...There seem to be some issues in terms of uploading... the pictures have been halved and desynchronized from the video. The audio however seems fine. If you would want to see the video in another form, contact me and I will find a way to do so.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Media Literacy
1.) Yes, we can define what it means to be information literate (although we may not have a universal definition, each person can define what it means to them). For the most part however, being information literate means being able to understand whether or not what you're reading is an established and reliable source of information that can be cited without undermining your own work in the future. For instance, citing a source that is run in an honest and professional fashion would increase your own credibility, whereas citing a source that changes its information without apologizing and cuts corners would have a negative impact on your own work in the long run.
Essentially to be able to be information literate in my perspective, you have to make sure that the information used is fully analyzed (unlike the example of the underwear-literacy connection in the article), has a credible author, is located in some sort of published journal (so that the information on it can't be changed at will without causing publication issues, so it could remain an ever-reliant source), and the information itself is full and complete in terms of the subject it is covering. To me, if a person can cover these areas, I would consider them to be information literate (as might others), and these are rules that anyone should be able to learn how to do.
2) Yes, we can teach our students the skills necessary to become information literate. One of the keys to doing this however is to not try and teach this concept in a "swing for the fences" single lesson, but instead to teach them it throughout an entire course with every research project they do. Doing this would help cause the "rules" to come naturally to them, so that they become a common-sense habit. It must become something that they are aware of every time they do it, and eventually they will monitor themselves about it. For instance, if there's someone that I'm usually around on a routine basis and they say things like "I did good" I find myself correcting them; "you mean you did well." It gets annoying of course, but eventually it gets to the point where I don't even have to say it when they messed up, because they'll start correcting themselves on it, and then next thing I know they're correcting other people before I even get the chance. As long as they are constantly made aware of it, they will learn to monitor themselves, and even others of it.
3) Yes, we can teach students to become effective users of the most powerful medium. While it is not an easy task, it is something that everybody can learn; to take the internet with a grain of salt. I believe that there are two main keys to doing this; question and evaluate. To question is to simply be aware, to learn to question everything found on the internet and sources that come from the internet and other media outlets. To evaluate is simply to learn how to accurately decide whether the source of information is credible or not. If a person reads on the internet that "All elephants have blue eyes," they might simply go "Oh! That's a cool fact!" and move on from it. If a person was learning these two steps however, they should first say "Ok, now how can I tell if this is true?" And then they need to go behind the scenes a little bit to find out if the source seems credible or not, by walking through a teacher's "information literacy" steps. In this way a person can always be sure that they can back up their findings to the best of their abilities.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Using Podcasts in the Classroom
I have my podcast on my computer at home, it's not entirely completed but it should be done by tonight, as long as technical items don't keep on messing with me like they have been.
Anyway when it comes to Podcasts in the classroom, I can't say that I'm quite as excited about them as I am about other means of presentation. I enjoy Podcasts if I'm in my room working on something with my hands (such as a craft) and I can turn one on from NPR or something to listen to something I find interesting, but other than that I find it difficult to become overly enthusiastic for them in more deliberate means.
After thinking about Podcasts for a short while however, I do believe there are more indirect means in which a Podcast can be effective in the classroom. A Podcast can be used as a means of a student essentially giving you a presentation, but without taking up time in the classroom. This means a student can take their time, create a fun Podcast (with different sounds, visuals, and methods of verbalization), and then simply hand it to the teacher as if it were a paper they are turning in.
A Podcast could also be used in this same manner, except in the other direction. A teacher could create a Podcast for his/her students and have them watch/listen to it at home as a replacement to something such as textbook reading, and then the next morning they could have a quiz/discussion about the material.
A Podcast is not the most exciting of presentations, and it could be a very big waste of time in class if each student makes a Podcast and they are presented in class, and if the students are grouped together there doesn't seem to enough work for everyone in larger groups to actually even have the chance to participate enough. Yet as something that can replace textbooks/papers, or create an ever-mobile and whenever-playable Powerpoint Presentation can make it effective for out-of-the-classroom time between the student and teacher.
Anyway when it comes to Podcasts in the classroom, I can't say that I'm quite as excited about them as I am about other means of presentation. I enjoy Podcasts if I'm in my room working on something with my hands (such as a craft) and I can turn one on from NPR or something to listen to something I find interesting, but other than that I find it difficult to become overly enthusiastic for them in more deliberate means.
After thinking about Podcasts for a short while however, I do believe there are more indirect means in which a Podcast can be effective in the classroom. A Podcast can be used as a means of a student essentially giving you a presentation, but without taking up time in the classroom. This means a student can take their time, create a fun Podcast (with different sounds, visuals, and methods of verbalization), and then simply hand it to the teacher as if it were a paper they are turning in.
A Podcast could also be used in this same manner, except in the other direction. A teacher could create a Podcast for his/her students and have them watch/listen to it at home as a replacement to something such as textbook reading, and then the next morning they could have a quiz/discussion about the material.
A Podcast is not the most exciting of presentations, and it could be a very big waste of time in class if each student makes a Podcast and they are presented in class, and if the students are grouped together there doesn't seem to enough work for everyone in larger groups to actually even have the chance to participate enough. Yet as something that can replace textbooks/papers, or create an ever-mobile and whenever-playable Powerpoint Presentation can make it effective for out-of-the-classroom time between the student and teacher.
Using Video in the classroom
I apologize for this blog entry being so late, it has completely fallen off of my mind over the past week until I came to class early today.
Anyway I am of the belief that video projects are highly useful for a classroom, and can add a lot of fun to an assignment for students. It's always been my experience that as soon as students find that a project includes making a video, their excitement and enthusiasm levels just about skyrocket. Most of these projects typically turn into something more resembling a newscast (with the news anchors and then individuals filling different roles) or a documentary type, with a host/hostess that is in different shots to show different points of her presentations. Essentially the students recreate a simple method of information delivery that allows them to be able to use easy methods of cutting from scene to scene, and be able to talk directly to the camera to present their information.
Often the project becomes more how to have fun with the video, and becomes less about the information actually being presented. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if this starts happening, I think it would make more sense to have the students find a much more creative way to matching the video up with the actual data that they are presenting. This would have the intention of not only teaching them the subject matter, but also how video can be used to different effects and how to recreate those effects.
For instance, when presenting information about a specific topic or person, they could make a propaganda video about it. It would require a good amount of editing, but it would be a way to show not only the subject matter (which the students might be required to find creative ways to twist the truth about), but also learn how to create an overly-persuasive document for presentation.
Other examples could be advertisements or movie trailer, the "lead-in" for a show (such as Judge Judy or a series from the History Channel), a political or court room debate, or many other ideas that could be thought-up by the students (which might include a list of things they cannot do, such as advertisements & newscasts if they seem to be overused ideas), or a list could be given with different options of more complicated approaches.
Movies are a great way to find ways to present data in an alternate fashion, rather than simply repeating statistics or giving obvious examples of something. Yet even with restrictions, it seems that students should have enough enthusiasm about making a video that a teacher can take advantage of it to have the students make fantastic presentations.
Anyway I am of the belief that video projects are highly useful for a classroom, and can add a lot of fun to an assignment for students. It's always been my experience that as soon as students find that a project includes making a video, their excitement and enthusiasm levels just about skyrocket. Most of these projects typically turn into something more resembling a newscast (with the news anchors and then individuals filling different roles) or a documentary type, with a host/hostess that is in different shots to show different points of her presentations. Essentially the students recreate a simple method of information delivery that allows them to be able to use easy methods of cutting from scene to scene, and be able to talk directly to the camera to present their information.
Often the project becomes more how to have fun with the video, and becomes less about the information actually being presented. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if this starts happening, I think it would make more sense to have the students find a much more creative way to matching the video up with the actual data that they are presenting. This would have the intention of not only teaching them the subject matter, but also how video can be used to different effects and how to recreate those effects.
For instance, when presenting information about a specific topic or person, they could make a propaganda video about it. It would require a good amount of editing, but it would be a way to show not only the subject matter (which the students might be required to find creative ways to twist the truth about), but also learn how to create an overly-persuasive document for presentation.
Other examples could be advertisements or movie trailer, the "lead-in" for a show (such as Judge Judy or a series from the History Channel), a political or court room debate, or many other ideas that could be thought-up by the students (which might include a list of things they cannot do, such as advertisements & newscasts if they seem to be overused ideas), or a list could be given with different options of more complicated approaches.
Movies are a great way to find ways to present data in an alternate fashion, rather than simply repeating statistics or giving obvious examples of something. Yet even with restrictions, it seems that students should have enough enthusiasm about making a video that a teacher can take advantage of it to have the students make fantastic presentations.
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