Reflections


 * Responses to //Teaching Media Literacy// and //Digital Storytelling//**

Media literacy is the future; this is quite obvious. I was surprised to find out through reading //Teaching Media Literacy,// by Jane L. David that the U.S. is behind in educating students in this area. This is a new age. Instead of hiring another gym teacher or a music teacher, why not hire a librarian so that the students can come to the library twice a week instead of once every four weeks? Cutting back on librarians which seems to be the current trend in education, is really going backwards and may be the reason for the lag behind as well. It just does not seem right. In this economy, and the products we make and sell, we should be number one...I mean, Christ, Apple was invented here! If we are not teaching our students how to be effective users and readers of media then we are not doing our jobs and we are not preparing them for the outside world. A student who knows how to read media, how to use computer programs, how to create products out of computer programs, I believe does not need to go to college. That might be a leap for some other people but I think it's true. A lot of great film makers never went to college, recording artists, producers, directors, never went to college. With the technology this is more true than ever before.

I think other countries are less afraid to let the students go on the internet. All these programs, like the ones that Jason Ohler is talking about in //Digital Storytelling//, are not always available to educators. There is a lot of "red educational tape" involved. Nobody wants to have the finger pointed at them when something goes wrong, so I think that might be a big reason why the U.S. lags behind. That being said, these programs can definetly help students who lack a "voice" in class. They also help students who have trouble seeing the big picture. I always enjoyed storytelling and writing when I was in school, actually it was one of the few areas where I excelled, so this might have been paramount for me if it was offered when I was there. I watched a girl who was struggling in English make an Animoto movie on the book __The Dreamer.__ This is a student who is struggling in English, but she was able to make a book report using this program that was awesome.

No, I don't think so. The online discussion allows for people who are not as articulate to express their views and opinions. Some people work better when writing out their ideas. They can read, think for a minute and then write. Face-to-face is kind of like rapid fire and as a teacher you don't want to call on someone who hasn't fully processed his/her thought. Online discussions are like controlled chaos, and you can really get away with more provocative comments.
 * Follow up to March 4th Discussion**:

You can use this with 4-12 grade students. They would enjoy it, especially the secondary grades. Let's say you post a podcast and have your students subscribe to it. You can post a controversial issue in current events on the site. Underneathe it, you could post questions to guide them into a discussion. The students' can write and respond to the question and other students' ideas and opnions. This is a lot more effective than having students read an in-print article and write a paragraph on what they thought. An online discussion primes the students for the next day. The ideas are fresh in their heads which will make for a lively face-to-face discussion. The student who may have had trouble coming up with ideas on the spot now has prior knowledge and can expound upon it.