Tracing the history of new media in media and information literacy

Introduction New media started with simple sounds, drawings, and handwritten messages. Today we have smartphones, social media, and the internet that have become part of our daily life. Learning about new media literacy provides an overview of how communication has developed and why it is relevant within the context of our day-to-day lives. - Timeline of New Media Humans long ago communicated through gestures, sounds, and drawing. Even today, a newborn baby communicates through movement and signs before learning to speak. Humanity early in life expressed itself by carving images on cave walls or scratching marks on wood and stone. With time, a written system developed: for example, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese ideographs, along with an alphabet system created by the ancient Phoenician and Roman cultures. These became the earliest forms of documented communication. Key Milestones in the Evolution of New Media Cave drawings and early writing: The use of images and simple marks to r...