Melda N. Yildiz is a global scholar and Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at New York Institute of Technology.
What do you do?
I am a global scholar, teacher educator, instructional designer, author, and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). I served as a Fulbright Scholar in Turkmenistan (2009) and Azerbaijan (2016) teaching and conducting research integrating media education in P16 classrooms. I co-authored, published, and presented on topics including STEM education, media & information literacy, instructional technology, multicultural and global education. I received my Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in Math & Science and Instructional Technology, and an M.S. from Southern Connecticut State University in Instructional Technology. I majored in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Bogazici University in Turkey.
Tell us about your latest work or project in media literacy.
Currently, I am working on: “Eradicating Algorithmic Injustice through Participatory Action Research: Media Binds or Blinds?”
This participatory action research (PAR) study investigates the role of Algorithmic Bias/Injustice integrating new technologies (i.e. Global Positioning System (GPS) in developing global competencies, geospatial intelligence, and computational thinking skills; offers creative strategies and possibilities integrating new technologies in teacher education programs. PAR explores a wide range of meanings participants associated with experiential activities; the impact of new technologies in developing multicultural and multilingual apps that promotes transdisciplinary curriculum; the ways in which participants integrate geospatial and computational thinking skills into their learning; and how they gain alternative points of view on global issues and renewed interest and commitment to community service.
I am also working on an E-Literature (E-Debiyyat) Project: Kinetic Poetry Across Cultures Throughout History.
This project outlines innovative multilingual and multicultural multimedia (MMM) e-poetry projects using mobile devices in teacher education; offers creative strategies for producing media with youth and developing MMM projects integrating world languages and 21st-century skills; provides the results of a participatory research project among educators; describes participants’ reactions and experiences with new technologies and showcases their multimedia projects and digital stories. By collaborating with our international colleagues and graduate students and their students in the US, we are co-developing a research-based multilingual app that promotes world literature, history, and culture and it is replicable and publishable in a mini-book format. In conclusion, we explore how the use of social networking software and handheld devices in global education combines knowledge, reflection, and action; promotes global literacies; and prepares a new generation to be responsible members of a multicultural, global society.
Why is media literacy important to you?
Media literacy is a life skill for health, happiness, and productivity in life! It encompasses global competencies, geospatial intelligence, and computational thinking skills.
What are you most excited about in the media literacy field?
Media literacy is a transdisciplinary field that allows us to see the world from multiple perspectives, transforms our thinking, and translates our research findings into other fields of study. I am so excited to be a media literacy educator who seeks to provide inclusive, interdisciplinary, and innovative instruction to my students.
Why did you become a NAMLE member, what benefits do you see to membership, and how will it support your work?
I enjoy attending conferences and networking with other media literacy educators around the world!
The views and opinions expressed in the M-Passioned Member blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NAMLE or its members. The purpose of the M-Passioned Member blog is to highlight our members and give them a place to share their reflections, opinions, and ideas.