Journal Entry #9

What happens when we see our lives represented through mainstream media ...What happens when we don't?

This quote really applies to the students that we teach today. Many of our students are a member of a social network, whether it be Facebook or twitter or something else. Many of the students I have in class know how to create videos, post videos to YouTube and even maninulplate those videos. The students are experts when it comes to pictures and manipulating the images. Our students are working with these technologies outside of school on a daily basics, this is what they are interested in and what they are doing in their spare time. Students are used to creating a piece of art and displaying it. Our students are involved in media each and everyday of their lives, however many of them do not think that they are since they do not see it through the television. We need to show this connection to our students and help them understand it.

This is a really cool video about how one school or one area is encouraging their students to create media productions and participate in a competition to receive rewards for those productions. I love this idea, it would be neat if we could offer a program similar to this in this area.

northsideisd (Producer). (2011). Digital media fair . [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W37uZRPpCoM

Week 9 - Oral History Interview Idea

Interview
I have decided to conduct my digital story based on the 1960s. During this error the United States experienced the "hippie" generation. This youth movement was encouraged by the Wars and protests against the wars. My mother grew up in New York City during this error and experienced it first hand. I would like to interview my mother. She was part of the "hippie" generation in which they rallied for freedom. I would like to interview her about the 60s and what it was like living in that error, experiencing the heartache of war, and how the movement inspired her?

My interviewee is Cheri.
She is my mother.
She between the ages of 15-25 during this error.
She experienced the movement first hand.
She lived in Brooklyn, New York during the error.

More information will come soon.

Journal Entry #8

Teaching Media Literacy

And then there are those who see media literacy as a way to give children the opportunity to tell their own stories and better understand the powhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifer of those who shape the stories of our culture and our times.

I found this reading very interesting. I am preparing to have my student create a infomercial in my digital imaging class. This lesson plays in with my lesson plans and even gives me some additional ideas to incorporate into my lesson. I chose the above quote because this is how I feel about media literacy. By using media in the classroom we teach our students valuable skills that they can use in both school and in future careers. Our students are then able to use these skills to express their selves in the classroom setting. They are able to produce their own stories and truly understand the impact media has own people.

This is a great video about Teachers Today. It shows how teachers today are changing the world by engaging the students and using technology.

k8teaw (Producer). (2008). Digital world: teachers today. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2j9qw-A0NM&feature=related

Real Works Video - Week 8

Playing with other Tigers

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What do you like about the digital story?
I like the message that the digital story is sending across. Here is two students that should hate each other based on the current situation in the US (the twin tower attack) and based on the conflicts between the Islams and Muslims, but yet they are best friends. The beginning of this digital story opened with a play the two boys had participated in, and the meaning was discussed about liking another for who they are and now what they are. I think that was a great introduction to this digital story!


What did you learn from the digital story?
I learned that people have the strength to look past appearance and religion, it just takes the desire to discover who someone is and not judge a book by its cover.

How can digital storytelling promote critical media literacy? I encourage you to Google digital storytelling and critical media literacy to answer this question.
Digital story helps students and participants learn how to incorporate audio and visual elements to create a multimedia product. It allows the student to be more expressive in their presentations and find new and creative ways of getting their message across to the audience. It allows a change for students to combine their digital knowledge with personal experiences to create a meaningful message.

Journal Entry # 7

Measuring the Acquisition of Media Literacy Skills

Why did the authors do this study?
The authors wanted to determine if Media-Literacy Instruction would improve students comprehension skills, writing skills, and analysis skills between print, audio, and video forms.


How did the authors do the study?
The study was conducted for the course of one year with 11th grade media/communication teachers and students. To have a local comparison the authors chose a school about 50 miles away from the treated school. There were many differences between size, race, and other key factors - making this a Quasi-experimental design. Students were exposed to reading a print news magazine
article, listening to a U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) audio news commentary, and viewing a television news segment targeted at teenagers. Each of the skills was measured using these mediums. Comprehensions skills were measured through written responses and open ended questions. Writing skills were measured through the open ended question response text (word count, quality, spelling/grammar errors. Analysis skills were measured with both open ended questions and checklist items to see if students could identify purpose, target audience, construction techniques, values and point of view, omitted information,and comparison-contrast.

What data/results emerged from the study?
The treatment group had higher reading comprehension skills than the control group.
The students in the control group had higher listening skills than the treatment group.
There were significant differences between the control group and treatment group in the ability to identify main idea from video, but no differences in other details.
Students in the treatment group wrote longer paragraphs that those in the control group.
There were significant differences between the control group and treatment group in analysis skills.

Overall Conclusion
The students in the treatment group were better able to complete the tasks. As quoted from the text "The students ability to identify main ideas demonstrated improvement in reading comprehension skills. Longer paragraphs and fewer spelling errors are signs of continuing development in writing skills."

What do the authors conclude from the data analysis?
The authors discovered that media comprehension literacy can increase students comprehension skills, writing skills, analysis skills, and overall literacy skills.

As quoted from text

"This study finds that students who received
media-literacy instruction were more likely to
recognize the complex blurring of information,
entertainment, and economics that are present in
contemporary nonfiction media. Students who received
media-literacy instruction appeared to have a
more nuanced understanding of interpreting textual
evidence in different media formats to identify an
author’s multiple purposes and intended target audiences."

What is the significance of the study?
This study shows that teachers/educators should not fear teaching students how to media literate. Just because we teach our students how to media literate does not mean that we are devaluing print or even trying to eliminate it. We are finding additional ways of helping out students grasp a deeper understanding through the power of increasing their literacy skills. Print will also be a part of literacy, we are just in the process of adding some other types of forms.

How do these findings influence your position on media literacy and school curriculum?
I think that this study shows educators the importance and benefit of teaching media literacy in the school systems. The students learn more and are more motivated through the use of media, so why shouldn't we use it as an instructional aid?

Lesson Plan Product - Week 7

Currently working on developing this .

Journal Entry # 6

“Teachers who recognize the goal of teaching thinking rather than just imparting knowledge help students make connections beyond the content of the coursework”

Teaching thinking, that says it all. As educators we need to teach our students how to analyze the world around and be prepared to take action. Our students must understand how to interpret surroundings, text books, videos, and media to gain a deeper understanding of the material. If we just pound facts and information into our students, they are bound to forget it in a matter of time. To many educators are concerned with helping the students memorize information so that they may remember the facts on a Standardized test; however if we are able to teach our students how to think about the problem and find the answer, not only will they perform better on the standardized test we are teaching the student a life long skill. This is how the education system should be teaching our students how to think rather than how to memorize.

As a current teacher I have noticed how my students have struggled through, what I call application problems. I teach the students the skills and we practice the skills, then I assign application problems. These application problems are a list of attributes students must apply to a project using the knowledge and skills we have learned through the unit. My students complain that it is too hard, that they can't do this hard of work. I believe this is because I expect the students to think and discover, and they are not use to this. My class is not simple memorization, but they are required to learn the material and use that knowledge to create projects - they find this very difficult. I want to prepare my students for the future, not for a test.

Ok I found a great video. Please watch this, it says so much about our educations system today!
A vision of K-12 Students Today

bjnesbitt (Producer). (2007). A vision of k-12 students today . [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

Lesson Plan - Week 6

Authoring With Video
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by Barbara K. Strassman, Ed.D. and Trisha O'Connell

Here are the some of the CSOs that would be met for this course in a Digital Imaging Course:
BE.S.DIM1.8 Students will create digital videos.
BE.O.DIM1.8.1 operate digital video cameras.
BE.O.DIM1.8.2 use digital video software to cut, edit, apply effects, add titles, and transitions to video clips.
BE.O.DIM1.8.3 convert video for specific projects to correct file format such as QuickTime, RealPlayer, Windows Movie Maker.
BE.S.DIM1.9 Students will produce and present a digital imagining/multimedia business presentation.
BE.O.DIM1.9.1 critique the components of an effective presentation.
BE.O.DIM1.9.2 develop and design a digital imaging/multimedia project.
BE.O.DIM1.9.3 edit and proofread a digital imaging/multimedia project
BE.O.DIM1.9.4 enhance a digital imaging/multimedia project with features (color, backgrounds, transitions).
BE.O.DIM1.9.5 apply visual elements using digital photography, graphics, scanned images, and video images into a digital imaging/multimedia project.
BE.O.DIM1.9.6 apply audio digital audio elements, such as voice/sound clips and music into a digital imaging/multimedia project.


Can integrating media literacy into your classroom activities help prepare your students for taking the WestTest?

This is a difficult question to answer, as I do not teach a core class students are not learning the same material that they are tested on during the west test; however there are a variety of ways that I can incorporate necessary curriculum into my curriculum. For instance through studying different text and creating videos, you are helping students grasp and understanding of the text they are reading or creating to acquire a deeper understanding. Other ways of meetings these needs are using math in projects, and basing projects around historical events to help the students focus on that material, or teaching across the curriculum to meet CSOs of other courses as well as your own. Even though my class curriculum is not geared to the content the West Test is based on their are a variety of ways that I can help the students improve their knowledge in that area.