995; Buckingham,
2005). The conclusion has often been that schools should waste no time in introducing media
education into their curriculum. Many writers have indicated that media education has become a
global movement in the past three decades (Brown, 1998; Kubey and Baker, 1999; Lee, 1997;
Hart, 1998; Kubey, 1998).
Any media education curriculum will be doomed to failure if the abilities and attitudes of
students are unknown. Equally important is that teachers have a realistic understanding of
students’ attributes in relation to media information. On the one hand, if students’ behaviors are
more positive than those expected by teachers (e.g., more students read newspapers on a daily
basis than teachers expect), teachers will probably give unrealistic negative feedback to students
or miss the chance of acknowledging or even reinforcing the endeavors of students. Both
outcomes are unsatisfactory as they can lead to poorer student-teacher relationships (Burnett,
2002). In the worst case, extreme negative expectations may lead to stigmatization, which will
have a detrimental effect on student learning outcomes (Madon et al., 1997; Jussim et al., 1996).
On the other hand, teachers holding unrealistically positive views may not realize the need to
assist students in the learning process, whereas slightly positive expectations can probably
promote effective learning (Jussim and Harber, 2005).
Children’s awareness of the constructed nature of media messages is not only essential to
a valid evaluation of media content but also forms the foundation of media literacy education
(Kellner and Share, 2005; Masterman, 1994). “Media do not present reality like transparent
windows because media messages are created, shaped, and positioned through a construction
process. This construction involves many decisions about what to include or exclude and how to
represent reality” (Kellner and Share 2005: 374). Masterman (1994: 33) further explained the
concept of non-transparency as follows: ‘‘the media do not present reality, they represent it’’.
Giroux stated, ‘‘What appears as ‘natural’ must be demystified and revealed as a historical
production both in its content, with its unrealized claims or distorting messages, and in the
elements that structure its form’’ (Giroux, 1997: 79-80). Deciphering media messages through
critical inquiry is thus a crucial beginning for media literacy education. Given the importance of
awareness of the non-transparent nature of media messages, it is contended that media educators
should have a clear understanding of their students’ ability to recognize the turbid and persuasive
nature of media messages. This ultimately requires and enables one to challenge the power of the
media to present messages as non-problematic and transparent.
Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton and Robison (2009) maintained that the
participatory culture, which is endorsed by the youth culture, presents three fundamental
challenges to teachers today. The first is the participation gap created by differential access to
new media technologies and thus, the opportunities for engagement, which has engendered
different levels of capability among youth. The second is the transparency problem, which
concerns the assumption that youngsters actively reflect on their experiences with the media and
can make sense of what they learn through interacting with the media. The third is the ethical
challenge, which concerns the argument that youngsters should be able to adopt the ethical
norms needed to deal with the complex online community. The authors concluded that all these
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challenges require teachers to rethink media education in terms of the core skills and
competencies that they should endeavor to develop in students.
Children’s awareness and use of media
Various attempts have been made to investigate the media consumption habits of children
(Anderson et al., 2007). In Hong Kong, children have easy access to different types of media.
Television, newspapers, radio, computers, and Internet access are affordable. Free TV programs,
radio channels, and newspapers exist. The comprehensive study by Anderson, Tufte, Rasmussen,
and Chan (2007) investigated the consumption of new media by grade four to six students in
Denmark and Hong Kong. It was found that 98.6% of the Hong Kong children had TVs at home,
96.2% had computers, 94.3% had computers with Internet access, and 42.2% had ghettoblasters.
It seems that most Hong Kong children have physical access to TV and the Internet, but not the
radio. However, as radio channels can be accessed through the Internet or mobile phones
nowadays, the figure by Anderson et al. (2007) did not provide a reasonable estimation of the
degree of access to radio channels of Hong Kong children.
Preliminary research has also found that children as young as two years old are aware
that TV is a medium through which current or past events that happened elsewhere are presented
(Jaglom and Gardner, 1981). Children at a young age tend to believe everything on TV is true,
but older ones believe the exact opposite. Until the age of five years old, children know that TV
is sometimes real and sometimes not (Messaris, 1986). Even children between eight and nine
years old become aware of and critical of the possible motivation of TV producers (Buckingham,
1993). However, it seems that children are not equally capable of evaluating the authority and
reliability of websites. In the surveys by Livingstone and Bober (2003, 2004), 49% of children
believed that information from the Internet could be trusted, 38% trusted most of it, while 9%
and 1% trusted little of it and none of it respectively.
Few studies have investigated Hong Kong children’s awareness of the available media
sources. We argue that children’s awareness of various media is relevant to their access to media
in two senses. First, as children nowadays enjoy more media choices and freedom of selection,
their awareness of available media forms the basis for their selection among them. Second, their
awareness of media that are unavailable to them may promote children’s desire to gain access to
them. As Livingstone (2003: 7) has pointed out that “media access does not simply determine
use”, media consumption is indirectly related to media awareness through increased informal
learning opportunities.
Finally, it seems that gender probably does not hinder children from physical access to
media, nor their evaluation of media, but does affect their preferences, choices, and habits
regarding media consumption. For instance, although access to a broadband connection does not
differ for the two genders, more boys (43%) than girls (38%) surf the Net on a daily basis
(Livingstone and Bober, 2004). More frequent use of the Internet may be associated with better
skills in using it, thus maximizing the potential benefits from it.
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Media education in Hong Kong
When Hong Kong was still a British colony, the colonial government worked hard to ensure that
schools did not promote “subversive ideologies”. Students were expected to learn only remote
and abstract knowledge. Sensitive, controversial, and local issues were excluded from the
curriculum (Morris et al., 2000). However, Lee and Mok (2007) believe that the development of
media education has more to do with the changing social and media environments in Hong Kong
than to the handover of sovereignty (Chu, 2009a). As pointed out by Chu (2009a), keen
competition in the media industry gave rise to the phenomenon of tabloidization and the massive
reporting of sensational news stories. Gradually, more people were dissatisfied with the
performance of the media. In response to this situation, there was a call for media education to
help students to be more discerning in their media consumption.
As part of the numerous reforms that the education system in Hong Kong has undergone
over the years, increasing effort has been made to cultivate students’ critical and independent
thinking and creativity (Education Commission, 2000). Media education was formally
introduced as one of the cross-curricular programs in the agenda of the Curriculum Development
Council (2000). Furthermore, since 2009, all senior secondary students have been required to
take a new core subject called Liberal Studies in the New Senior Secondary Curriculum (NSSC)
in Hong Kong. As stipulated in the curriculum document, one of the important aims of the
subject is “to develop multiple perspectives on perennial and contemporary issues in different
contexts (e.g., cultural, social, economic, political and technological contexts)” (Curriculum
Development Council and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, 2007: 5).
The subject also requires students to engage in an Independent Enquiry Study (IES), with its title
to be selected from six themes, one of which is media.
Thus, media education has found its place in the new curriculum. Local educators have
also come to understand the benefits of media education. First, media education helps develop
students as independent and critical learners (Lee, 2007). Second, as the news presented in the
media is of varying degrees of credibility, media education can equip students with enough
media literacy to judge the trustworthiness of news from different sources (Lee and Mok, 2007).
However, there is a dearth of systematic research on media education in Hong Kong. With this in
mind, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the current situation in Hong Kong with respect
to media education by studying Hong Kong students’ levels of media awareness and their
consumption habits, and whether these deviate from their teachers’ expectations.
Research questions
This study aimed to answer the following research questions:
1. What are the media access and understanding of Hong Kong upper Primary students?
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2. What are the media awareness and media use patterns of upper Primary students from their
own and their teachers' perspectives?
3. How well do teachers understand the media use and awareness patterns of upper Primary
students?
To answer the first question, we attempted to identify any possible trends within students’
answers. To answer the second question, we compared students’ and teachers’ answers on the
same questionnaire. We addressed the third question by assessing teachers’ assumptions about
their students’ media consumption habits, and how well they were able to predict their students’
ability to differentiate between facts and fabrications delivered by media.
Procedures
Instructional design
This study was part of a wider project on inquiry project-based learning for upper primary
students. In the project, four primary schools, with students’ academic ability ranging from
average to good, were invited to implement a collaborative teaching approach to inquiry projectbased learning at upper primary levels. Previous studies have shown that it is essential to equip
students with the necessary knowledge and skills to gather and process information from
different sources such as the Internet and newspapers during the inquiry process (Chu, 2009b;
Chu et al., 2011), and media literacy has been identified as one of the essential skills for students
to master. One of the authors of this paper held a workshop on media education with teachers in
the four participating schools to introduce concepts in media education to them and to promote
the incorporation of media education into their teaching. At the beginning of the workshop, a
questionnaire on media awareness and media use patterns was given to the teachers. They were
asked to answer the questions from the perspectives of their upper primary students. In other
words, the teachers were asked to imagine how an upper primary student would complete the
questionnaire.
Participants
Written consent was obtained from these teachers to include their questionnaires in this study.
The same questionnaire was administered to Primary 4 (Grade 4) students during class time.
Consent letters were sent to all parents to ask for their permission to include their children's
questionnaires in this study. Out of 408 students, permission was obtained for 248 students. The
overall participation rate was 60.8%. A total of 332 questionnaires (248 questionnaires from
students and 84 from teachers) were collected from the four co-educational primary schools:
from school SPC, 66 questionnaires from students and 36 from teachers; from school FK, 55
questionnaires from students and 6 from teachers; from school HS, 63 questionnaires from
students and 6 from teachers; and from school KSW, 64 questionnaires from students and 36
from teachers.
Data collection
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The questionnaire was drafted in Chinese and consisted of two sections. The first part was made
up of open-ended questions regarding media use and awareness. Students had to freely recall the
names of different media to answer the questions. The second part was made up of statements
regarding media credibility. Students were asked to evaluate each statement on a Likert scale
from 1 to 5, with 1 representing strongly disagree and 5 representing strongly disagree. The
questionnaire was distributed to teachers of the participating schools before being administered
to students to ensure that the teachers could facilitate their students’ understanding of the
questions. The English version of the questionnaire is provided in the appendix.
Data analyses
The data from the questionnaires were coded by trained research assistants and then analyzed
using SPSS 16.0. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means, modes, and medians were
generated. ANOVA was conducted to see if there were significant differences in credibility
ratings between different media tools. Gender differences for several behaviors were examined
using independent samples t-tests. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Findings
Students’ awareness of Chinese newspapers and their most frequently read newspapers are
shown in Table 1. Students were asked to name three newspapers, and the top three listed ones
were Apple Daily, Sing Tao Daily and Oriental Daily. Apple Daily and Sing Tao Daily were also
the top two listed newspapers from the teachers. There was however a relatively large
discrepancy between teachers and students’ awareness of the popularity of The Sun. 11.2% of the
students listed The Sun while only 4.4% of the teachers named it. The teachers were aware that
Apple Daily and Sing Tao Daily were the two most frequently read newspapers among students.
Mingpao ranked third on the teachers’ list, but only 5.6% of the students reported that Mingpao
was their most frequently read newspaper (ranked sixth on the students’ list).
Table 1. Listing of 3 local newspapers by teachers and students and their most frequently read newspaper
Newspapers
Apple
Daily
a
Sing Tao
Daily
Mingpao
Oriental
Daily
The Sun
HK
Free Daily Economic
Times
Ta
Kung
Pao
60(23.8%)
51(20.2%)
44(17.5%)
11(4.4%)
Sing Pao Others
Listing of 3 local Teacher
newspapers
Studentb
60(23.8%)
13(5.2%)
2(0.8%)
2(0.8%) 0(0.0%) 9(3.6%)
171(23.0%) 148(19.9%) 122(16.4%) 134(18.0%) 83(11.2%) 24(3.2%)
7(0.9%)
5(0.7%) 3(0.4%) 47(6.3%)
a
25(29.8%)
20(23.8%)
14(16.7%)
9(10.7%)
1(1.2%)
7(8.3%)
0(0.0%)
0(0.0%) 0(0.0%) 8(9.5%)
65(26.2%)
57(23.0%)
14(5.6%)
56(22.6%)
15(6.0%)
11(4.4%)
1(0.4%)
1(0.4%) 1(0.4%) 27(10.9%)
Most
frequently Teacher
read newspaper
Studentb
Note: Free Daily includes Hong Kong Headline, Metro Hong Kong, and AM730; others include wrong answers and blank answers; aN =
84, bN = 248.
Students’ awareness of free television channels and their most frequently watched free
television channels are shown in Table 2. Most of the students were able to name two channels
from TVB and ATV. Some students were also aware of the free high definition television
channels, such as TVB-J2 and TVB-interactive news channel. Teachers were able to point out
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that TVB was more popular than ATV among students, but they had difficulty in identifying the
most popular TV channel from TVB among students because the emergence of high definition
TV has meant that there are now more free channels available. The situation concerning
subscription to paid TV service is shown in Table 3. Fewer students had access to paid TV
channels than teachers had expected. About 62% of the teachers thought that there was a
subscription to paid TV services in students’ homes, but in reality, only about 40% of the
students subscribed to such services at home. Students’ awareness of paid TV services and the
most common subscription to paid TV services are shown in Table 4. 71.6% of the teachers
listed Cable TV, but only 22.6% of the students had this on their list. Students were also aware of
TVB Pay Vision, which is a relatively new paid TV service compared to Cable TV and Now TV.
6.8% of the students listed TVB Pay Vision, whereas only 1 out of 80 teachers named it. Now TV
was the most popular among the students, and Cable TV was the second. However, 55.6% of the
teachers believed that if students had a subscription TV, it was Cable TV. These findings showed
that teachers had wrongly assumed Cable TV to be the most popular paid TV service among the
students.
Table 2. Listing of 2 free TV channels by teachers and students and their most frequently watched channel
Free Television Channels
Listing of 2 free TV channels
Most frequently watched free
TV channel
TVB related channels
ATV related channels
Others
Teachera
Studentb
89(53.0%)
273(47.6%)
74(44.0%)
165(33.1%)
5(3.0%)
94(18.9%)
Teachera
77(91.7%)
1(1.2%)
6(7.1%)
Studentb
174(34.9%)
27(5.4%)
Note: Others include CCTV, Hunan TV, Kids’ TV, wrong answers, blank answers, etc;
aN
297(59.6%)
= 84,
bN
= 248.
Table 3. Subscription to paid TV services at home
Frequency
(Percentage)
YES
NO
Teacher (N=79)
48(62.34%)
29(37.66%)
Student(N=217)
86(39.63%)
131(60.37%)
Table 4. Listing of paid TV services by teachers and students and subscription in their homes
Subscription of Television Channels
NOW TV
Cable TV
TVB Pay
Vision
HK
Broadband
Network
others
Listing of paid
TV services
Teacher (N=84)
Student (N=248)
17(20.2%)
60(24.2%)
61(71.6%)
56(22.6%)
1(1.2%)
17(6.8%)
0(0.0%)
19(7.7%)
9(6.2%)
96 (38.7%)
Subscription to
paid TV services
Teacher (N=43)
16(35.5%)
25(55.6%)
2(4.4%)
1(2.2%)
1(2.2%)
Student (N=83)
26(26.8%)
23(23.7%)
7(7.2%)
8(8.2%)
33(34%)
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Note: Others include wrong answers and blank answers.
Students’ awareness of radio channels and the radio channels they most frequently
listened to are shown in Table 5. It was relatively difficult to make sense of the data with so
many radio channels included, so the channels were grouped into Radio Television Hong Kong
(RTHK), Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting (HKCB), and Metro Broadcasting (MB). On the
basis of this categorization, 25.0% of the teachers believed that HKCB was the most popular
among students, but only 8.8% of the students reported HKCB to be the channel they most
frequently listened to. Indeed, the most popular radio channel among students was RTHK, with
28.6% of the students listing it as the channel they most frequently listened to. However, only
9.5% of the teachers were aware of this.
Table 5. Listing of 2 radio channels by teachers and students and their most frequently listened radio channel
Radio
Listing of
2 radio
channels
Most
frequently
listened
radio
channel
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
Teachera
59(35.1%)
0(0.0%)
1(0.6%)
0(0.0%)
49(29.2%)
1(0.6%)
6(3.6%)
10(6.0%)
0(0.0%)
42(25.0%)
Studentb
119(24.0%)
1(0.2%)
1(0.2%)
0(0.4%)
57(11.5%)
14(2.8%)
7(2.4%)
12(1.4%)
4(0.8%)
281(56.7%)
Teachera
7(8.3%)
0(0.0%)
1(1.2%)
0(0.0%)
14(16.7%)
0(0.0%)
7(8.3%)
4(4.8%)
0(0.0%)
51(60.7%)
Studentb
68(27.4%)
2(0.8%)
0(0.0%)
1(0.4%)
14(5.6%)
5(2.0%)
3(1.2%)
2(0.8%)
1(0.4%)
153(61.7%)
Note: Codes for the names of radio channels: 1 for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK); 2 for RTHK – First Channel; 3 for RTHK –
Second Channel; 4 for RTHK – Fifth Channel; 5 for HK Commercial Broadcasting; 6 for HK Commercial Broadcasting – Thunder 881/First
Channel; 7 for HK Commercial Broadcasting - 903/Second Channel; 8 for Metro Broadcasting; 9 for Metro Broadcasting – Financial News
Channel; 0 for others which include wrong answers and blanks answers; aN = 84, bN = 248.
The reasons for students’ choice of a particular newspaper, TV channel, and radio
channel are shown in Table 6. For newspapers, 13.7% of the students chose a particular
newspaper because of its interesting content, while only 3.6% of the teachers thought that
students would choose a newspaper for this reason. In addition, 23.4% of the students chose a
particular newspaper for its rich content, while only 8.3% of the teachers gave this as a reason.
29.8% of the teachers thought that parents or teachers influenced students’ choice of a newspaper,
while only 18.5% of the students stated that they chose a newspaper for this reason. Finally,
price was not a factor affecting students’ choice of a newspaper, but 9.5% of the teachers
believed that it was. Concerning the reasons for choosing a TV channel, similar results were
obtained. Students chose a TV channel because of its content (reasons 1 and 2) rather than being
influenced by their parents or teachers (reason 3). While 28.6% of the teachers thought that
students’ choice of TV channel was influenced by their parents or teachers, only 3.2% of the
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students gave this as a reason. Regarding their choice of a particular radio channel, unexpected
findings were found. A large proportion of the respondents left the question, “what is your
reason for choosing a particular radio channel?” blank (47.6% for teachers and 38.7% for
students). A possible explanation for this is that students were not familiar with radio channels,
so they could not answer this question. This may suggest that the radio, as a traditional medium
of communication, is seen to be less popular among the present generation of students.
The internet surfing habits and the average number of hours that students spent online are
shown in Table 7 and Table 8. About 85% of the students surfed the Internet. Their teachers
were aware of this and were also able to estimate the number of hours that students spent surfing
the Internet (1.87 hours per day). Gender was not a factor affecting whether or not a child surfed
the Internet [t(189)=.116, p=.908]. Despite the statistical insignificance, boys tended to surf the
Internet longer than girls [t(217)=1.334, p=.183].
Table 6. Reasons for choosing a particular newspaper, TV channel and radio channel
Reasons
1
Newspaper
Teachera 3(3.6%)
Student
TV channel
b
3
7(8.3%)
25(29.8%) 20(23.8%) 0(0.0%)
4
34(13.7%) 58(23.4%) 46(18.5%) 14(5.6%)
Teachera 13(15.5%) 4(4.8%)
Studentb
Radio channel
2
24(28.6%) N/A
5
6
7
8
8(9.5%)
N/A
15(17.9%) 0(0.0%)
9
10
6(7.1%)
6(2.4%)
2(0.8%)
N/A
65(26.2%) 2(0.8%)
21(8.5%)
6(7.1%)
N/A
2(2.4%)
19(22.6%) 3(3.6%)
13(15.5%)
67(27.0%) 43(17.3%) 8(3.2%)
N/A
43(17.3%) N/A
7(2.8%)
40(16.1%) 3(1.2%)
37(14.9%)
Teacher
11(13.1%) 2(2.4%)
9(10.7%)
N/A
0(0.0%)
N/A
7(8.3%)
14(16.7%) 1(1.2%)
40(47.6%)
Studentb
36(14.5%) 31(12.5%) 16(6.5%)
N/A
0(0.0%)
N/A
13(5.2%) 45(18.1%) 11(4.4%) 96(38.7%)
a
Note: Codes for the reasons: 1 for interesting content; 2 for rich content; 3 for parents/teachers related reasons; 4 for per-ordering by
schools or families; 5 for containing kids’ sections; 6 for free or low prices; 7 for enjoying a particular program; 8 for other reasons; 9 for
“I don’t know”; 10 for blank; aN = 84, bN = 248.
Table 7. Do you surf the Internet?
Yes
Frequency
(Percentage)
No
Teacher (N=84)
82(97.6%)
2(2.3%)
Male students (N=100)
84 (84.0%)
16 (16%)
Female students (N=91)
77 (84.6%)
14 (15.4%)
Total (N=191)
161(84.3%)
30 (15.7%)
Table 8. Average number of hours spent online per day
Mean (SD)
Median
Teacher (N=81)
1.87(1.46)
1.5
Male students (N=112)
Female students (N=107)
2.05 (2.61)
1.68 (1.243)
1.25
1
Total (N=219)
1.87(2.06)
1
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The first website that students visited when connected to the Internet every day is shown
in Table 9. Nearly half of the students reported visiting Yahoo! when first connected to the
Internet, and the teachers were able to predict this. However, 26.2% of the teachers thought that
their students would visit online games related websites as their first site when connected to the
Internet, while only 8.9% of the students reported doing so. As the first website that students
visited reflected, to a certain extent, the main reason why they surfed the Internet, this result
showed that students were not so keen on online games as their teachers believed. This is
encouraging since some teachers tend to hold negative views of students’ internet surfing habits.
Both students’ and teachers’ evaluation of various media are shown in Table 10.
According to students’ perspectives, the most reliable media for providing news was the
television, followed by the radio, the newspaper, and the Internet. This trend was correctly
predicted by their teachers. Interestingly, students were found to be more cautious about the
media than their teachers thought. Regarding the reliability of TV news, the teachers made quite
accurate predictions. However, for Q1, Q3 and Q4, which asked about the reliability of news
from the radio, news from newspapers, and information from the Internet, the mean scores of
students for these questions were lower than those of teachers, indicating that some students
doubted the credibility of these types of media. For example, 19.4% of the students disagreed
that news from the newspaper was reliable; 22.1% disagreed that news from the radio was
reliable; and 31.7% questioned the reliability of information from the Internet. There was also a
relatively large discrepancy with regard to Q4 (“Generally speaking, information on the Internet
is reliable”) compared to Q1, Q2, and Q3. This suggested that teachers may not have understood
students’ views on this new media very well. In addition, the ANOVA suggested that the
credibility ratings with respect to the newspaper, the radio, and the television were different
[F(2,477)=36.7, p<.01]. Post-hoc Bonferroni tests showed that the credibility ratings for the
television were significant higher than the other two sources, while the credibility ratings
between the newspaper and the radio were not significantly different. Students generally
believed that news from the TV was more reliable than news from the newspaper or the radio.
Table 9. The first website visited when students get connected to the Internet everyday
Websites
Yahoo!
School Website
Online Games
Facebook
Sina
Others
Teachera
39(46.4%)
10(11.9%)
22(26.2%)
4(4.8%)
0(0.0%)
9(10.7%)
Studentb
125(50.4%)
25(10.1%)
22(8.9%)
12(4.8%)
3(1.2%)
61(24.6%)
Note: Others include wrong answers and blank answers. aN = 84, bN = 248.
Regarding news reading habits, the teachers did poorly in predicting their students’
responses. Whereas 74.6% of students believed that reading the news was important, only 36.9%
of the teachers predicted that their students would consider this to be important; and whereas
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51.2% of students admitted that they liked reading the news, only 21.4% of the teachers thought
that this was the case.
For the question concerning the ability to distinguish between true and false news,
students were spread quite evenly between two ends of the Likert scale: 28.8% of the students
felt strongly that they were able to distinguish between true and false news, while 22.2% strongly
disagreed that they were able to do so. This might have been due to the differences in abilities
among students. With respect to this question, it was difficult to interpret whether or not the
teachers could predict their students’ abilities well because the teachers were hardly able to
identify a typical student as a reference point for their predictions.
Table 10. Media evaluation for students and teachers
Mean
Median
Mode
Teacher(N=84)
3.77
4.00
Student(N=243)
3.39
Teacher(N=84)
Frequency
1
2
3
4
5
4.00
1(1.2%)
7(8.3%)
19(22.6%)
40(47.6%)
17(20.2%)
3.00
5.00
25(10.3%)
22(9.1%)
87(35.8%)
51(21.0%)
58(23.9%)
4.02
4.00
4.00
3(3.6%)
4(4.8%)
6(7.1%)
47(56.0%)
24(28.6%)
Student(N=243)
Teacher(N=83)
Student(N=241)
Teacher(N=83)
4.05
3.94
3.48
3.58
4.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
5.00
4.00
4.00
3.00
11(4.5%)
2(2.4%)
22(9.5%)
2(2.4%)
15(6.2%)
7(8.4%)
29(12.6%)
8(9.6%)
41(16.9%)
9(10.8%)
59(25.5%)
30(36.1%)
61(25.1%)
42(50.6%)
74(32.0%)
27(32.5%)
115(47.3%)
23(27.7%)
57(24.7%)
16(19.3%)
Student(N=240)
3.15
3.00
3.00
42(17.5%)
34(14.2%)
61(25.4%)
51(21.3%)
52(21.7%)
Q6
Teacher(N=84)
Student(N=240)
Teacher(N=84)
3.01
4.08
2.66
3.00
5.00
2.50
2.00
5.00
2.00
6(7.1%)
20(8.3%)
13(15.5%)
26(31.0%)
16(6.7%)
28(33.3%)
21(25.0%)
25(10.4%)
25(29.8%)
21(25.0%)
42(17.5%)
10(11.9%)
10(11.9%)
137(57.1%)
8(9.5%)
Q7
Student(N=242)
Teacher(N=83)
3.37
2.84
4.00
3.00
5.00
3.00
44(18.2%)
7(8.4%)
23(9.5%)
22(26.5%)
51(21.1%)
34(41.0%)
48(19.8%)
16(19.3%)
76(31.4%)
4(4.8%)
Student(N=243)
3.23
3.00
5.00
54(22.2%)
20(8.2%)
55(22.6%)
44(18.1%)
70(28.8%)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Note: The students and teachers were asked to answer the following 7 questions: Q1: Generally speaking, news in newspapers is reliable;
Q2: Generally speaking, news on TV is reliable; Q3: Generally speaking, news from radios is reliable; Q4: Generally speaking,
information on the Internet is reliable; Q5: I think it is important to read the news every day; Q6: I like reading news; Q7: I know how to
distinguish between true and false news. Likert scales were used in all questions in which 1 stands for strongly disagree and 5 for strongly
agree.
Discussion
From the findings, we can see that the upper primary students were heavy media consumers. In
terms of access, around 90% of students had access to newspapers, and the overwhelmingly
majority had access to paid newspapers. Approximately 80% of students frequently accessed free
TV channels, and around 40% also had paid TV services at home. Although Anderson et al.
(2005) found that about 95% of the Hong Kong children in their study had access to the Internet,
the current finding showed that more than 15% of the students did not have internet surfing
habits. This may suggest that some children preferred not to use the Internet despite being able to
do so. This can be interpreted either as a blessing or a curse. For those who are concerned about
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the amount of time students spend on the new media, this might be good news. However, from
the point of view of teachers, this finding indicated that students who do not surf the Internet
forgo the chance of benefiting from informal media education (e.g., learning via Wikipedia or
YouTube) and of access to the enormous amount of information available on the Internet. The
same finding is also indicative of the inability of media education to provide rich learning
opportunities for students. Tolić (2011) argued that orientation to the experiences and activities
are the two guiding principles underlying media education and media culture. The first principle
means that media education should induce feelings among students so that they are excited about
the media. The second principle emphasizes that media education should focus on actions to use
the media to manage media influences, and to differentiate between and analyze media
expressions as well as media products in order to become involved in the creation of media
culture. Based on these principles of media education, it is reasonable to assume that students’
reluctance to use the Internet or media, or their being discouraged by parents from using the
Internet, is an indication of students’ lack of interest in using and/or producing media,
highlighting media education’s unsuccessful attempt to cultivate media interests and the need for
improvement. Although not significant, girls tended to surf the Internet less than boys. Such a
result is consistent with the finding of Livingstone and Bober’s (2004) study, in which students
were found to spend less than 2 hours a day surfing the Internet; this is not a striking figure that
raises societal concern.
Concerning students’ understanding of the media, we focused on students’ judgment of
the credibility of media. According to the students’ perspectives as revealed in the media
evaluation data, the most reliable media for providing news was the television, followed by the
radio, the newspaper, and the Internet. This suggests that students still regarded traditional media
as the most reliable sources of information.
In the age of the new media, the ability to make informed judgments about facts and
fabrications has become an essential life skill for students to cope with the problem of
information overload. About half of the students believed that they were capable of
distinguishing true from false news, but still a relatively large proportion of students admitted to
their inability to do so. With respect to the former group, it would be an interesting research topic
to investigate the extent to which their confidence is real, as well as how and why they could
develop such confidence. As regards the latter group, media education tailored to the specific
needs of such students is urgently needed to enhance their media literacy. By helping students to
build knowledge and competencies in using media and technology, media education empowers
students to make informed choices regarding their media consumption habits and patterns of
usage (Frau-Meigs, 2008). Ultimately, this allows them to question and demystify media
messages through critical inquiry, to differentiate between connotation and denotation as well as
between signifier and signified, to see how the same message can be interpreted differently by
individuals, to realize the subjectivity of all communication, and to consider the motivation for
sending messages and its source (Fiske, 1990; Kellner and Share, 2005).
Students showed a high degree of awareness of Hong Kong media. They were able to list
the names of local newspapers, free TV channels, and radio channels. Their awareness regarding
television channels was particularly outstanding. Some of the students could even list less
popular TV channels such as CCTV, and less popular paid TV services such as HK Broadband
Network.
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Regarding their consumption patterns, students were more proactive media users than the
teachers thought. They were not merely passive recipients or victims of powerful media
messages, and were more content-oriented than their teachers believed. This shows that they
were cautious about the content of the media, and they were able to make independent judgments
when choosing which newspaper to read and which TV channel to watch instead of simply
following the choice of their parents or teachers. If students chose newspapers based on their
content, it may be worth noting that tabloids were more popular among them. Apple Daily,
Oriental Daily, and The Sun are the three tabloids with the highest circulation rate in Hong
Kong. Sing Tao Daily and Mingpao are the two broadsheets commonly subscribed to in schools.
However, more than half of the students (54.8%) admitted that one of the three tabloids was their
most frequently read newspaper. Whether or not reading tabloids is beneficial to students’
growth is beyond the scope of this paper. Further research is needed to explore the reasons for
and implications behind this phenomenon.
Another noteworthy finding was students’ unfamiliarity with radio channels. The
development of the Internet has made it possible for radio programmes to be broadcasted through
the Internet and hence more accessible to students. Podcasting, for example, can act as a
substitute for radio channels to a certain extent. It is thus not surprising to see a decline in
interest in radio channels among the present generation of young people. Indeed, traditional
media are facing an ‘identity crisis’ in the convergence culture in which the old and new media
are hybridized (Jenkins, 2006). In the future, it is possible that the radio and television will be
completely replaced by the Internet. In that event, all that people will need will be a computer
with a connection to the Internet.
In the present study, teachers’ understanding of students’ media consumption habits
deviated from reality in some domains. According to the findings, teachers overestimated the
number of students who had access to paid TV, and they had no clear expectations concerning
students’ ability to evaluate the credibility of media. The discrepancy between teacher-student
assumptions of media consumption habits might suggest that more classroom time and resources
should be allocated to teaching students to understand media messages through critical inquiry.
Media literacy has never been a part of the current curriculum and related research is also lacking.
Given that students’ perceptions of their evaluating ability can be very subjective, teachers
should focus not only on fostering the ability of weaker students, but also on preventing some
students from being over-confident. In the present study, teachers tended to view students more
negatively in some domains; they probably overestimated students’ preference for online games.
They also underestimated the number of students who liked reading news and believed in the
importance of reading. Given that researchers, such as Burnett (2002), have pointed out the
importance of recognizing students’ efforts in order to enhance teacher-student relationships,
teachers should adjust their thinking in light of the current findings. We should also bear in mind
the possibility that some students may respond the questionnaire in a socially desirable way in
order to display a more positive image, especially if they are afraid that teachers will know their
true answers.
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Conclusion
The study set out to understand the media access, media awareness, and media use patterns of
upper primary students in Hong Kong from their own and their teachers' perspectives. While we
are aware of the internal threats to the validity of the findings such as the use of simple items to
measure media use and awareness, the findings in this study provide preliminary evidence
showing that primary school teachers have only a limited understanding of their students in terms
of media use. These significant findings suggested that the upper primary students were more
active and autonomous media users than their teachers expected. Students were confident in their
own ability to judge the reliability of information. It was found that they did not rely merely on
new media as their information source at the expense of traditional media, which is rather
different from what their teachers may have believed. Since the discrepancy between students’
actual ability and teachers’ realistic expectations would inevitably hinder the effectiveness of
media education and thus make accurate assessment of both students’ improvement and the
media education impossible, it is argued that more contextual and in-depth research should be
conducted to assess the media use patterns of students, from which appropriate media education
models can be derived to maximize the benefits of media education to students. More
importantly, although the present study was conducted in Hong Kong, it is believed that the
findings here have implications for students in similar contexts. After all, an effective media
education curriculum is one that can be tailor-made to meet the specific needs of students, and
one that is built on the information teachers have about their students’ media consumption habits.
Underestimating or overestimating students in terms of their knowledge of, access to, and use of
media could potentially lead to ineffective use of classroom time and ineffective strategy.
Finally, several limitations in this study are noted, which should be addressed in future
studies. First, the non-random sample and the small sample size in this study mean that the
findings cannot be generalized to all upper primary students in Hong Kong. As a small part of a
wider study of project-based learning and collaborative learning, only Primary 4 students from
the four participating schools were investigated. Nevertheless, this study provides many insights
and valuable findings for researchers interested in the media use and media awareness of the
present generation of students. Studies using more sophisticated sampling methods, such as the
stratified random sampling method, and a greater number of students and schools in Hong Kong
are needed. Second, primary students at all levels could be studied so that media awareness
among different levels of primary students can be examined and compared. Third, parents’
beliefs regarding the media use of their children could also be considered. Fourth, the effect of
demographic variables such as gender and family socio-economic status (SES) on media
awareness and media use merits further investigation. The findings from such research will
increase our understanding of the influence of these variables on the media use and media
awareness of students.
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Appendix
The questionnaire on media awareness and media use patterns
1.
Please list three Chinese newspapers from Hong Kong:
(i) _______________
(ii) _______________
(iii) _______________
2.
Which of the above newspapers do you read most frequently? _____________
3.
Please list two free TV stations in Hong Kong:
Why? ______________
(i) _______________
(ii) _______________
4.
Which of the above TV stations do you watch most frequently? ____________
Why? _____________
5.
Please list one paid TV service:
______________
6.
Does your family have a subscription to paid TV service at home? Yes/No
If yes, which one? _____________
7.
Please list two radio stations:
(i) _______________
(ii) _______________
8.
Which radio channel from the above radio stations do you listen to most frequently? ________
(i) Why?____________
9.
Do you surf the Internet? Yes/No
If Yes, how many hours do you spend online every day? ___________
10. When you get connected to the Internet, which website will you first visit? ___________
11. Do you agree with the following statements? (1 for strongly disagree, 5 for strongly agree)
(i) Generally speaking, news in newspapers is reliable.
(ii) Generally speaking, news on TV is reliable.
(iii) Generally speaking, news from the radio is reliable.
(iv) Generally speaking, information on the Internet is reliable.
(v) I think it is important to read about the news every day.
(vi) I like knowing about the latest news.
(vii) I know how to distinguish between true and false news.
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