Week 2 Discussion Prompt #1
In my experience I have found that multimedia tools are
particularly hard to deconstruct due to students using multimedia as the only primary
tool for learning. Students often struggle synthesizing multiple sources of
media to engage in a further complex thought. Students are often able to
understand the language of media however incorporating the language of media in
text is relatively difficult for students in that they are unable to make a
connection that allows students to create new meaning with media and text. I
found it relatively interesting that in the article “Expanding the concept of
Literacy” by Elizabeth Daley, Daley discuss how learning how to read and write
media can create and concepts. Daley states on page 34 “Multimedia can enable
us to develop concepts and abstractions, comparisons and metaphors”. This
reveals that multimedia has a significant effect on learning, perhaps more than
I personally realized. Multimedia has the ability to engage students and help
them understand and engage in developing an understanding with literacy.
Reading and writing media has the ability to become very
successful with my students. Multimedia will allow for students to understand
different audience and have their context matter create a relationship with
their subject and purpose. Student also struggle with the ability to
deconstruct media because of the lack of exposure to different media. After
reading the article, I have come to the conclusion that students desire to be
understood by several peers and in order for them to understand the language of
media they first need to understand crucial techniques and understand the
basics of writing. Multimedia can be used to help students understand concepts
and help enhance writing.
I would like to utilize multimedia technique in the classroom as
Daley suggest most college students feel unprepared for multimedia techniques
and classroom learning. I would like to encourage the development of multimedia
project development and infuse it with the concept and skills needed to exceed
standards for English development.
Hi Esther,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that students will have trouble developing or producing their own media or multimedia works. They are so used to just looking at funny pictures or videos but never considering how their favorite movie was made or the depth it cam express. In my high school, there was a class called Dystopian literacy/Film Appreciation. The first half of the year, we read novels about dystopian worlds and the second half was about how to view films and the different techniques directors use. Although these two topics of literacy were not connected , I learned so much about not just appreciating film, but watching it closely, just like how I read a book. It was a skill that I had practice through guided questions and some formal lessons. Fortunately, there are various technology and multimedia sources that are readily available, so students can learn about this expanded definition of literacy through new mediums!
Hi Esther,
ReplyDeleteYou are one hundred percent in stating that, "Students often struggle synthesizing multiple sources of media to engage in a further complex thought." However, it is up to the teacher to teach the necessary skills/strategies to help students discover or decipher subjective media versus objective media and the like, analyze text and construct new meaning. Teaching using multimedia usage in the classroom is definitely an area that coaches department heads, and the media/technology specialists need to vote significant time to in order support the teachers in the classroom. I have worked with one of our middle school History teachers to incorporate media studies in the classroom. We taught students to critically examine how media representations reflect the influence of ideological and economic forces and to understand how the increasing concentration of media ownership limits portrayals of alternative political perspectives. Students examined how media shapes their self-perceptions and perceptions of others especially in terms of race, gender and class, which allows them to critique stereotypical representations and how those representations position is to adopt certain beliefs and attitudes. This unit extended active participation, helped students critically analyze multimedia, fostered critical response to media and produced media texts in ways that built on the students' multi mediating experiences. The unit not only developed best practices in writing, but collaboration, research skills, synthesizing nonfiction text, computer science, social studies, and journalism, which are higher order thinking skills.
In your post your state that "students also struggle with the ability to deconstruct media because of the lack of exposure to different media." I do not agree with this statement. I felt that the students in my district had exposure to a great variety of medias. Often times, a student would suggest a different way of doing something on the computer or show me a web-based tool that he/she used in 5th grade. With that being said, exposing students to a variety of multi media does not mean it is always done purposely. Passively consuming multi media will not foster the media literacy that Daley is targeting. I believe that students struggle with deconstructing and analyzing multi media because we as educators have not focused on this skill. Far too often we rely regular text for teaching deconstruction and analysis--this is how we learned it in school--and this is how they will be assessed on the PARCC. If English and Social Studies departments create initiatives and professional development workshops teaching educators how to foster multi media literacy, I am hopeful that we will be impressed by the students depth of analysis and connections.
ReplyDeleteHi Esther,
ReplyDeleteI think it's really eye opening when educators realize that there is a whole new world their students can be exposed to, which is technology. During my teaching internship, I was able to bring in new tools and methods for both teaching, learning, and assessing - all through technology. My cooperating teachers were really excited and surprised to see that there even were such things! As you begin to correctly utilize multimedia projects and introduce various tools to your students that they can use, I think you'll see a whole new level of excitement and creative side to your students that was once unseen.