Seven-Powered Lens

"By sequentially focusing seven increasingly strong lenses on the news media, beginning with a close-up look at a news photo, students learn to apply powerful cross-disciplinary skills of visual, news media, and information literacy to analyze current political issues..." (Abilock, 2003)

This author is discussing the importance of knowing how to analyze photographs to understand what is trying to be communicated. It is important for students to be able to look at photographs and see why a photo has been used and whether or not the photo accomplishes its purpose. This author discusses a "Seven-lens" look at photos. Starting with what is seen and finishing with what the teacher can teach through each activity.

Until our photo analysis activity in EDUC 2202, I never thought about the importance of analyzing what I was seeing, I didn't realize that I inferred things through images without even thinking about them. I never thought about what techniques could be used with color, distance from focus, and objects included. It is incredibly important for students to be able to differentiate between what is actually true and what is just put in front of their faces to try to influence them.

Who Controls the Media?
This organizer describes the major media controllers. These companies control everything we see. If our students do not have the ability to analyze photos then they will never know the truth of what is happening.

Citations:

Abilock, D. (2003). A seven-power lens on 21st-century literacy. MultiMedia Schools, Retrieved from http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/consult/articles/PowerLensSingle.pdf

(2007). Who controls the media. (2007). [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/communications/tv/mediacontrol.html

Photo Analysis

Photo 1:


1. Based on what you have observed, list three things that you might infer from the photograph

• the government officials do not seem to be worried about the major crisis


• they do not think it is a big or serious problem


• The Coast Guard Administrator seems more concerned than the government officials

2. What questions does this photo raise:

• Why does the government seem unconcerned when obviously the Coast Guard Administrator is concerned


• Why are they smiling and laughing when there is a huge environmental disaster happening as they walk

Photo 2:





1. Based on what you have observed, list three things that you might infer from the photograph

• The reality may be sinking in


• He is no longer able to push the reality of the situation out of his mind


• He may be destroyed depending on how he handles the situation

2. What questions does this photo raise:

• Why is President Obama able to show his concern when he is by himself


• Is he worried about America or his Presidency?


• Why is the background blurred?

Which photo gives you more confidence in the President's leadership abilities? Why?

• The solo picture of him gives me more confidence in his abilities. He looks more concerned for the people and for the situation and actually seems affected by it, whereas in the group shot he seems to be completely unconnected from the situation. I think it is important for a President to show that they care and that the important situations going on are actually affecting them instead of seeming to brush the whole situation off.

Citations:

Defrank, T. (2010). Oil spill: bp gulf leak could stain president obama like iran hostage crisis destroyed jimmy carter. NY Daily News, Retrieved from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-06-15/news/27067245_1_hostage-crisis-oil-spill-obama-risks

Werner, E. (2010). White house: obama ready to seize claims process. The Washington Times, Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/15/gibbs-feds-may-seize-oil-spill-claims-processing/

Digital Story explained...

The digital story project was time consuming, but it really made me think about what I wanted to say and how to create something that explained what I wanted to say. Creating this story required creativity, research, writing ability, and of course technology. I think this kind of project could be very useful to support a research assignment. It allows for a creative way for students to show off all of the research that they have done.

ISTE/NETS Standard 3a states that teachers should: "demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations." It is important that teachers understand how to use technology and how to transfer that knowledge to students and to understand how to take a print-based skill and create something with it using technology.

Digital Storytelling gives students a unique opportunity to work on writing skills as well as their creativity. In order to have a successful digital story it is imperative to actually have a story to tell. Students cannot narrate or add text to their digital story until they have actually written a story. (Ohler, 2005).


A lesson plan that I found used PowerPoint to create a digital story. Students were to watch a 5 slide movie as an example and then go to a storyboard and create 5 slides of their own adventure. Then the students were filmed acting out parts of their story and they took pictures or used clipart to finish their story. This project would be good to use for a "What did you do this summer?" or some other creative writing assignment in order to integrate writing and digital storytelling.

Citations:

Technomovie. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.technokids.com/computer-curriculum/junior/digital-storytelling-lesson-plans-technomovie.aspx

Nets for teachers 2008. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx

Ohler, J. (2005). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, Retrieved from http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf

~ArT iS iMpOrTaNt~

"We need, in David Thornburg's (1990) words, to prepare our kids for their future rather than our past. Kids must become fully literate, and that literacy must include art, the fourth R." (Ohler, 2000)

It is amazing to me that some things can take so long to become as important as they should be. Having art at some point in my life would help me be more creative and unique today. Art is a special skill that doesn't require solid walls, it is an opportunity for individual's to express their creativity and to express who they are. Art is beautiful and it is time that the world recognize it for the necessity that it is! Children cannot be literate without being creative and without being able to completely identify and show who they are as an individual.
In an increasingly digital world, it is necessary to not only have something to say, but to be able to present what you have to say in a way that is appealing to a wide variety of people. Humans are notoriously driven by what they see. If a presentation is wonderful but has no visual appeal, no one is going to listen. However, if a prospective employee is asked to give a presentation that he/she animates, adds photos, borders, music, colors and adds a creative element to that presentation, someone is going to pay attention! That is what our students need, they need the ability to stand out in an increasingly competitive world. To be able to showcase themselves not only through words but through design and photos and creativity, then our students can go far and become successful!

This article is from 1997 and although it may not be the most recent, I think it is important to realize that this is not a new discussion. Art has been up for discussion for a long time, but it is becoming a more important part in education and something needs to be done.

Business Leaders Make a Case For Education's Fourth R: the Arts

Citations:

Jason, Ohler (2000). Art becomes the next r. Educational Leadership Magazine, 58(2), 16-19. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vCKbHYY-gzXtLXnLak8i_hoV7TPAOfxNIamNrkWW3Pc/edit?pli=1


Goodale, G. (1997). Business leaders make a case for education's fourth r: the arts. The Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0130/013097.feat.arts.1.html

Fair Use

1. Can students upload their multimedia project to YouTube?

If the nature of their project is to accomplish a certain task that does not take away from the value of the original material and it is for an educational, or news type project, I think students can upload multimedia projects to YouTube. They should also give attribution to the creator.

2. Are the limitations to the amount of pictures or length of music or video that can be used in a multimedia project?

Length and amount should be limited to what is required for the project. When possible do not use the whole work and use clips instead of full videos or songs.

3. Do you need to request permission from the original creator in order to use copyrighted material in multimedia project for school related assignment?

Under fair use it is not required to receive permission from the original creator. As long as it is for educational purposes, news reporting, parody, and has no commercial impact. Fair use is flexible and can work in the favor of the user.

Information from :

Center for Social Media

Technology

"Such technologies give voice to a number of otherwise quiet students... Yet many students lack an intuitive grasp of how to use digital technology to enhance their stories..." (Ohler, 2005)

The author is speaking both of students who use technology well and those who do not. It is important not to get so completely swept away by current technology that we forget that there may be students who struggle with technology. The author also references students who "don't fit the regular academic mold" as an example of how technology is useful. But just like there are students that struggle with standard academic work and are not as successful with it; there will be some students that struggle with technology and not be as successful as if they were doing a more traditional assignment. It is always important to have a balance of traditional and modern assignments available so that all students can be successful. Although technology is crucial; it is important to know how to write instead of type, or read instead of scroll.

The purpose of teaching is not strictly to push the newest technology in the classroom but to help our students become successful adults. If we can accomplish that goal without making students feel inadequate, we have become successful as teachers.

Related Resources:

Technology

Citations:

1. Ohler, J. (2005). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, Retrieved from http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf

2. http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Digitize!

cartoon time!

How shuld wee spel??

"The fact that through, rough, dough, plough, hiccough and trough all end with -ough, yet none of them sound the same as any of the others, is the sort of thing that has been vexing poets and learners of English for quite some time." (Shea, 2010)

Spelling has been something that has affected my life for a long time. My dad and brothers all struggle with spelling things correctly and have always spelled more phonetically. How do words sound and why can't they be spelled that way? The Spanish, for example, use every letter in the word. "ll" is a "yuh" sound and so on. There aren't silent letters and weird spellings. Children as well as certain adults struggle all the way through school because they spell things incorrectly. Or they use the wrong form. For example: to, too, and two... These "rule breakers" constantly slow down progress. Children have to spend their entire school career learning how to speak snd write correct English! All the way through high school! Children should be able to work creatively and not have to focus on correctness at all times. I'm not saying that English shouldn't be uniform and standardized. But it should be just that, STANDARDIZED!




Citations:
Shea, A. (2010, January 22). The keypad solution. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html

Anderson, M. (Artist). (n.d.). Baby cartoon #6019. [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from http://www.andertoons.com/cartoon/6019/

How do you learn?

One of the most important things about education is knowing how your students learn and how to facilitate learning for each student. Sometimes it is difficult to reach a student who has a different learning style than you do so it is important to identify your learning style so that you can learn techniques for other styles.

I took a learning styles test using the website: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire.

According to this website my learning style is "multimodal" With the strongest points in Read/Write and Kinesthetic learning. I like written directions and I like to touch, feel, and experiment in order to learn. These learning styles do make sense because if I do not take pages and pages of notes as someone is talking, I remember nothing! And I learn by doing, if it is something new I will experiment and work with it until I figure it out. I have always thought that my learning style was visual so it was interesting to get another result!

After discovering what my learning style was I went to http://www.picassohead.com/create.html in order to create something that represented my unique learning style. This is my creation...

Creating a representation of a learning style that is not aural, visual, or auditory is interesting because my learning style involves my hands predominately.

These tools allow for a creative side that is not always available in schools. So many times, the emphasis is placed on academics with absolutely no room for creativity. Education could go so much further if we would just allow students to tap into their unique creativity and to learn in a way that best suits them!

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Wordle: a text analysis tool in which you enter words and they come up in a collage of those words in various shapes and directions.

Poll Everywhere: Is an audience response system. One person enters a question and then students or colleagues can either text or send their answers to the poll and their answers scroll on the screen.

In class we used Wordle and Poll Everywhere to get to know each other better and created Wordles that informed us of different things about each other. Collaborating together to share information. These tools can be used in a variety of ways to collect data. It is important to be sure that you use these tools are used in a purposeful way and not in a time-filling way.

They can be used to help students collaborate and learn to use online tools at the same time that the teacher is assessing their learning and creativity.

Wordle and Poll Everywhere can be used to facilite and inspire student learning and creativity. They can be helpful in promoting students to reflect by using collaborative tools. They assist teachers in accessing the knowledge, interests, uniqueness, and inventiveness of their students by allowing them to participate in these technologies and by helping them understand the importance of technology and how to properly use it.

In my college biology class this semester, my teacher asked us to write down the first three words that popped into our head when we heard the word "science." This would be the perfect opportunity to use a poll and wordle! It would help to facilitate discussion and would help all students get involved!

If properly monitored and controlled these can be extremely useful tools to make any class more interesting and to inspire creativity!

Language Shifts

"One of my favorite examples is from the environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, who wrote this in praise of a book: "Go find a friend and tell them all about this fine book." We've all learned that a singular noun such as friend needs to be paired with a singular pronoun (here, him or her). Yet Simon and Schuster had no qualms about putting this blurb on a book jacket." (Baron, 2009)

Interesting... At first glance, I did not catch what she was referring to when she used this "praise quote" I had to read it three times in order to finally catch "them all". This author does raise interesting points regarding language shifts and language development; and I proved her point by not catching the detail of her example at first glance. Many people are hesitant towards change because it is new and confusing. The author also mentioned how language has changed through the centuries as words changed and spelling became more uniform. I think that it is important to keep our students on the edge of what is new and good;, but it is also important to teach them the basics and to have them understand language and be able to identify things that are considered important in written/spoken english. As teachers; however, when those important things change, we have to be right there learning how to change and how to manuever through a continually changing culture.



Citations:
-Baron, NS. (2009). Are digital media changing language. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 42-46.
-Glasbergen, R. (Artist). (2007). Education cartoons. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.glasbergen.com/education-cartoons/?album=4&gallery=92