Double Journal Entry #6

Quote: "By applying cross-disciplinary literacy skills and systematically using the “Seven Powers,” we can help students see their own power as future voters in our democratic society (Abilock)."

Response: People today are deluged with information from a variety of media sources. Thirty years ago it was easier to sort out the amateurs from the professionals; the media also held itself to a higher ethical standard of reporting. However, the news today is based more about subjectivity rather than objectivity. Operating under the premise, "He or she who spins news the fastest gets it out to the mostest" improves the odds that news heard first is accepted as truth. What is frightening about this is that voters make decisions at the polls based on information that they have. If voters do not discern well between truth, spin and fabrication, then the wrong lawmakers may be put in office. Therefore, it is critical that we teach students the ability to analyze outputs from the media so they can make the best decision based on good information. One of the goals of media literacy should be to foster citizenship by developing future saavy voters.

Abilock, D. (2003, November). A Seven-Power Lens on 21st-Century Literacy. MultiMedia Schools, 10(5), 30-35. Retrieved September 29, 2011

Related Article: Twitter Isn't Journalism

De Monte, Michael. Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg.com, Feb. 2011. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. <http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2011/02/twitter_isnt_journalism.html>.

Analyzing Images in Media

Photo 1

Photo in the New York Daily News: Tuesday June 15, 2010. Article Title:White House: Obama ready to seize claims process.

Caption: 

White House: Obama ready to seize claims process.

In the picture, President Obama appears confident, energetic, and is leading a group of people. He is in business casual as is the rest of the entourage. He is seen in this photo as engaged, and taking an interest in the oil spill. The photographer captured an image that is positive and inspiring.

Photo 2

This second photo dipicts the president in a somber mood. He looks as though he has had a lack of sleep, is unshaven, and is contemplating a question or information he has received. He again is in casual business attire and in an office setting. He may be speaking with reporters or meeting with advisors. He does not happy, engaged, or in control as he appeared in the photo above. This photo projects an air of uncertainty and is not positive.

Photo in the Washington Post Tuesday June 15, 2010

Article Title: Oil Spill: BP Gulf leak could stain President Obama like Iran Hostage crisis destroyed Jimmy Carter

Caption: President Barack Obama is briefed on the BP oil spill relief efforts in the Gulf

Double Journal Entry #5: Art Becomes the Next R

Quote: "Beyond a literacy that facilitates learning and communication across a wide spectrum of activities, art skills also translate into real-world jobs. Each of the thousands of channels of video, the thousands of CDs and DVDs, the millions of incipient Web sites-and the other new media not yet on imagination's horizon-will require musicians, choreographers, videographers, graphic designers, creative consultants, and many other "artistic" professionals. Artists are finally having their day (Ohler)."

Reaction: We cannot dismiss that today's students have been raised in a totally digital era. As educators we have a responsibility to teach students to receive and communicate in a digital rich medium. Use of pictures and graphics are powerful, and must be used as skillfully  as an actor using facial expressions in place of words, or a cartoonist drawing charactures to dipict people. Art in general is beneficial to keeping students engaged, and allowing students to express their personal interests, explore history and other cultures, and serve as an outlet for self-expression. Art promotes individualism which also encourages an entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurism is about finding creative solutions, being different and taking risks. Educators need to find a way to mesh art with the other disciplines so that we are engaging 21st Century learners.

Ohler, Jason. "Art Becomes the Next R." Educational Leadership Magazine 58.2 Oct. (2000): 16-19. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

Here is an outline for planning art lessons. (There is a correlation between traditional art and an approach to instructional technology):  Planning Art Lessons & Units.

Bartel, Marvin. "Planning Art Lessons & Units." Goshen College. 2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

A New Way to Teach: Digital Story Telling

One of the more challenging assignments to date for my Instructional Technology class was a digital story project using Photo Story 3 for Windows. It required finding a quote that reflected my personal teaching philosophy, and then putting it in a digital story form using images  and music or narration. I chose a quote from Cecil Beaton that encourages people to be anything but status quo. This involved mapping out a plan on  paper as to how words and images might be used In conjunction with the actual quote. During the process, I made many changes to the slide presentation by cutting out some slides and adding or modifying others until I was satisfied that the pictures, text inserted, and voice narration captured the spirit of the quote.  On some slides I chose images of children in a learning environment, because both students and teachers need to embrace being “daring,” “different,” and “impractical.” I chose images of teachers using the traditional lectern and overhead projector to represent the old and safe methods of instruction, followed by a frustrated student banging their head on a blackboard. The intent of my digital project is to challenge teachers to be different and teach unique!

The project met the following ISTE-NET standards for students:

Demonstrate creativity and innovation
Communicate and collaborate
Conduct research and use information
Think critically, solve problems, and make decisions
Use technology effectively and productively

ISTE-NET Standards for students

The assignment also met the following ISTE-NET standards for teachers:

1a. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual   understanding and thinking, planning, and creative process.

2a.	design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
2b.	develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
2c.	customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
3a.	demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.
3c.	communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
3d.	model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
4a.	advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
4c.	promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
b.	exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.
d.	contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community.

ISTE-NET Standards for Teachers

Photo Story

Double Journal Entry #4

Quote: “Through creating narratives, students develop the power of their own voices and become heroes of their own learning stories “(Ohler).

Reaction:  In his article, “The World of Digital Storytelling,” Jason Ohler gives good examples on how digital storytelling can be used in the classroom. More importantly, he shares how the story should be developed, which means students will need to consider the following: 1) Who is the audience? 2) What is the message to be conveyed? 3) What action or response is desired? He suggests that the students utilize digital mapping by creating a storyboard.

Having a background in marketing, it is easy for me to see the value mapping.  Storyboards have long been used in advertising and in developing marketing campaigns. It aids the creator in looking objectively at the story to determine if the words and pictures convey what is intended. I can see where students would need to exercise critical thinking skills that entail planning, research, design, execution and evaluation.  Creating a digital story may also teach students how to look at media more critically in their everyday lives, enabling them to discern between truth, untruth and anything suspect

I once heard a pastor tell the story of “Horton Hears a Who (Suess)” in a Sunday sermon. He concluded with, “We have a responsibility to be a voice for those that cannot be heard.”   For the students, digital storytelling is a great way to express thoughts, feelings and emotions in story form, giving them the “power of their own voices” as Ohler described.

Ohler, Jason. "The World of Digital Storytelling." Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Jan. (2006): 44-47. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf.

Galaxy, Dancing. "Horton Hears A Who." You Tube. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYJQpiHJKrE&feature=related>.

Comic

Make Beliefs Comix

Double Journal Entry #3

Quote: “Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University and author of “Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World,” shares Crystal’s view. She predicts that the number of “textisms” will stop growing as people continue to develop more proficiency in using handheld devices and as the devices continue to grow more sophisticated than simple telephone touch pads. She adds that part of the appeal of texting shorthands is their novelty, and that that will fade.”

My reaction: A more simple way to restate Baron’s claim is to borrow from an old cliché, ‘and this too shall pass’.  I can remember when pig Latin was all the rage, but that didn’t survive either, nor did valley girl talk. There are many other fads that have passed that could have changed the way we spelled certain words forever, which is why we need to be cautious about changing the way we have spelled words for over a century. Another thought I have is, who is to say what is the right way to spell a word? Many of our words in the American English language have come from the languages of immigrants. If we change the way those words are spelled, we may very well change the meaning of the word because the origin may eventually be lost. How can you understand what a word means if you can’t identify the root, or prefix or suffix that might give you a clue as to what origin the word came from. Also, it would take a much larger effort to educate a small number of young people to spell the way their parents, grandparents, and generations before, have spelled rather than take a much larger population of people and ask them to relearn a different way of spelling to accommodate a smaller population. It seems to me that changing how we spell specific words should not be a priority. Sometimes conformity is a good thing and learning to spell in a more complex language certainly is good exercise for the brain. If we are going to ask an older population to learn anything new, I think it would be best to ask them to spend time on getting computer literate and digitally oriented. Perhaps then they could show the younger people how to use spell check.

Source:

Shea, Ammon. "On Language: The Keypad Solution." New York Times 22 Jan. 2010, magazine ed. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html.

On the lighter side of things, this little alien pokes fun at the English language:

Strassman, Dave. “Kevin the Alien Discusses the English Language.” 08 June 2009. You Tube.com. 11 Sept. 2011

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB3g7PcF1vs>.

Learning about Learning

Learning Styles

My learning style is multimodal: kinestetic, visual, reading and writing and audio. I like using a variety of methods for learning material, depending on what I am learning. I grasp concepts easily from text and pictures or diagrams, but when it comes to details I need to draw, recall, rewrite, and turn visuals into words. It is helpful to practice with multiple choice questions, and tor write my own exam questions from the material I am reading. I also benefit from asking questions and giving answers or expanation outloud as it helps me to retain the information over a longer period of time and to stay focused. One advantage of being multimodal is I can adapt more easily to teaching styles as I have multiple sensories to draw from.

Picassohead

Reflections on new learning experiences

Our class used two new techniques for teaching with technology. We used Poll Everywhere to become more acquainted with one another by submitting questions. Each of us then took the responses and created a Wordle, a kind of picturesque representation of the answers.

One of the ways to use Poll Everywhere in business education classes is to teach the concept of polling and sampling used in marketing and business statistics. The website, Free Technology for Teachers offers a few good ideas on how to use Poll Everywhere. One of the suggestions is "to see the most and least common responses to an open-ended question" which would be a great way to introduce business statistics.

As I imagine it , students would create questions, then based on the number of questions submitted, calculate whether the sampling was a good one or not and whether the responses were satisfactory for gathering data. The answers would be analyzed and categorized to create statistics from the polling.

These activities would meet Standard 1 of ISTE Nets-T in a number of ways: 1) Engage students in real world issues by encouraging them to create poll questions relevant to a business environment which would require thinking (what do we need to know) and planning (what is the best way to ask a question to get a meaningful response) ; 2) Teach students how to use digital tools and resources to gather information by creating and administering a poll; 3) Assess whether students grasped the concepts of polling and sampling and use of statistics by the outcomes.

Double Journal Entry #2: To be, or not to be -- grammatically correct in this digital age.

QUOTE: “However, by understanding that new language technologies have shifted our students' attitudes about who holds the power in linguistic exchange, we will be better prepared to understand their perspectives and to reach common ground ” (Baron).

REACTION: Naomi Baron makes an argument for easing up on grammar and spelling and seems to suggest that what is appropriate language is being dictated by younger generations.  I understand that spelling and grammar doesn’t come easily to every individual and shouldn’t

But I am skeptical about our society going down the slippery slope of language erosion, eventually becoming a Tower of Babel.

Would letting students slide on using formal communication send a message that it is okay to take shortcuts? Granted, word programs do offer spelling and grammar check; however, it is not always 100% accurate. Students wouldn’t be able to discern the difference without being taught fundamental grammar rules and spelling. Yet Baron does make a good point about letting students focus on creativity, problem solving and exploration without being hampered by formality.  Tony Wagner echoes that sentiment in an article he wrote based on conversations with hundreds of business and education leaders on preparing students for 21^st century careers and citizenship. Wagner cites effective and written communication as one of the seven key skill sets that are highly desired.  He summarizes his findings as this:

“Summers and other leaders from various companies were not necessarily complaining about young people's poor grammar, punctuation, or spelling—the things we spend so much time teaching and testing in our schools. Although writing and speaking correctly are obviously important, the complaints I heard most frequently were about fuzzy thinking and young people not knowing how to write with a real voice” (Wagner).

Perhaps what we should be doing in the classroom is put a greater emphasis on content and substance, but still teach students the fundamentals of grammar with one modern day twist: teach students how to properly use software to turn out perfect papers.

References

Baron, Naomi. "Are Digital Medi Changing Language?." Educational Leadership 66.6 (2009): 42-46. ASCD. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx

Wagner, Toni. "Rigor Defined. Educational Leadership 66.2 (2008): 20-25. ASCD. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Rigor-Redefined.aspx

My Poll

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