June 16, 2012
I really dislike Blogger so far. I will confess that I have not been keeping up with putting posts up on the website. But I have all that I want to say typed out into Word Documents. The problem I'm having is when I copy and paste what I've typed onto Blogger it changes how I typed it. I've also discovered that you can't use the tab key in the post. What a pain! I want to express myself, but can't use the tab key. Come on!
Moving on though.
The discussion question was...
Before reading the articles and seeing the video, had you heard of the term "media literacy education?" Does this literacy study belong in today's classroom? Why or why not? How can we move forward with teaching students how to understand the impact of the media, in all its formats (computers, television, film, etc...)?
I responded with...
I have definitely heard of the term "media literacy education" before reading the articles and watching the video, but I most likely could not have defined it. I probably would have said something like, "Media literacy education is where we teach media so that students can be more literate in it." This, obviously, makes no sense.
After reading the articles I got a better understanding of what media literacy education is, but it wasn't until watching the video where it all started to click.
The article, "A Plea for Media Literacy in Our Nation's Schools," I felt didn't give it a solid enough definition. It more sptt out a lot of nonsense facts about how much time we spend using media or how obsessed children are with media. I already knew this. I see it everyday in the classrooms I work in. Examples are when kids in middle school show me the "right way" to use PowerPoint. Another example is when kids in first grade tell me about their Facebook accounts or show me how to find certain things on the internet. It blows my mind how much they have already absorbed! The article also says we should start teaching early. I agree with this 100%. I think with the large overwhelming and constant influx of knowledge that kids are exposed to, they should know how to control all of it. A quote that I think rings true to this is, "The internet caused a sea of change in what kids need and how teachers should teach and in what parents want for their kids. The internet changed our understanding of how kids are learning, in every sense of the term, and now instead of parents worrying about their kids watching too many commercials on Saturday morning, there is the much larger issue of all the images and messages that come pouring over the internet." The article concludes that medial literacy education needs to be geared towards the handling of data rather than the accumulation of data. We need to teach kids how to process information. Yes!
The article, "Are We Speaking the Same Language?," was extremely drawn out. It discussed the general trends on why teaching media literacy has been a flop (formal introduction to the US lagged behind other major English-speaking countries in the word, the majority of initiatives and scholarships had been geared towards K-12 education, and the existing definition is very broad). The article concludes with saying, "Media literacy can provide a critical approach to media that allows students the opportunity to become active media users, participants, and informed citizens." But still I feel there wasn't a solid definition of what media literacy is.
Then the video, "A Portal to Media Literacy," is where I had my "ahhh ha" moment. The speaker begins by saying that most students are bored in large classrooms. They are really only there to sit and listen and absorb the necessary information to do well on tests and receive good grades. They are there to listen to the professor and not question any of the information that is given out because the professor is the authority, therefore the information must be correct. This is wrong! We know that media is all around us. So why not use it to aid in learning? He says at one point, "Towards media literacy, I often push the students to go beyond what they're normally used to doing." He wants students to use media less for entertainment, but more for learning. Like Facebook and YouTube. I know I fall directly into this category. I've turned into a media potato. My daily ritual when I come home to is plop myself on the couch, turn the television on (but mute it), turn my computer on to Facebook (stalk some people), and have my cellphone sitting directly next to me (just incase someone decides to text me). But now, taking this course, I've realized that I can still be doing my media thing, but not becoming stupider while doing it. I really enjoyed the last Web 2.0 project (Wikis) and was bummed that we didn't get to see examples of other students in class. I know I especially wanted mine to be shown because I thought it was so clever. I actually bragged about it a little bit. But the conclusion proposed a challenge; to create learning environments that realize and leverage the emerging media environment. Use media technology to teach!
I think the literacy study does belong in today's classroom. We are quickly becoming a society of media and technology. We need to know how to manage it and students who are using it. We to need to know at what rate and risk can we teach media literacy education in the classroom.
I think the best way to move forward in teaching students how to understand the impact of the media is to expose them to it in a safe manner. Teachers need to create curriculum that
1) Teaches students how to handle the overwhelming and constant influx of knowledge that students are exposed to,
2) Allow students opportunities to become active media users, participants, and informed citizens,
3) Show them how media can be used less for entertainment and more for learning.
If we do these three things then students may not find a need to explore media by themselves and get themselves into trouble with it. The documentary we watched in class is a perfect example. It discussed how there are girls all over the internet willingly exposing themselves for one reason or another. I would like to think that if they had a better understanding of the harm a picture like that can do to not only them, but their families, and their life to come, that they would think twice about doing it.
What do you think? Should be dishing out or withholding information from kids and students on media? Which one results in a better outcome for kids and students in the long run?
We also had to post our Animoto or Flixtime Videos we created about technology in education and us.
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