Thursday, June 28, 2007
Media Learning is Essential
Well, I am back from St. Louis now after a wonderful conference. I met many people from around the country and even from around the world. (Jun and Kyoko from Japan were a lot of fun to hang out with!) The National Media Education Conference opened my eyes to an area of education that is overlooked but is so important. Before this week of great speakers and interesting topics, I had never heard of Media Literacy. I am sure that many educators have long, complete definitions as to what Media Literacy is, but this is what it means to me.
As the father of three children, a daughter about to turn 13, and two sons, eight and six, I like to think that I take a great interest in their growth and maturity. Both their mother and I are very involved in their lives and what they spend their time doing. There are very few channels they can watch on their own, but that does not mean they are restricted from watching TV. It's just that Natasha or I will sit down and watch shows with them. They ask questions and we answer. If they don't ask a question when I think a particular topic or situation needs commentary, I will ask the question. (A quick plug for PVRs here: If you do not have one, get one! Life is full of interruptions. Being able to pause the TV and carry on conversations with your loved ones is priceless.)
So one of our favorite topics is, "What is the message behind the message?" My daughter loves playing detective and figuring out the behind-the-scenes thinking that goes into commercials, the news, and movies. What is going on behind the hype? How does this make me feel? What might others feel about this?
I had no idea we were practicing Media Literacy.
The conference has made me a big proponent of Media Literacy. I am the newest disciple.
As the father of three children, a daughter about to turn 13, and two sons, eight and six, I like to think that I take a great interest in their growth and maturity. Both their mother and I are very involved in their lives and what they spend their time doing. There are very few channels they can watch on their own, but that does not mean they are restricted from watching TV. It's just that Natasha or I will sit down and watch shows with them. They ask questions and we answer. If they don't ask a question when I think a particular topic or situation needs commentary, I will ask the question. (A quick plug for PVRs here: If you do not have one, get one! Life is full of interruptions. Being able to pause the TV and carry on conversations with your loved ones is priceless.)
So one of our favorite topics is, "What is the message behind the message?" My daughter loves playing detective and figuring out the behind-the-scenes thinking that goes into commercials, the news, and movies. What is going on behind the hype? How does this make me feel? What might others feel about this?
I had no idea we were practicing Media Literacy.
The conference has made me a big proponent of Media Literacy. I am the newest disciple.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Modern Media Makers M3
This was a showcase of teens and young adults who have been at the NMEC this whole time. While they have been here, they have produced video and podcasts.
These students are from St. Louis as well as other states.
it was a good example of how, with just a little direction, technology is so accessible now. Of course, all their work was done on Macs, which, no matter what you think about PCs and Macs, is the easiest way to produce media.
I just want to say one thing about our youth and their views. In our attempt to hear from the youth and what they have to say, I think we need to be careful that we stick to our desire to help them to think for themselves, and not just put our views on them and praise them when they parrot back what we believe. If we really want them to think for themselves, they just may come up with a way of thinking that we don't agree with. I think educators have a big problem with this. Any comments?
These students are from St. Louis as well as other states.
it was a good example of how, with just a little direction, technology is so accessible now. Of course, all their work was done on Macs, which, no matter what you think about PCs and Macs, is the easiest way to produce media.
I just want to say one thing about our youth and their views. In our attempt to hear from the youth and what they have to say, I think we need to be careful that we stick to our desire to help them to think for themselves, and not just put our views on them and praise them when they parrot back what we believe. If we really want them to think for themselves, they just may come up with a way of thinking that we don't agree with. I think educators have a big problem with this. Any comments?
iPod History Challenge Using Today's Multimedia to Make Learning Come To Life for Students
The presenters were Michael Kelley and Kathy Neesen from the University of Virginia
The History Challenge started from a course in educational games. They wanted to design a game that helped students interact with the historical area that they were surrounded by.
This game has influences from many popular social games that people are already familiar with such as
They wanted a game for large group play, but also for small groups like families or visitors.
The History Challenge is a scavenger hunt-type game, that is location-based (played in a physical place), technology-based (audio clues and dig images), educationally-based (incorporates historical content) and mystery-based (fictional story).
Gameplay:
http://people.virginia.edu/~kn3t/eyepod/
Students listen to an audio clue (one of 11) then look at their map to get to identify the answer. The student records a letter. Then they must take a photo at the correct spot. Once they get all the letters from all the clues, they must rearrange the letters to spell the word that is the goal of the game: the code word!
Materials:
iPod
digital camera/ phone
Game Map
Goal for Materials:
Keep it Accessible
Don't want to frustrate the user
Keep it Simple
Mobility is key
Tech that is fairly common
The game is
To create you own game, keep these ideas in mind
Be open to adapting the game idea to different abilities (i.e. wheelchairs)
This game took approx. 5 hours per clue to create.
So, those are the notes I took. But I want to say what a great idea this was! It takes Audio Walking Tours to a whole new, interactive level! I really like this idea for colleges who can use this as part of orientation. At the churchwide office we could do this for our interns. But my big desire is to talk with the Youth Gathering Learning Team to introduce this idea to them as a great way to tie in the locale of the Gathering with any theme of learning they can imagine. I am very excited about this project.
The History Challenge started from a course in educational games. They wanted to design a game that helped students interact with the historical area that they were surrounded by.
This game has influences from many popular social games that people are already familiar with such as
They wanted a game for large group play, but also for small groups like families or visitors.
The History Challenge is a scavenger hunt-type game, that is location-based (played in a physical place), technology-based (audio clues and dig images), educationally-based (incorporates historical content) and mystery-based (fictional story).
Gameplay:
http://people.virginia.edu/~kn3t/eyepod/
Students listen to an audio clue (one of 11) then look at their map to get to identify the answer. The student records a letter. Then they must take a photo at the correct spot. Once they get all the letters from all the clues, they must rearrange the letters to spell the word that is the goal of the game: the code word!
Materials:
iPod
digital camera/ phone
Game Map
Goal for Materials:
Keep it Accessible
Don't want to frustrate the user
Keep it Simple
Mobility is key
Tech that is fairly common
The game is
- Active
- Creative Problem-solving
- Strategic
- Exploratory
- Social
- Logisitcs
- Keep boundaries safe
- About two hours to play
- Expect the unexpected
- 6 teams of 4 seems to work well
To create you own game, keep these ideas in mind
- Find a game theme that works for your location
- Gather content and ideas
- Develop content and storylines of interest
Be open to adapting the game idea to different abilities (i.e. wheelchairs)
This game took approx. 5 hours per clue to create.
So, those are the notes I took. But I want to say what a great idea this was! It takes Audio Walking Tours to a whole new, interactive level! I really like this idea for colleges who can use this as part of orientation. At the churchwide office we could do this for our interns. But my big desire is to talk with the Youth Gathering Learning Team to introduce this idea to them as a great way to tie in the locale of the Gathering with any theme of learning they can imagine. I am very excited about this project.
The UK's Networked Generation and Why Media Literacy Matters
The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the broadcasting and telecommunications regulator in the UK was formed in 2003. As part of its remit, it was given a statutory duty to promote media literacy. Ofcom has since become a catalyst and thought leader for the subject, which has led to media literacy being raised high on both industry and government agendas across Europe.
Robin Blake (Google) is the manager of the Media Literacy Team at Ofcom, the independent regulator for the United Kingdom's communications industries.
BBC News School Report (What is the School Report?)
Ofcom received help from the BBC on this project. It was relatively successful. I say that because the Robin said that while the students had a great time, the outcomes were not what they expected. Rather than the students coming away with a sense of media savvy when it comes to the news, the students were more apt to believe every news story they saw. The reason for this is that the student equated all the hard work that the reporter put into their story with the hard work that they themselves put into the stories the students produced. Oops!
Another example of UK Media Literacy is an PSA Media Smart put out about not believing everything one sees on the "Telly." View PSA here.
Robin showed a graph of what media activity that people in the UK would miss most. While the TV was top among the groups 25 years old and older, cell phones was highest among 16-24 year olds.
Robin says that although sites like Facebook and MySpace are most popular, and allow for global networking, for youth, their only concern is with their small group of friends. So "Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame has shifted to 15 people."
Robin began to speak about how youth view the truthfulness in media. While nothing in the chart seemed shocking, there was one piece of the chart that was interesting. A majority of youth do not find Reality TV programs truthful. Then he showed a clip of a girl who said that "because a site appears first in a Google search, it must be true."
International Media Literacy Reform Inaugural Meeting will be London England 2008. This man is very informed, and I would highly suggest that you hear this man if you get the chance.
It is a shame that he time with us was so short. I would liked to have heard more from him.
Robin Blake (Google) is the manager of the Media Literacy Team at Ofcom, the independent regulator for the United Kingdom's communications industries.
BBC News School Report (What is the School Report?)
Ofcom received help from the BBC on this project. It was relatively successful. I say that because the Robin said that while the students had a great time, the outcomes were not what they expected. Rather than the students coming away with a sense of media savvy when it comes to the news, the students were more apt to believe every news story they saw. The reason for this is that the student equated all the hard work that the reporter put into their story with the hard work that they themselves put into the stories the students produced. Oops!
Another example of UK Media Literacy is an PSA Media Smart put out about not believing everything one sees on the "Telly." View PSA here.
Robin showed a graph of what media activity that people in the UK would miss most. While the TV was top among the groups 25 years old and older, cell phones was highest among 16-24 year olds.
Robin says that although sites like Facebook and MySpace are most popular, and allow for global networking, for youth, their only concern is with their small group of friends. So "Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame has shifted to 15 people."
Robin began to speak about how youth view the truthfulness in media. While nothing in the chart seemed shocking, there was one piece of the chart that was interesting. A majority of youth do not find Reality TV programs truthful. Then he showed a clip of a girl who said that "because a site appears first in a Google search, it must be true."
International Media Literacy Reform Inaugural Meeting will be London England 2008. This man is very informed, and I would highly suggest that you hear this man if you get the chance.
It is a shame that he time with us was so short. I would liked to have heard more from him.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Online Games for Media Literacy: Exploring New Educational Frontiers
Presenters: Kelly Mendoza, Renee Hobbs, Sherri Hope Culver, and Barbara Walkosz
A group called Tobacco Education and Media (TEAM) created an online gaming Web site that explains to youth how movies have actors smoke in movies and teaches them to discern why a certain actor is smoking and what the directors are trying to say. The way they made it interactive is that the game has the youth create their own movie, teaching the kids skills such as script-writing and blocking. (www.team.considerthisusa.org)
The next example was from My Pop Studio. They created this site to teach young girls about pop culture and what messages are being sent. (www.mypopstudio.com)
The speakers hope to cover these topics in this Workshop:
- Edu-tainment
- keep the kids' interest
- keep the site fresh - Creating Community
- chat rooms and comments work, but needs monitoring
- kids like to accumulate points... so keeping a High Score was an addition - Implementation
- (Not sure they had enough time to get to this.)
Podcasting in the Classroom
Nick Pernisco introduced podcasting as audio blogging. He wants to not focus on what a podcast is and how to do it, but rather uses of podcasting.
Great thing about using podcasting in the classroom is that the students are already used to using the technology as well as the hardware. He is a big proponent of using the technology that students are already using. It makes learning easier.
MP3 players are not toys; they are tools.
Ways to use podcasts in the classroom:
Tools needed to create a podcast can be very simple and relatively inexpensive.
What is the motivation for students to use podcasts in the classroom? Give students incentives to use them. For example, give assignments on Podcasts. This forces them to download it. Another example is to have them only site podcasts in their research.
Nick gave an example of using video podcasts with even young children participating and "producing" video for the web.
Great thing about using podcasting in the classroom is that the students are already used to using the technology as well as the hardware. He is a big proponent of using the technology that students are already using. It makes learning easier.
MP3 players are not toys; they are tools.
Ways to use podcasts in the classroom:
- Recording your lecture - audio and/or video
- Offer additional notes
- Point to other podcasts
- With disabled students - they can have the class notes without needing to use a "note taker" that might miss something
Tools needed to create a podcast can be very simple and relatively inexpensive.
What is the motivation for students to use podcasts in the classroom? Give students incentives to use them. For example, give assignments on Podcasts. This forces them to download it. Another example is to have them only site podcasts in their research.
Nick gave an example of using video podcasts with even young children participating and "producing" video for the web.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Digital Media Literacy: Connecting Children/ Young People's Out-of-school Experiences to Media Learning
Jiwon Yoon and Amie from South Korea presenting about the Generation Gap between teachers and students, and what can be done about it.
Jiwon set up a background with stats on who uses the internet in Korea and for what. Like the US, the median age of internet users are in their 20s, with males using it more than females.
Here are some examples of the literacy of South Korean youth
PC-Bang (pee-shee bahng) is a cultural meeting place for internet access , similar to an internet cafe, except that the avg. age of customers is children/youth! It costs about .50/hr.
Jiwon showed a clip of school corporal punishment that was excessive. A student recorded it on their cell phone and posted online. When parents saw it, they were outraged, and changes were eventually made in the school system regarding corporal punishment.
Jiwon set up a background with stats on who uses the internet in Korea and for what. Like the US, the median age of internet users are in their 20s, with males using it more than females.
Here are some examples of the literacy of South Korean youth
PC-Bang (pee-shee bahng) is a cultural meeting place for internet access , similar to an internet cafe, except that the avg. age of customers is children/youth! It costs about .50/hr.
Jiwon showed a clip of school corporal punishment that was excessive. A student recorded it on their cell phone and posted online. When parents saw it, they were outraged, and changes were eventually made in the school system regarding corporal punishment.
WARNING: violence
Amie continued on the subject of Media Education. South Korean schools off extra-curricular activities a few hours after classes and about 4 hours on Saturdays. There are also media summer camps.
She went on to explain how we can close the gap. Media experts began working with teachers to teach Media Production. But there was a communication gap between the experts and the children: the terms used were not understandable between teachers and students.
Korea Press Foundation (Ministry of Education) began sending trained media educators into schools.
Amie's thesis was on Media Generation Gaps in Secondary Schools. She found that it wasn't so much that the students weren't using too new technology, but that teachers were using old technology.
For students the internet was for entertainment and networking, but for teachers it was to check email.
Interestingly, students use the TV for news resource than the internet. Jiwon explained that parents limit the students' online time.
Common media education lessons given in South Korea:
Dotori Sarangbang Institute is a new way of teaching Media Literacy.
SO one example was coming up with a new way of teaching using comics to teach topics. For instance, the students would read a comic book on the news and the teacher would teach them how to draw so that they could draw their own comics. Interesting.
She went on to explain how we can close the gap. Media experts began working with teachers to teach Media Production. But there was a communication gap between the experts and the children: the terms used were not understandable between teachers and students.
Korea Press Foundation (Ministry of Education) began sending trained media educators into schools.
Amie's thesis was on Media Generation Gaps in Secondary Schools. She found that it wasn't so much that the students weren't using too new technology, but that teachers were using old technology.
For students the internet was for entertainment and networking, but for teachers it was to check email.
Interestingly, students use the TV for news resource than the internet. Jiwon explained that parents limit the students' online time.
Common media education lessons given in South Korea:
- Using proper language in chat room
- Protecting personal info
- Internet addiction
- How to make a web site
Dotori Sarangbang Institute is a new way of teaching Media Literacy.
SO one example was coming up with a new way of teaching using comics to teach topics. For instance, the students would read a comic book on the news and the teacher would teach them how to draw so that they could draw their own comics. Interesting.
Media Mindfulness: A Proposal for Media Literacy Education in Faith Communities
Sister Rose Pacatte (Google) gave a definition of Media Mindfulness: the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media in all its forms in faith communities.
Her proposal is for the faith community and religious education programs to provide a space to begin teaching media literacy.
Her example is the Pauline Center for Media Studies which from grants, has on-site media literacy workshops, monthly Movie-Bible nights, the National Film Retreat, as well as offering a Master Teacher Certificate Course. She has written a book (other books by Sister Rose - Amazon) for the Media Mindfulness course.
More information can be found on the Pauline Center for Media Studies Web site.
Her proposal is for the faith community and religious education programs to provide a space to begin teaching media literacy.
Her example is the Pauline Center for Media Studies which from grants, has on-site media literacy workshops, monthly Movie-Bible nights, the National Film Retreat, as well as offering a Master Teacher Certificate Course. She has written a book (other books by Sister Rose - Amazon) for the Media Mindfulness course.
More information can be found on the Pauline Center for Media Studies Web site.
Learning about the Reel World: Helping Students to Understand Documentary Film
John Golden, Grant High School, Portland, talks about documentaries.
His first statement was that documentaries are biased by nature. There is a misconception that docs are supposed to be unbiased in nature.
Youth are introduced to documentaries in school, such as Social Studies and Science classes. Docs are used as info dissemination, so youth form the idea that docs should be unbiased and neutral.
So, for youth to learn documentaries, they need the vernacular.
Visual Track- the visual information
Audio Track- what we hear
Text ot Graphics Track- info laid over
Each Track brings info.
Docs are biased in nature... doc directors are not journalists.
Video News Releases
"VNRs are produced by public relations firms at the request of companies selling products. Oftentimes they are made to look like news broadcasts, complete with on-air "reporters," interview, B-roll. PR firms then send their VNRs to local TV news stations who sometimes run them with only minimal editing."
Here is an example of a VNR from Wheaties (mov 2.9MB) and a News station that used the VNR to make a news story (mov1.0 MB).
My note: Interesting that VNRs are seen as PR. Maybe we need to pay attention to what the field defines what we produce at the ELCA. PR is not a bad thing. It is vital.
His first statement was that documentaries are biased by nature. There is a misconception that docs are supposed to be unbiased in nature.
Youth are introduced to documentaries in school, such as Social Studies and Science classes. Docs are used as info dissemination, so youth form the idea that docs should be unbiased and neutral.
So, for youth to learn documentaries, they need the vernacular.
Visual Track- the visual information
Audio Track- what we hear
Text ot Graphics Track- info laid over
Each Track brings info.
Docs are biased in nature... doc directors are not journalists.
Video News Releases
"VNRs are produced by public relations firms at the request of companies selling products. Oftentimes they are made to look like news broadcasts, complete with on-air "reporters," interview, B-roll. PR firms then send their VNRs to local TV news stations who sometimes run them with only minimal editing."
Here is an example of a VNR from Wheaties (mov 2.9MB) and a News station that used the VNR to make a news story (mov1.0 MB).
My note: Interesting that VNRs are seen as PR. Maybe we need to pay attention to what the field defines what we produce at the ELCA. PR is not a bad thing. It is vital.
Program Welcome / President's Address
Before the AMLA president spoke, we were welcomed to St. Louis by a State Senator who presented a citation to the AMLA for the work done in Media Literacy. He then read a decree from the Governor of Missouri Matt Blunt where June 24-30 was declared "Media Literacy Week."
Lynda Bergsma, president of the AMLA, spoke an introduction to the week and stressed the importance of being familiar with the Core Principles (pdf).
She made us aware of how the youth is very involved with technology from the young with their Webkins to two teens who used social networking to raise over $300,000 for Darfur with their online program called, "Dollars for Darfur."
Nick Anderson and Ana Slavin on Martha Stewart
Lynda Bergsma, president of the AMLA, spoke an introduction to the week and stressed the importance of being familiar with the Core Principles (pdf).
She made us aware of how the youth is very involved with technology from the young with their Webkins to two teens who used social networking to raise over $300,000 for Darfur with their online program called, "Dollars for Darfur."
Nick Anderson and Ana Slavin on Martha Stewart
Saturday, June 23, 2007
No Caucuses
Well, out of the six or so scheduled caucuses, only one actually met... the Grad Student caucus had about 10 people, while I was the only one at the Faith and Media Caucus. I am not sure where everyone was, but I had a chance to meet some people anyway.
I will catch Sister Rose at her session on Sunday.
I will catch Sister Rose at her session on Sunday.
Break Out Sessions
This breakout session was called Media Production and Pedagogy, and featured some university students and others presented some findings.
1st Presenter(s) - Meg Callahan (Rochester) and Brian Bailey (Yale) shared some secondary students' multimedia productions from different classrooms. They pointed out the "striking consistencies" in the choices that students made in terms of their uses of these media literary practices-- especially in the category of " personal reflective commentary."
2nd Presenter - Korina Jocson (Stanford) presentation is called, "Literacy Development and Media Production in Two Urban Secondary Classrooms.
Had to leave early to catch a break before the AMLA Caucus groups start!
1st Presenter(s) - Meg Callahan (Rochester) and Brian Bailey (Yale) shared some secondary students' multimedia productions from different classrooms. They pointed out the "striking consistencies" in the choices that students made in terms of their uses of these media literary practices-- especially in the category of " personal reflective commentary."
2nd Presenter - Korina Jocson (Stanford) presentation is called, "Literacy Development and Media Production in Two Urban Secondary Classrooms.
Had to leave early to catch a break before the AMLA Caucus groups start!
Measurement of Knowledge
Cindy Scheibe from Ithaca College presented this plenary. She says knowledge is relatively easy to measure, but it is the least useful when it comes to measuring Media Literacy. We are still not really sure what the key concepts are of having knowledge when applied to Media Literacy. Knowledge in not Understanding. Some slides Cindy showed...
Critical Thinking is
Critical Thinking is
- being open-minded and skeptical
- going beyond the "preferred answer"
- evaluating claims
- tolerating ambiguity
- appreciating differences of perspectives
- not oversimplifying and recognizing often more than one "right" answer
- weak-sense vs. strong-sense critical thinking (Browne and Keiley)
- Simpler language
- difficulties in written formats
- limited verbal response
Notes from the Field - Kathleen Tyner
Kathleen Tyner from the University of Texas- Austin got us started with some great observations. She spoke about the public's view of Science and how it mostly comes from the Media. The Media often misses subtleties, so it is very important as researchers to know how to talk to the Media. When studies show up in newspaper articles like, "Is Violence on TV Harmful?" it makes researchers uneasy, because of how the research was done.
Some problems with Effects Research, which is what the Media loves to print, are
Tyner calls for a New Research Agenda:
She then showed a clip produced by Open Youth Networks founded by Cindy Faber here in Chicago. This seems like a great program that has a DV camp.
Some problems with Effects Research, which is what the Media loves to print, are
- Focus on content rather than the evidence of effects
- failure to replicate
- generalizations across media
- problems working with vulnerable populations
- short-term
Tyner calls for a New Research Agenda:
- An Assets Model
- We need a body count!
- Aggregate evaluation of data across programs
- More refined and sophisticated variables
- Mixed methods -- Triangulation
- Discussions between cult crit and experimental scholars
She then showed a clip produced by Open Youth Networks founded by Cindy Faber here in Chicago. This seems like a great program that has a DV camp.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Which NMEC sessions are you interested in?
The Research Summit starts on Saturday at 8:30am with a Welcome and some Plenaries. Then there are some break out sessions with three tracks. Take a look at the schedule (pdf) and see if there is a session you want me to attend. I will be making my agenda Friday, so if I hear from you, I will try to work in the most-requested sessions. Just leave a comment below, and I'll do my best!
Off To St. Louis
Tomorrow I am off to St. Louis to attend a Summit and a Conference on Media Literacy, hosted by the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA). The AMLA is hosting the National Media Education Conference (NMEC), in St. Louis this year, which starts off with the 2007 Research Summit.
I shall attempt to keep you informed of all the information I learn by posting it here. Be sure to add this blog to your readers! If you would like to subscribe to this blog via email, then be sure to enter your email address is the form on the right navbar.
See you in St. Loius!
I shall attempt to keep you informed of all the information I learn by posting it here. Be sure to add this blog to your readers! If you would like to subscribe to this blog via email, then be sure to enter your email address is the form on the right navbar.
See you in St. Loius!
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