Magazine Cover

Double Entry Journal #6

Media literacy needs the same skill set as traditional literacy such as using prior knowledge to understand what is being read as well as making predictions about what will happen, but media literacy also needs critical thinking in regards to the source of the information being read.

In the United States, almost two-thirds of a national sample of adults doing online searches were not aware of the difference between paid and unpaid search results and believed that search engines provide fair and unbiased results for any given search (Fallows, 2005).

David, J. (2009). Teaching media literacy. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 84-86. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.aspx

This quote was a wakeup call for me. I am one of those two-thirds because I never thought about the fact that a search engine would give results because they were paid to do so. I have always thought search engines gave you a list of sites using the key words you had typed in and never thought about the order in which they appeared. I think this example shows why media literacy is so critical in our classrooms. When using the internet to research, whether it is for a paper or other type of project, students need to understand they are not getting unbiased research. It will increase their critical thinking skills to look for an agenda or angle in the writing they are using and help them become better researchers. This video and conference works well with the topic of the article we read, using cyber-bullying to demonstrate the need for media literacy in the elementary classroom when the students are just branching out into social networking and using the internet for research.

Passive Voice and Unnecessary Words in Writing

That - originally had 4. Removed/Changed - 3 Really - 0 Just - 0 Was - 1 -> changed to active voice

Double Journal Entry #5 and Activity #2

1. Media in Education is just using the material for it's originally intended purpose. Media Literacy Education is about transforming material into something new. 2. Copying existing work to expand upon it for new ideas. 3. Fair Use is more important today because companies are extending time that material is copyrighted making it more difficult or impossible to use previous material in new ways. 4. a. Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original? b. Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use? 5. Using the Lion King to point out racial stereotypes would answer no to the first question for Fair Use. However, the teacher would be using the material for a social commentary, so I say, yes, it is covered by Fair Use. Also, Principle 1 gives the teacher the right to use it in this way. 6. Principle 4 is most concurrent to what our project was focused on. We used the images and music to illustrate our ideas about what kind of teachers we are going to be as well as to give us as students a better idea of what is acceptable and unacceptable when using media that is under copyright protection. 7. There are guidelines, not dead-set laws. 8. No, as long as you are not using a significant amount or there is a clear intent on why the material was used (like the paper said, music shouldn't be used just to set the mood) and if the material is used in a creative way. 9. Yes, they should. They should share their knowledge of Fair Use to librarians, media specialist, and principals so that policies reflect actual Fair Use and not just fear of being sued. 10. The 10% "myth" is the one that shocked me. I took an educational technology course at my old university and we did an extensive group project and lecture on Fair Use. I don't remember which website we got the information from, but it was exactly like what was in the parenthesis under that myth, so it's really surprising to see that it's not the case.

Double Entry Journal

Our digital story falls under fair use guidelines first of all because of Principle 4, specifically because of this quote :

Students strengthen media literacy skills by creating messages and using such symbolic forms as language, images, sound, music, and digital media to express and share meaning.

By working on this project, we did learn how to use the images and music to create a message about what kind of teacher we wanted to be. I expressly chose the music and increased the tempo of the song to be upbeat and uplifting to portray that I hope to be an uplifting, enthusiastic teacher. We also used images for comment and illustration, which are both included in Principle 4 on reasons students are able to use copyrighted material to share meaning.

What kind of teacher am I?

Double Entry Journal #4

Creating a digital story taps skills and talents - in art, media production, project development, and so on - that may otherwise lie dormant within many students but that will serve them well in school, at work, and in expressing themselves personally.

Ohler, J. (2005). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), Retrieved from http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf

I chose this quote because I agree with what it is saying, but it just scratches the surface of what digital storytelling can do. While digital storytelling enhances skills and talents of students it does something even more important...it gives the student a voice. Using digital storytelling will help the shy child become more comfortable and show their personality. It will help the ELL students show their knowledge instead of demanding that they express themselves in a language that is unfamiliar or that they cannot speak as freely. The video I found was an excellent example of how digital storytelling can work in a classroom. The assignment was to interview someone the students personally knew about immigration for their senior project and to make a digital story out of the information that they uncovered. The students were ELL and many were immigrants themselves. Their writing wasn't very strong to begin the project, but as it progressed they had multiple revisions and refinements that their writing improved. The project allowed the students to put a personal touch on an historical/current phenomenon that they were required to understand under 12th grade CSOs.

Owning Goals - A second grade integrated project

Ms. Dillion's second grade class utilized technology and integrated subjects to design a classroom cafe. After looking at the content standards for each subject as well as the technology standards, she came up with goals that the children would be able to understand and put together a presentation, having handouts and using the students own words for what each goal meant to them. They used peer partners to review what they were working on for each of their personal goals and recognizing when they needed to expand or refine their goals. The strategies used were setting objectivesand cooperative grouping. The cooperative grouping works because they are in two persons groups, which is developmentally appropriate for second grade. Setting objectives and thouroughly going over and having the students own words is the best strategy that she used.

Learning Style vs Preference

I agree with what the article is saying, that learning styles are more of a preference than an actual way to learn. When I took the learning style test, it showed that I was a kinesthetic and auditory learner, which goes against everything I ever thought I was. I make note cards. I hate studying with other people because they speak aloud and discuss things when I would rather read over my notes and text quietly. I believe that people prefer to make models to better understand a lesson on the solar system, but that they will still learn the information even if they read about it and take notes during a lecture. I think that knowing the ways your students prefer to learn is important in the classroom. It keeps lessons fresh and innovative instead of being stale. It challenges different parts of their cognitive development. Making art work out of right angles is different from writing a paper explaining right angles and where you can find them in the natural enviornment. Having students read and present parts in a chapter about the weather uses a different process than listening to the teacher and taking notes. The best philosophy for using learning styles in the classroom is to try to use approaches to satisfy all types throught the day in all of the subjects.

Double Entry Journal #3

Before we despair that language is going to hell in a handcart, we should remember two lessons. First, normativeness in language goes through cycles, much like taste in music and politics. All is not lost. And second, regardless of the swings that language goes through, there is room for individual schools or teachers to set their own standards.

Baron, N. (2009). Are digital media changing language?. Education Leadership, 66(6), 42-46. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language¢.aspx

He added that there is very little that is new about most of the abbreviations and lexical shortenings that make texting so maddening to so many. In fact, he said, with the exception of a few recent coinages like LOL, “virtually all the commonly used ones can be found in English a century ago.” For example, bn (been), btwn (between) and wd (would) can all be found in a 1942 dictionary of abbreviations.

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 The idea of language going through cycles made me think about how much words have changed just in the last 50 years and how many of the new "nifty," "groovy," or "grody" words actually stuck and are used by people today...not many and only by people stuck in a time-warp. I'm sure some of these words found their way into essays in their time period and were not an extreme detriment to society at large. Text speak will be no different. I completely agree with the second point that the teacher and/or school will be able to set what is appropriate and what is not appropriate for writing or speaking in school. Just like I remember learning in school that you don't use contractions or "I" in formal writing, current and future students will learn what is acceptable in one setting is not acceptable in all settings.

What David Crystal said in the second quote was an "Oh yeah! He's right!" moment for me. Being a little older than most of the text savvy and obsessed kids in school nowadays, I do get annoyed trying to decipher what my nieces are texting me or writing on Facebook with the many abbreviations and acronyms. But his quote made me think how much I abbreviate and shorthand my lecture notes and the fact that I learned how to do this in high school class so that I used "correct" shorthand.