Week 13 D.E.J.

Week 13 D.E.J.

Question 1: Should media education have an explicit political and ideological agenda?

I do not believe that media education should have an explicit political and ideological agenda.  I believe that students should be able to develop and choose their own political and ideological beliefs.  However, I do believe that media education should provide students with the tools to identify and interpret the media messages they receive and to identify the political and ideological content, as well as the ability to create their own messages.  Hobbs writes about critical media literacy education providing students with tools of “self-reflection, critical analysis and communication for one’s own purposes and motives” (Hobbs, 1998).  In my opinion, this is an approach better suited to public education, where there are a variety of political and ideological beliefs.  If each educator taught media literacy based on his/her own beliefs, I believe it would be difficult to assess students whose own beliefs may differ from the instructor.

Question 2: Based on your reading to date in this course, would you teach critical media literacy in the classroom?  Why or why not?  You must reference three prior course readings to justify your answer to this question.

Based on my readings to date in this course, I would definitely teach critical media literacy in the classroom.  Before taking this class, I was not even aware of the concept of critical media literacy, but each week, its importance becomes clearer to me.  In the article, Teaching Media Literacy: Yo! Are You Hip to This, Renee Hobbs states, “It's time to help ourselves and our children to embrace and celebrate the messages worth treasuring, to analyze and understand the economic and political forces which sustain it, and to develop the skills and new habits we need to think carefully and wisely about the messages we create ourselves and the abundant messages we receive.”  This quote really speaks to me and sums up the attitude I have developed toward media literacy. 

Another important reason to teach media literacy is that it teaches important critical thinking skills.  Teachers are using media literacy skills and teaching students critical thinking by asking important questions such as, “Who created the message?”, “What is the message?”, and “What is the impact of the message on me and on society?”.  In this way, educators are able to both teach critical media literacy skills and to help students prepare for standardized tests (Medialiteracycolloquium’s Blog, 2010).

Overall, the importance of critical media literacy had the most impact when considering the impact that media messages can have on adolescent girls.  I have a twelve-year-old daughter who has said in the past that she wants to look like the models on the covers of magazines.  Heidi Sauer and Rebecca Robles-Pina’s study showed that critical media literacy skills can help girls analyze the messages these magazines send and choose not to be pressured into looking or acting a certain way because it is what the authors portray as desirable.  Teaching critical media literacy skills will help all students, both girls and boys make better decisions regarding which messages they view as important, and which ones to ignore.

References:

Hobbs, R. Teaching media literacy: yo! are you hip to this?. Retrieved from http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/teaching-media-literacy-yo-are-you-hip

Learn critical thinking through media literacy education. (2010, October 25). Retrieved from http://medialiteracycolloquium.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/learn-critical-thinking-through-media-literacy-education/

Digital Story

Here is my digital story, created using iMovie...My Grandmother's Life

Week 11 D.E.J.

"And, while students may be using social networking/digital tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, and YouTube for largely entertainment purposes, they also need to learn to use these tools for academic purposes (Beach, Anson, Kastman-Breuch, & Swiss, 2009a)."

This struck me as an important point.  Without instruction in critical media literacy, I believe that a lot of what students are doing online as far as social media and entertainment is not going to benefit them as much as it would if they had the skills to evaluate what they are reading and seeing, as well as what they themselves create or post.  Academically, students will be much better prepared to succeed if they learn to use what they do on the computer everyday for fun to enhance their academic experience and make it more meaningful.

Beach, R. (2011). An american perspective: Justifying uses of digital tools to foster critical media literacy. The Journal of Media Literacy, 57(1&2), Retrieved from http://www.journalofmedialiteracy.org/index.php/current-issue/145-an-american-perspective-justifying-uses-of-digital-tools-to-foster-critical-media-literacy






In this video, a veteran teacher describes his adoption of digital tools in the classroom, and how this has transformed him into a "facilitator".

Week 11 Storyboard

Week 10 D.E.J.

"Digital Storytelling by students provides a strong foundation in many different types of literacy, such as information literacy, visual literacy, technology literacy, and media literacy."

I believe we have seen in previous weeks that critical media literacy is lacking in many educational systems in this country.  In fact, it is lacking so much that I had never heard of it before beginning this course.  I think that digital storytelling is a great way to incorporate many different types of literacy, including critical media literacy. This is a tool that can also be used in many different subject areas, such as social studies, english, journalism etc.  In addition, students will learn how to use technology in ways that will be beneficial to them as they continue on in school and later in life.  There are few educational tools that incorporate so many important skills in one activity as digital storytelling.

Robin, B. The educational uses of digital storytelling. Informally published manuscript, University of Houston, Houston, TX. Retrieved from http://digitalliteracyintheclassroom.pbworks.com/f/Educ-Uses-DS.pdf


Digital Storytelling in the Classroom
This website includes a teacher's guide and other resources, such as evaluation rubrics, to assist teachers who wish to incorporate digital storytelling in their classrooms.

Week 9 D.E.J

"For example, students learned that it takes courage to share their stories publicly; they risk judgment from others. But once they develop confidence and commitment to the storytelling process, students can generate many new insights related to media production as a vehicle for engagement with culture identity work through producing short videos and by remixing and repurposing existing media content to tell new stories."

What a great thing to instill in our students - confidence!!  In addition to the skills they learn through the digital storytelling process, the ability to instill the confidence to tell their story is something that will stay with them their whole life and do more to promote success than almost anything else they gain in school.  I also liked another point that was made in this article, and that is that creating a digital story is an important part of critical media literacy in that the creative process helps students gain an even better understanding of digital media.

Ramist, R., Doerr-Stevens, C., & Jacobs, W. (2010). The pedagogy of digital storytelling in the college classroom. seminar.net International Journal of Media, Technology & Lifelong Learning,6(2), Retrieved from http://www.seminar.net/index.php/volume-6-issue-2-2010/145-the-pedagogy-of-digital-storytelling-in-the-college-classroom








I like this video because it gives teachers the students' perspective on why digital storytelling is meaningful to them...

micornhusker. (2009).Digital storytelling - student perspective. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU1SkaTsv78

Week 9 - Interview subject

I will interview my grandmother, Ruth White Ellyson.  She grew up during the Depression on a family farm.  Her family was quite self-sufficient, and she worked hard along with her family to help them succeed during those years.  She has been a strong role model for the women of my family and has had a great influence on me throughout the years. We plan to conduct the interview Wednesday, October 26.