Final Project: A Draft

My PowToon tries to encompass the learning goals and how I progressed through the class activities. The idea that you first learn, try to understand, and then create is the epitome of what education should be like. I do not mean duplicating information as the "create" segment I mean build your own idea of the understanding. I have been teaching math this semester, which may not seem like much to some (mathematicians), but I'm a math student not a math teacher... case in point the "common core standards" seem like a wild idea to some people and on some levels I could agree, but when you look at the steps from a differentiated view it begins to make sense. If I asked you how you learned to add numbers (an abstract idea) you may remember first learning with manipulative's (concrete objects) and I'm 100% sure that not everyone in the USA used the same objects, yet they all served the same purpose. I say all of that to offer this view about media literacy and my progression through the course... every activity in this class had a learning goal... and every learning goal had many different ways to achieve the goal... media literacy isn't so much about what the answer may be, but the journey you take trying to find IT. Learning skills you need for the journey is what students need... they do not need the ANSWERS.

Module 7: PBL's

This post is to provide a link to the Module 7 product I made to demonstrate what a group might do to present thier understanding of the task.

Intro to Political Cartoons


Intro to political cartoons by rjsnell82 on GoAnimate

Either link should work to connect you to the product. I should note that this is a very short sample of what type of creative visual essay the group could produce.

This picture is the political cartoon being used in the LOC Lesson plan as the opening issue. This issue provides a segway into the more relevant topic of the current events in the nation and else where in the world. Much of the issue still revolves around the separate but equal doctrine that ended with the Brown v Topeka case.

Works Cited

Boehm, R. G. (2003). Our World Today. People, Places, and issues. NewYork: Glencoe McGraw-Hill.

Gredler, M. (2012). Understanding Vygotsky for the Classroom: Is It Too Late? Educational Psychology Review, 113-131.

Henslin, J. (2011). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach Ninth Edition. Boston: Pearson Higher Education.

Jones, W. P. (2006). Understanding Research. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Kaupler, D. (2014, 11 28). TL Advisor Blog. Retrieved from Tech and Learning: http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3962

McDevitt, T. M. (2010). Child Development and Education. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.

Teachers. (2014, 11 28). It's No Laughing Matter. Retrieved from Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/activities/political-cartoon/cag.html

Critical Digital Media: Lessons for Critical Thinking

To learn more about the who what when where and why of understanding and critical thinking, students need to be equipped with tools for decoding information. The very idea of this skill is basic and fundemental, for example letters are merely constructed symbols until you learn they have disticnt attributes. You then build upon that learning by combining those attributes to form various words, which leads to learning a new skill... so on and so on until a proficient reader has emerged. Spoken words are or can be so different from written words or to better illustrate... we learn to speak long before we have any idea that the words coming from our mouths exist in a written (symbolic) form. When we learn the current rules for symbolic representations (I use current as a way to represent that languages are generally growing, morphing, and changing as learning changes) we also learn to use a wide array of different combinations of those symbols to present our thoughts and ideas. A good example of this would be the contributions Shakespeare made to the English language (some 1700 word changes) to better represent his creative thoughts.

This idea leads to my first lesson for student learning: Cartoon Analysis  This is a link to a lesson found on the LOC website and the actual cartoon is titled "Inch by Inch" and was first published in 1960 to raise awareness about segregation in education. By using cartoons students learn to develop a whole new symbolic language and can also begin to learn that there are NO errant pen strokes... everything the artist drew has a purpose. Identifying this purpose can lead to deeper understanding and the true motive for the creation.

Lesson number two will follow the same theme, but change the media venue to be analyzed and will also introduce a new tool for presenting information (infographics)... Video Analysis
This lesson plan is located on the PBS website and presents another topic that could have a current event connection to "profiling" and how that may or may not be an infringement on Constitutional rights. This also follows a thematic question I have been developing with my students about what crosses the line, by introducing a topic that could potentially impact them it brings instant relevance to the topic, but it also provides a venue to further investigate the potential producer bias... "why is only one side of the topic being presented" what types of persuasive tactics are being used. This lesson would then have the students create an infographic report using PiktoChart

Lesson three will focus on the creative tools available to demonstrate understanding or creating for the purpose of presenting your understanding to others. The main idea of this lesson will be to offer students a list of good resources ( Best Web 2.0 Websites ) and let them choose the site that will best represent their learning and if students already have a venue they prefer to use that's okay too (this is not a ploy to influence students to a particular option, but encouraging them to find the most suitable venue for their topic).

These lesson plans are the ideas that closely mirror the quotes and themes I pulled from the reading and activities this semester. Below is a short example of what students may produce.


Persuasion short by rjsnell82 on GoAnimate


GoAnimate is free for 30 second videos and the even have a secure school component for whole classrooms at a small cost.

Citations:
GoAnimate.com
Library of Congress.org
PBS.org
PiktoChart.com
Techlearning.com

Week 12 Reading: Top 5?

The reading and subsequent questions asks me to rank my motivation for digital and media literacy, which seems to parallel the same type of motivation for becoming a teacher. I have been and done a lot of different things in my life, while many may have difficulty making the connection to teaching, I can see that I have on some level always been a teacher. To understand this ideology I need to offer my definition of what teaching means to me... a teacher is someone that facilitates greater learning, while at the same time increasing their own knowledge base (not just content knowledge but also strategies, modification to content activities, self reflection...). This helps me to bring the top five list into context and focus on the true goals of education. The old adage of "is it ignorance or apathy? followed by the answer... I do not know and I do not care!" could be the reason many people do not get involved in raising awareness to issues that can and do change the world. Teaching critical digital and media literacy has been a necessity since the masses learned to read, not since the development of the written word because during that time the elitists spread their ideology without opposition from the masses. The world in which we now live demands critical thinking skills and a strong foundation in digital and media literacy.

My #1can and does have a broad interpretation: "to build students' ability to be active, thoughtful "readers" or interpreters of media messages in their cultural environment." This builds on the theme I have been talking about for a large part of the class... underlying motives, crossing the line, and the ability to form your own opinion. I hear on a daily basis students regurgitate someone elses views as their own, but when they are asked to think about what they just said or defend their position they are at a loss for words... why because when you parrot the ideas of others you can only say the words you have been taught and no words of your own. If you can build a student's ability to "think critically" then they can find their own words (no longer ignorant) amidst all the rhetoric, which calls them into action rather than remaining passive (apathetic).

The Second on the list closely follows the first: "to strengthen discrimination skills in distinguishing between high-quality and low-quality messages." This does not revert all the way back to the opening week and Neil Postman's speech, but has a certain BS alarm or detector attached to the skill. This company has made this idea a very profitable company in that they will help you market your web content to advertisers.

Number #3 " to use their own voices for advocacy and social change." This also continues to build on the first two quotes in that once students' start to gain the skills of being active thoughtful readers and discerning high vs low quality messages the logical third step is for them to start advocating change or promoting social awareness like the PSAs or ReelWorks projects we have already experienced. I learned a very valuable lesson from my parents (mostly my dad) understanding that I have always been fiercely independent, which was "the best helping hand you'll ever find is at the end of your own arm," to which they added, "use it to help yourself and others." I recognize that if you learn how to learn with the goal of turning that learning into thinking (meta-cognition) then you go beyond content to possibilities and with possibilities comes the ability to affect change. Rushkoff in his book, "Program or be Programmed" put forth the idea that one needed to be educated in the realm of "code writing" in order to write programs lest you become one who gets programmed. If you can enable student to see the value in critical thinking skills they will become advocates of change.

The last #4 and #5 are two that closely deal with the actual tools or skill needed for digital education..."improve writing and communication skills .... and develop student skills in using technology tools." the empowering of creativity was in the running, but lost out to the actual tools because I really felt that if you possess the skills than you will access your creative side and create. The idea is also a further exploration of the many different registers we use depending on the audience we are addressing. The in-formal vs formal and which is more appropriate for the situation also offers the many different types of media to best convey your point... from a 6 second "VINE" to a 140 character "Tweet" at #hmuigotstufftosay (not a real address). The possibilities of media types is growing everyday and sometimes, an old school essay will work, but music videos have revolutionized the way we listen to music (for those of you old enough can remember the idea of adding lights to music as a visual cue). Students need basic instruction on how to use technology in their everyday world.


Citation:

Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

PSA: Crossing the Line

The idea about what crosses the line from being funny to being offensive. There are many different approaches to comedy and raising awareness to sensitive issues. The power of laughter often becomes the venue for broaching the subject. Sarcasm is a great tool as long as the viewer knows you are being sarcastic, the same can be said about dark humor... when its soooooo over the top people must realize you are not being serious, but many times this type of an approach is insensitive and offensive. These types of rhetoric can also cost the initiator of the comments their jobs... people like Jimmy the Greek, Don Imus, Athony Cumia, ... and others... make no mistake I'm not defending their remarks, nor am I trying to minize the consequences, but rather pointing out that most of these individuals did not set out to ruin their careers or viciously attack anyone. They simply crossed the line. The ReelWorks.org is a venue for young people to create short videos about issues that are important to them to try and build effective change in culture. The tactics should always appeal to the target audience in this case anyone that interacts with anyone else, but mainly those that interact with students. This is to try to bring about awareness to social issues that allow or condone the perpetuating of stereotypical bigotry.

My PSA



Citation:

Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Week 11: Authentic Learning Opportunities

What are authentic learning opportunities? How does a student engage them self in these learning opportunities? How does a teacher present such opportunities or do they even come from teachers? these are the questions that I had while pondering the reading and posting requirements. The overwhelming thought that kept recurring to me was the Gardner's model of interest driven learning. This coupled with Montessori's model of exploratory education seems to answer the questions, but you have to be willing to search for them a little bit. Case in point at the root of the first question there is the implication that all learning may Not be a good authentic experience (meaning to me), yet learning occurs. To further expound... an authentic learning experience has great value and builds interest to further investigate or find deeper meaning. This is the basis for the scientific method... all things start with curiosity, followed by a question, followed by a possible answer, followed by the what do I do to find the answer, which leads to an authentic learning experience (opportunity).

The second question is much harder to answer because of the many different variables that exist when faced with what interest students or drives student learning. This is closely related to so many different things like culture, SES, location, age, maturity... the list expands, yet the root is interest and if you are interested enough then very little will stand in your way on the road to accomplishment. The young lady in the video talked about possibilities, but not once did she dwell on the limitations to achievement. This is what excites me about education... the freedom to do whatever you choose to become if you are willing and determined to put the time and effort into it. As a teacher I want to offer students tools and encouragement to pursue their goals, but also reassuring them that there are NO unimportant jobs. If you choose to do this or that the rest of your life that is 100% okay! I just do not want you to wake up one morning and think, "this is all I have." This is something I can and do attest too, because I haven't completely settled on my career yet... I'm still a work in progress....

The dreaded third question that haunted me for this posting is the role the educator plays in this authentic learning... maybe its the word teacher, educator, professor, mentor... that's the problem and maybe I could use the ideals Vygotsky presented in his learning theory... ZPD (zone of proximal development and Scaffolding. The idea is that when you are presented with a new concept there is an optimal time (ZPD) for learning to take place and if someone that already has that knowledge is present and helps (scaffolds) us then we learn that new concept and now have the ability to help others. This says to me we all are teachers, while we are all also learners, which when you think about it authentic learning opportunities are those that present themselves as a chance for you learn while you teach and vice versa.

All of this helps me connect the theme of the chapter 8 reading in that we are surrounded by choices of what to attend to and what to ignore, what competes for our time and how we spend the time we have. All choices have consequences (not going to debate good or bad) and with these consequences come opportunities for us to learn or teach. This reminds me of an adage from yore... "life's too short to make all the mistakes yourself... learn from others"... discerning what that learning is may be a good place to start. The media source puts forth their story with their observational bias, from their viewpoint, with their editing, the learning (authentic learning) is what are they really wanting me to know about this topic. Like the TedxRainier, what did the storyteller (Sarah) really want me to take from her story... was it possibilities? ... was how she and her friends changed the world? ...  was it to challenge the people of Seattle to support her initiative? ... or did she want to challenge me to be anything I wanted to be? ... maybe she was guiding the listener into realizing that to change the world you need to start with yourself and your community by getting involved (civics 101), which changes the world even if its just your little part of it.

Citation:

Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Tedx Rainier: Sarah Stuteville; Journalism Revived

Customized Learning

The idea of unlocking the  power of creativity for students to express their understanding of a topic or present information can be an awesome activity. I researched my topic and selected relevant images from a free open source (google images) to create my presentation. I chose the "Padlet" frame to display my work because it allows others to comment and add content. The customized learning allows the student to also insert audio links into the images or links to interactive websites. I included an interactive map game and short video to explain the difference between Great Britain and The United Kingdom. The targeted learner is a middle school social studies student at this level, but could easily be adapted to high school students as well.

Created with Padlet

I also have researched other sites as possible venues for future activities like PiktoChart, Prezi, MovieMaker, and iMovie.

Citation:
All Images contain "source" links specifically and were accessed from Google Images

Game Link: Sheppardsoftware.com

Video: You Tube

Public Service Annoucement: Crossing the Line

The topic I want to explore more for a PSA is when Reality TV or Transgressive Humor crosses the line of what's humor to what's illegal, unethical, or harmful to society in general. There will be many different angles and venues to explore in the Reality TV genre like MTV's "BuckWild" or Discovery Channel's "Moonshiners" like the clip below.



This really causes me to wonder about the ethical position of the Discovery Channel producers not the behavior of the "moonshiners." I mean the first thing you see is a disclaimer about the illegality of moonshining... so why then would you decide to not only condone it by glamorizing it, but pay the individuals to film them in this illegal endeavor. Or are other topics like this week's SNL Clip does it cross the line? The idea of "Transgressive Humor" to bring attention to topics runs the risk of offending rather building support for change... the question then becomes how far is too far.


The audience will be directed toward students as they try their hand at creating videos to share like vines, YouTube, instagrams... and also teachers and the responsibility they have to educate students about the ethics of representation.

There are copyright infringements and defamation misrepresentations that occur without malicious intent, but that doesn't change the fact that its wrong. Getting permission requires diligence and runs the risk of being told No, but the consequences could be very expensive. The You Tube Statistics page outlines the potential that exists for material to reach intended and unintended audiences. The ACLU outlines the rights individuals have with regards to Making a video or an Audio recording.



Citation:

ACLU: aclupa.org; 2014

Image Credits DCI
Copyright © 2014 Discovery Communications, LLC. The World’s #1 Nonfiction Media Company.

MTV.com  MTV BuckWild 2012


SNL NBC.com 11/1/2014

Week 10: Online Life?

The quote that got everything started for this reading comes from page 126... "to help students acquire the competencies of digital citizenship, we have to do more than make students sign an acceptable use policy..." This sparked a conversation I had several months ago with a professor at Fairmont State University (whose initials are Dr. Price) about the very topic of digital natives vs digital immigrants. I then opened my online subscription to EdWeek on October 29, 2014 to read this article... What Digital Literacy Looks Like in the Classroom the timing could not have been better. I then recalled an article I worked on with two classmates in another call several semesters ago about Maine's integration of technology tools (Laptops) to EVERY middle school student in the entire state, but failed to recognize that very few school districts were equipped for such an integration. Most school districts did not have broadband connections (NO Wireless) or very limited Internet service; nor did they have a faculty that was ready to use the technology in the classroom. The idea of giving every student a laptop to use everyday in the classroom is great idea, but there are several questions that must be addressed first... like where will they store and charge the laptops, can they take the laptops home... but the most important and overlooked problem to this type of integration was assuming the students knew all about how to use the laptops. It seems so obvious in the world we live today to just assume that because computers exist all around you that somehow you would acquire this knowledge without being taught; in fact a new common phrase is "I'm sure your child knows more about a computer than you do." I may even have been guilty of saying that to a parent, but worse than that I have made the assumption that students come into my classroom with skills they have yet to learn. Students need explicit instruction (I do), with some scaffolding instruction (we do) followed up with practice or application (you do) in order to develop proficient skills through authentic learning activities. If the learning goal is developing a blog then students need to create a blog and learn blogging etiquette, not place a "blog styled" writing assignment in a "teacher in box."

Quote 2 comes from deeper in the chapter but follows a theme around the discussions that I have been trying to have on a regular basis with my students... "How do parents and teachers open up a respectful and safe conversational space to examine ethical and social issues associated with controversial online content?" (Page 129)  Like the author points out in the reading and the experience I have had with my students many teens down play the significance of controversial material as nothing when asked directly about the content, so I follow-up with the question of then... "why do you try to hide it?" I spend a great deal of time trying to get to know my students and where they are in their lives (not prying but needing to understand where they stand according to hierarchy of needs). The time spent building a rapport also builds trust and respect, which can lead to a safe place to talk about real issues, I try very hard to provide a learning environment that students can embrace difference as difference not different right / good or wrong / bad. I then help them connect this to how "transgressive humor" affects them or what it may be like when they are the "victims" of this type of humor. In a real way this opens the conversation to other hard to discuss topics because now they have become the initiators of topics and I get to reply with just more questions or listen to them talk about the issues... they do not know how big I'm smiling (and shouting YES YES YES) on the inside when this happens.

Quote 3 comes from the sub-section "the ethics of representation" on page 136... "When exploring social power the "Golden Rule" can be used to initiate meaningful conversation about social and ethical issues." This leads to a great teachable moment into what different students believe the "Golden Rule" to be... I usually start with something like, "He who has the gold makes the rule" or "He who has the gold keeps the gold and then splits," which is usually met with some mixed laughter and a lot of correcting to the actual "Golden Rule," but I have to explore further into what does that really mean???? Another great segway into conversations about sensitive topics and the impact they have on you and others. Much of this really surrounds the ideology of cultures grow and change from what was once taboo and deviant to becoming a norm or folkway, which is a generational changing mechanism as acceptance to the blurred lines. The converse of this is equally true in that in the blurring of the lines calls for action rather than apathetic change (at least that's how I understand Picasso's aphorism..."Art is the lie that tells the truth.") Parody can be a powerful tool reign in the radical issues, but students need strong understanding of what crosses the line of ethics and what it means to misrepresent someone in any form especially digital formats like videos or recordings without permission.





Citation:

EdWeek: Online publication

Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.