I created this video using a compilation of YouTube clips, facts, images, music, and voiceover. I used the website WeVideo, which I feel is a great program, to create my video.
Your Words Have Power, Use Them Wisely.
For my digital media class, our final task was to create a digital story. I chose to focus my digital story on bullying, a topic that I am very passionate about. Being in the education field, bullying is something that we experience everyday, and it is something that needs to be stopped. My goal as an educator is to create a classroom that is safe for all students, and to teach my students to be caring and respectful individuals. There is nothing worse than being a bystander, so my overall goal is to teach my students to stand up for peers that are being bullied. I created this video using a compilation of YouTube clips, facts, images, music, and voiceover. I used the website WeVideo, which I feel is a great program, to create my video. Your Words Have Power, Use Them Wisely.
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Technology is continuously growing in popularity, and growing in the lives of children, as well as adults. If you walked into a grocery store, it is almost certain that every individual in that store has a cell phone, and it is also highly likely that their cellphones is in their pocket or their hands. We are a world revolved around technology, where our main source of communication is through a screen. Sherry Turkle says, “those little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful that they don’t only change what we do, but they change how we are.” We as a society, are setting ourselves up for isolation, a world where we avoid face to face communication, eliminate any real attachments with others, and rely on technology to make us feel connected in a distant way that we are in control of. We expect more from technology, and less from each other.
Turkle believes that our phones offer us three things:
We can pay attention to people when we want to, we can create relationships without the demands of face-to-face friendship. We can turn to technology to be seen, to be heard, to be liked by another virtual figure. With our technology, with our phones, we are never alone. We use what Turkle calls the Goldilocks Effect, where we are not too close to others, not too far, but just where we want to be. Although these three things make it seem like we are in control, we are never fully satisfied. Today’s society is full of “I would rather text than talk.” We are so used to be cheated out of real conversation, so used to getting by with less, that we have become willing to dispense with people all together. We need to take a step back and appreciate this real life communication that we are setting aside. We need to learn how to be alone in order to reflect. Our relationships need to step outside of the virtual world, and focus more on self-aware relationships with our technology, with our peers, and with ourselves. Step away from always trying to communicate. Take time to think, take time to talk about the important things happening, take time to listen to each other, take time to express yourself. Digital storytelling is a fun way for children to explore not only technology, but also a wide range of subjects. Although it can be a frustrating concept at times, it has lots of potential to be great, and puts a fun twist on the idea of “storytelling”. In the classroom, language is one of the most prominent subjects studied. Assignments range from essays, to papers, PowerPoint presentations, ISUs, and more. I think it would be very fun for students if teachers were to integrate digital storytelling to that assignment list. Instead of always writing papers, students can present their opinions, findings, and creations, through a digital story. Of course because of the different learning styles, not all students will enjoy the option of digital storytelling. Therefore, it is important to provide options. I would most definitely have a unit on digital storytelling near the beginning of the year, so students become familiar with the overall concept. After that extensive unit discussing digital storytelling, digital citizenship, experimenting with technologies, and more, I would have digital storytelling as an option for students when completing assignments.
Media literacy is an extensive topic, and with creating media literacies, comes learning about digital citizenships and the “rules of the internet”. Media literacy is a very fun concept for students in this day and age because of their extensive knowledge of technology. In most cases, I feel my students will be teaching me the tricks of the trade, but I feel one of the most important things I can teach them is digital citizenship. Because of the drastically increasing use of technology among students, especially social media websites, digital citizenship is something that should have significant emphasis in the classroom. Students should be aware of their online presence, and whether that presence is positive or negative, and why. Digital citizenship teaches students the appropriate and responsible way to use technology (Ribble, 2016). Digital citizenship ranges from learning about cyber ethics, cyber safety, and cyber security (Pruitt-Mentle, 2000). Cyber ethics teaches students how to responsibly and appropriately use, access, collaborate, and create technology with proper Netiquette (Pruitt-Mentle, 2000). Cyber safety focuses on the strategies students can use to protect themselves online and promote a positive digital presence (Pruitt-Mentle, 2000). Cyber security allows students to practice secure strategies when using technology to learn how to guarantee personal protection (Pruitt-Mentle, 2000). As I was in a kindergarten class for my placement, there wasn’t much in depth technology use taking place. Most technology was simple ABC and 123 iPad apps, and PBSkids website for online games. However, I think it would be a great time to introduce aspects of digital citizenship. Even at 4 and 5 years old, students are very knowledgeable of technology and its abilities. I feel that this may be a great time to simply introduce digital citizenship, and then when students take a step farther into technology, as they get older, they have some type of knowledge about cyber security and safety. Pruitt-Mentle, D. (2000). The C3 framework: Cyberethics, cybersafety and cybersecurity implications for the educational setting. Retrieved from http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/docs/ecampus/2010/digitalliteracyskills_c3matrix.pdf Ribble, M. (2016). Digital citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net Media is a huge topic for educators today, but the thoughts aren’t always positive. Some educators are anti-technology; others are just not knowledgeable of the powers technology provides. Technology has the power to influence and encourage students in the classroom and allows educators to create a participatory classroom. In my personal teaching practice, I am going to strive to include new media and create a participatory culture. I do not want to overuse this new media, but I want to use media to create a fun and inquiry based classroom. By allowing students to tinkerer with technology, they can be producers in the classroom. As we grow in a consumer-based society, I feel it is important to show students that they can also be producers in society (Delwiche & Henderson, 2013).
The world of media has grown immensely over the years. According to Delwiche & Henderson (2013), there have been four phases of participatory culture, the first beginning in 1985. The phases include emergence of technology, beginning to take advantage of technology, using technology to publish and share, and a turn to Transmedia publishing. Delwiche & Henderson say that phase four finished in 2011, and as we know, technology has only continued to grow enormously since then. Technology is an ever-growing thing, and has so much potential to teach students. Having a participatory culture classroom doesn’t mean all students have to be involved, but it makes students feel like their contributions are worthy and needed, and makes them want to be involved. When they are the creators of work, they feel a sense of accomplishment and inclusiveness. My goal as a classroom teacher is to allow for students to show their creative side. Although technology is such a big concept for today’s children, not all students will enjoy these new medias in the classroom. For assignments, my goal is to always provide options. I want to encourage all types of learners, and let them do what they enjoy. Students would have the option to write a paper, do a presentation, create a poster, or use new media to create a final piece of work. As seen on twitter, Jonathon So does an idea I love as his students create weekly news reports. Little things like this allow students to be producers and tinker with technology. The students are responsible for knowing what the news is that particular week, and they all take a role in the creation of the new reports. Of course this is just one example of the many ways to create a participatory culture in a classroom. Social media is such a huge part of classrooms today. Teachers have blog sites, twitter accounts, apps for their classrooms, and much more. I was never quite sure how I could incorporate social media, but after creating my own blog and twitter account, I can definitely see the potential. For junior and intermediate levels, the students can control the twitter and blog sites, which allows for them to be creators. I feel like if teachers have a classroom that is open to technology, it creates the ability for students to experiment and tinker. Today’s students thrive on technology, so why not find ways to make it benefit a classroom, and enhance student learning. By exposing students to different programs, they can become aware of digital literacies, and be creators of media rather than consumers. Delwich, A., Henderson, J. (2013). What is participatory culture? Retrieved from http://williamwolff.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/delwiche-2013.pdf Playing with Planboard: Access, Analyze, Create, Reflect, Take Action
Access Planboard is a program developed mainly for the use of teachers. This program is accessible to teachers through their online website, as well as through the use of an iPad app. This program needs Internet access in order to use it, whether it be on their website or through the app. Planboard seems to be very well organized in terms of its privacy standards. All of one’s information is confidential, but as a user, one has the option to share their lessons with other teachers using the program. Analyze Planboard is designed specifically for teachers and educators, however the company has other linked programs that are accessible for students as well. As I was tinkering with this program, I was curious as to whether or not I could see myself choosing to use this program daily as an educator. I was interested to see whether the program would aid to the needs of educators all over the world, or if it was designed specifically for one particular country. If I were to use this program, it would be used daily to organize my lesson plans. I would also consider incorporating their other programs like Markboard. It is a good resource in order to maintain all files in one spot, and is accessible from multiple technologies. Personally, I’m not too sure if I would choose to share my lessons online, but if I were to do this, my digital presences would be added. I would now have my personal lessons and name on this website for access by other educators. Create This program allows educators to store their schedules, documents, and assessments all in one space. As a user of Planboard, one can create a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule to plan their lessons and units. In each “class” that is included in a schedule, one can write their lesson plans in that category. For example, I can create my daily schedule for the week, and each day will be split up into the activities I am doing that day. On Monday, I could be teaching math and language for the first two blocks. Each subject would have its own block, where I can write my lesson plans or give a brief description of what will take place in that block. I can also use Markboard and connect it to my classes (math and language). In Markboard I can have students enroll into the class, and they can submit their assignments through this program, so that I could mark them online. Personally, I found this program to be quite easy to navigate and operate. Of course, it took a little tinkering before I felt comfortable using it, but that is normal with any new program that is being explored. One thing that I was not a fan of was the option to add a standard. I loved the idea that you can just attach your curriculum connection into your lesson on the website, but when I attempted to do so, it wasn’t what I expected. It is very broad, and there are only some Ontario curriculum standards. There may be a way to create new standards, but I couldn’t figure that part out! That would be a great thing to have, because than as an educator, one can just attach the curriculum standard they are meeting in their lesson. Take Action This program is beneficial because it can be used for personal and professional uses. As an educator, one can use the program to organize their day-to-day schedule and stay on top of their lesson planning and marking. If one decides to make their lessons public, it turns more into a professional use. It is also very beneficial because if a teacher were to be absent, they could provide access to their Planboard for the supply teacher. Personally, I really do enjoy this program and what it has to offer. I have created an account in order to tinker with the program, but I will definitely keep my account and further my understanding of the program. At this point in my life, I do not need it, as I am not yet an educator. However, I am definitely going to put it in my back pocket and try and use it in the future when it is relevant to my career. For those of you who need a visual, this is what Planboard looks like! I simply wrote in a couple words for what we are doing in that lesson, but you can go into detail and create lesson plans or important lesson plans as well! If you're interested in testing out Planboard or Markboard, check out their website!
For media we worked on creating a PSA of our choice. My group decided to focus on one topic of importance, especially in schools today: Bullying!
What are we talking about?
According to Frank Baker, when looking at and analyzing advertisements you need to focus on the 5 Ps
He also came up wth the acronym: AIDA
Why does this matter? When discussing advertisements with students, it is important to discover what the advertiser had in mind in order to gain the audiences attention. By using Baker's techniques of the 5 P's and AIDA, students can easily discover the meaning of an advertisement. What to do with this information? This process also allows students to effectively create advertisements. In order to create a successful advertisement, these techniques should all be considered. You can try and see how well you can create an advertisement, trying to incorporate all of these techniques from Baker. I worked with two classmates of mine and together we created this advertisement! We directed it towards our future students in our practicum. We titled it Tinkering Teachers because we are still learning all the tricks of the trade, and are open and willing to tinker with our strategies. We included a question: "What makes you a good teacher". With this we included adjectives that describe us as teachers.
The second assignment for my media class was to create a short video about a topic of your choice. Me being family oriented and just a huge softie, decided to make my video on my brothers.
I compiled some of my favourite photos of my brothers and I, from childhood to adulthood. I made the video more relatable by writing descriptions of what siblings are to me. My brothers and I were inseparable when we were younger, and always causing havoc for our parents. Today, both of them are married, one with a newborn baby, but we are still as close as ever. We were shown this video in class and I fell in love with it! Not only is it content rich, it is captivating and motivating. I love every aspect of this video, but the four things that stood out to me the most are described below. - Teachers need to be aware of all new resources that could be beneficial in their classroom. Media is taking over the world, and if you as a teacher do not incorporate that into your teaching, you are taking away something very valuable from your students. - TINKER. TINKER. TINKER. (Sound familiar?) Teachers and students need to be tinkerers. Teachers need to try new things, question new ideas, make mistakes, play with ideas until they make sense, and try again. Tinkering makes you better, it makes you resourceful, it opens you up to new experiences, new techniques. John Brown says in this video that you need to fail and fail and fail, before you succeed. Students need permission to fail, to know that it is okay to fail, so long as you don't give up. - As a teacher, you need to take this content that you are spitting at students each and every day, and you need to create meaning for it. The internet is KEY for creating that meaning. - "Brilliant teachers, are brilliant in being able to create epiphanies for kids." Through tinkering, play, media, resources, etc. you can work to create these epiphanies for kids.
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