Chris Andrews at Salem Hills High

I shared my thesis question and the basic details of my project with Chris Andrews.

Andrews graduated from TEE (the program I am going through to get my teaching certificate) with a minor in Media Arts Studies from the TMA department. He is a first year teacher at Salem Hills High School. Andrews teaches News Broadcasting, Digital Photography, Beginning Media, and Video Production (the class in which Andrews recommends I enact my thesis project).

Andrews is on board. He’s excited about the project being in his classroom and is willing to participate. We are in the process of coordinating our schedules for Fall 2010.

One concern is that Andrews is on a one year contract. He has been verbally pledged a position for next year, but he won’t know for sure until the middle of April. Once that is confirmed:

I (with Andrews) will teach a unit of storytelling and each student will write a story.

The students will then make a video telling their story.

The emphasis will be on returning to source material and using the equipment to tell and enhance their story.

If Andrew and I’s schedule isn’t a factor, when would you recommend enacting this project?

The later in the year it is done, the more exposure the students will have had to the equipment and technology. How much of a factor to my thesis do you see that as?

How short should the stories be?

Will having each student make a video be too big? What is a possible alternative?

Thesis Statement

I think it’s a little late for me.


The purpose of this study is to document the experience of students in a secondary education classroom fulfilling the national standards of a multimedia Career and Technology Education course infused with a focus away from the technology tools and on the meanings and themes created with technology tools. This study will take place during a six week unit on Keynote and Powerpoint in which students will be taught storytelling principles, be assigned to tell a story using a presentation program, and be assessed on their abilities to tell a story using that tool.


Note: I’m using Keynote and Powerpoint as an example. It could be any number of programs or tools (e.i. editing software, photo manipulation software, a camera)

One aspect that I’m interested in is how little time can be spent on the technical aspect of the tool. If the purpose and some possibilities of the tool is explained and demonstrated, and I get them started, will they be able to move forward easily from there? Will they be motivated to learn the specifics of the tool either on their own, through tutorials, in lab, from peers, or from family members?

If the students are being evaluated on their ability to tell the story then they must be proficient enough with the program to manipulate it into generating the themes and the intended meanings they want.

A lot of this is dependent on the students being intrinsically motivated by their story to not half-heartedly fulfill the assignment. If they love the story and want to tell it, then they will make the technology work for them instead of fitting the story into the very basics of the tool.


I spoke with Brother Shumway (a Technology and Engineering Education professor and a member of my thesis committee) and he recommended I look at the standards for courses in the theatre department because they may have standards for storytelling and it may give more validity to my project to use standards that already exist as tried and trusted.

He also recommended that I observe Chris Andrews to see how he teaches his technology classes and to see to what extent what I’m suggesting is already happening.

Media Resopnse 5

At the conference in San Diego, I saw watched a presentation being done with a Prezi and was impressed, so I decided to check it out. This is the one I used for my Theory presentation.

Stephen Prince on Prezi

I'm not a powerpoint fan. I hate being stuck in a linear path. No matter how the presentation was going or where the discussion was leading, the next slide was predetermined. My first experience with Prezi was great. It has the benefit of holding gathered clips, images, and information into a single presentation, but with the flexibility of an actual classroom setting. Similar to the Mind Meister, this is all held online, works as a storage device, and can be shared with anyone.

I created a very simple presentation and it didn't take too long to get used to the Prezi canvas, so I look forward to trying it again.

Apparently posting it to a blog limits the presentation. Sorry about that, but good to know.

Reading Response 6

I selected Daugherty's "A Changing Role for Technology Teacher Education" to read in conjunction with Kalantzis and Cope's "Changing the Role of Schools." Daugherty's article stems from a study done is 2005. In 2003, the undergraduate program for Technology Teacher Education was changed and a survey was done of current (at the time) Technology teachers with 2 purposes:

1. To what degree do technology teacher educators support the Standards for technological literacy: Content for the study of technology (Content Standards) and the Advancing excellence in technological literacy: Professional development standards?
2. To what degree is substantial curricular and pedagogical change required and/or supported in technology teacher education?

I almost stopped reading the article at this point. Doesn't it seem obvious that the standards would be supported? And who doesn't support pedagogical change in technology teacher education?

These articles both tapped into what I am most excited about and fearful of in the classroom.

Kalantzis and Cope's section of the article entitled "Education and changing patterns of work" is an idea that we've read before from Cope. Postfordism and productive diversity is the new work environment we want students to be prepared to enter upon graduation. The classroom is a work space as is and has the potential to adopt the theories and practices of a modern work atmosphere. I'm excited to be in the TTE field because I feel that I will have a step up on creating this environment of multiskilling and worker empowerment for students. Everything that I am learning in my undergraduate program suggest that I be the teacher described by Kalantzis and Cope. Professor Steve Shumway actually uses this text "Multiliteracies" in his undergraduate classes.

LET'S DO THIS THING!

In Daugherty's article, there is one question that halts my enthusiasm:

"Do you believe that your technology teacher education program offers the 'ideal' kind of curriculum?"

80% said no. Which is fine. No big deal, let's work with the curriculum. That should be done continually anyway, right?

The follow up question was why and the number one reason was "Bureaucracy and lack of support prevent change." That's disturbing. It's also interesting that there was no mention of lack of funding or materials. I don't want to be in a situation where I'm fighting with the Principal. It seems cruel to teach me an ideal and put me in a situation where it can't be met, but I guess that's the real world. Haha, just kidding, I'm not giving up that easily. I love a good fight.

Reading Response 5

Some aspects of Digital Nation hit a little close to home. Listening to the professors talk about the lack of through-lines in student's papers, reminded me of my own writing. I consistently write paragraphs of what I see as pretty great ideas and then (for seemingly inexplicable reasons) move on to the next paragraph with a completely different idea, expecting the professor to either follow my train of thought or accept each paragraph or thought on its own.

I was surprised with the gaming section of the program. I never considered those who play massive online roll playing games as being so connected. We have read many articles documenting the positives of online interactions and socializing, but I never considered the whole reason for getting online and playing the game was the urge to connect with others.

One woman at the Blizzard Entertainment party said something like, "People who never play online games will never understand how close you can get with someone you have never seen." My sarcastic question is "why would you want to?"

It seems a little ridiculous on one hand to be chatting online with someone on the other side of the world, when there are people all around. Like that young Korean boy who wouldn't carry a conversation with his mother, but would rather be on the internet playing a game. So, for this example, if we apply the ideas of the creator of Second Life and solve alienation with more technology, then we need to get his mom on the computer to have dinner with him virtually.

They suggest that the game doesn't isolate you, but it gives you a new way to be intimate. They claim to be rewriting the rules of human interaction. I agree that they are giving you new ways to be interact with other and I am a big fan of that, but unfortunately, these forms of interaction are replacing other forms of connectivity. I love to text, but I'm not going to stop talking to my wife because I think it might be easier to just text her.

The internet becomes frightening when it destroys and replaces life. It is beautiful when it adds to our current, healthy life a new layer of connectivity and social interaction.


we are together on the internet, you're not alone anymore

Media Resopnse 4

ustream.tv

I have been spending a lot of time on ustream.tv recently because I've had multiple people tell me about live streaming videos they watch (Brother Parkin watches the panda habitat at the San Diego Zoo).

The idea of the website didn't appeal to me until I saw this ad:



I watched the Virginia Beach board walk for thirty minutes on ustream.net at 9pm while it was raining. No one walked by.

Reality television gets stronger each season. This is partially because it's a lot cheaper to produce, but also because people are watching. My wife watches The Bachelor, and even though she says this season isn't as good, she still watches it because she enjoys talking with the other teachers at lunch about it. The appeal seems to be the realness of it. We aren't talking about fictional characters or manufactured experiences, but real people with real consequences (feel free to go back and add quotation marks around real if it makes you feel better).

If I Can Dream gives you more control. You can change the camera angles. There is more to talk about with much more access.

I'm interested to talk about this in classes because it almost seems like we are regressing to a greater time. I loved making movies and putting on plays when I was a kid. It was all about storytelling and make-believe. Being given more control and less structure allows my mind to create. While watching the Virginia Beach boardwalk, it was nice to not be told what to think other than look this way.

reading response 4

Ito says that educators, no matter their stance, have "the tendency to fetishize technology as a force with its own internal logic standing outside of history, society, and culture. The problem with both of these stances is that they fail to recognize that technologies are in fact embodiments, stabilizations, and concretizations of existing social structure and cultural meanings."

Last year I subbed for a teacher for a week and I would go with the student to the computer lab for type of keyboarding class. After the students would finish the assignment for the day, there was a list of websites they could go to and play games. I remember asking the teacher of the lab about the websites and what sorts of games were there. She didn't know, but ensured me that there were appropriate.

I have thought of that experience since and wonder, "appropriate for what?" That would be like watching any film that's PG for no reason other than the fact that you are allowed to. Why aren't we talking about the media or using it in any productive way.

One of the more surprising sections for me was in the Squire article when he had the exchange between the two young people having a very legitimate conversation about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

"Gamer 1: Your main character just got out of jail, a black dude in LA joining back up with a
gang. All the gang members the skinny guy and the fat guy smoking bowls and passing shit.
It’s so stereotypical.

Gamer 2: Dude all the other GTAs are stereotypical. They’re about Italian Americans and
stuff. I heard that Vice City had one line that was really controversial. Kill all the Haitians. He
was being like “genocide.” It wasn’t bullshit that they threw in there. There was controversy
between those two groups in New York. When I played Vice City, it was like being in the
movie Scarface. Same movie, same city. They are all the same ones in Scarface. You pretty
much live in the same house it’s all down to the detail. When I played SA, the first movie I
thought of was Menace to Society. All their names are all brought from those characters. "

This is an honest conversation about racial representations. The "gamers" are also able to relate the game to other forms on media and history. They are not falling into the same pitfalls of not contextualizing that Ito warns of.

I am very interested in finding a game and attempting to use it in a positive way with the students. I love being able to take media they know (films, TV shows, etc. and now games) and put it into the framing of the classroom.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/scientific-study-shows-skilled-gamers-have-bigger-brains-smaller-?partner=homepage_newsletter

Media Resopnse 3

I saw this film as part of a collection of international award winning films for kids from ages 4 to 8. What's Wrong With This Picture by Jeffrey Travis is listed as an American comedy. Travis' website says that the film has been in over 30 festivals and won "multiple" awards.

This is the blurb from the DVD insert on the films:

Millions of children each day are left alone with crayons and paper—the vast majority of whom gleefully animate without loss or injury. There are those precious few, however, who must bear the weight of wax-gone-bad. Three-year-old Aidan may have followed all the rules, but in a moment of carelessness, his own creation will go horribly wrong.

• Heart of Gold International Film Festival
• Tribeca Film Festival
• SXSW Film Festival
• Seattle International Film Festival

This two minutes of home video and stickman animation is award winning because people must be identifying with it. I think I'm at a disadvantage because I don't have any children (although the intended audience to children between 4 and 8), but for what it's worth, I did think the PADD organization idea was clever.

There are three separate moods in this film. The beginning feels like a public service announcement for something horrible, but it's over the top nature makes it an apparent joke. We are set up and prepared for the pay off.

The music changes drastically to a happy upbeat tune during the animation. It's fun and cute. I was happy to see the "stickman" get something to eat and drink.

The films gets interesting for me when Aidan returns and is very upset. I could use this film as an example of the ethical treatment of actors. Was Aidan aware that he was even in a film? The camera doesn't move when he is on camera, making it appear as though it's a hidden camera.

Aidan may just be a convincing actor, but even if it was real for him, it is unethical? In the credit, Aidan's last name is Travis, so it would be fair to assume the director is family, perhaps his father. It's also hard to consider taking juice away from a child torture, but is it exploitative to take his reaction and turn it into a short film?

Media Resopnse 1

I've recently rediscovered this film because of the Sunday school lessons so far this year.

Oddly enough, when viewing this film in the past I didn't spend much time framing the film to me. This reminded me of our discussion on overt direction and critical framing.

What I have in my head as a clear theme and what the students understand from a visual example may not be the same.

This isn't their fault, there are countless themes and elements to pull from single images. By setting up the clip, we can direct the students to the see what we were intending them to find.

reading response 3

I'm taking undergraduate Technology and Engineering Education (TEE) classes concurrently with our MA pedagogy class. The main difference is scope. My TEE classes (so far) focus solely on the classroom (motivating students, disclosure documents, lesson plans, etc.) and the emphasis seems to be on making it seem...not easy, but doable. There is a lot of confidence building. Whenever a fear or anxiety is brought up, the phrase "Don't worry, you'll be fine" is tossed out at some point after addressing that concern.

Our class is not incredibly different from my TEE classes. I'm still learning what I can do in a classroom, but now the ramifications flow in and out of the classroom.

For example, my TEE classes suggest a direct line of confidence. If you do this, then this will happen or if that doesn't work then try this and remember this. My goal is to establish my own language and teach it to the students I may have in my classroom.

Our text says this of its own pedagogy:

Neither immersion in Situated Practice within communities of learners, nor Overt Instruction...necessarily gives rise to this sort of critical understanding or cultural understanding. In fact, both immersion and many sorts of Overt Instruction are notorious as socialising agents that can render learners quite uncritical and unconscious of the cultural locatedness of meanings and practices.

The four components of pedagogy we propose here do not constitute a linear heirarchy, nor do they represent stage. Rather, they are components that are related in complex ways. Elements of each may occur simutaneously, while at different times one or the other will predominate, all of them are reatedly revisited at different levels (New London Group, 32).

This is a product of learning the Cha Cha and the Paso Doble at the same time.

One particular sentiment that I gained from our readings that I want to incorporate into my young pedagogy is that there isn't one standard. Students "are simultaneously members of multiple lifeworlds, so their identities have multiple layers that are in complex relation to each other" (NLG, 17)

Our readings are pushing me to understand that I have a responsibility to integrate learning compatible with their work, citizenship, and lifeworlds in the present and near future. The earlier I can incorporate such integral facets of learning into my language, the more concrete it can become.

As a side note, the final section of the article A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies titled "The Internation Multiliteracies Projects" is perhaps the greatest summation I have ever read. I wish I had read it before reading the article. I hope this doesn't sound sarcastic because it is awesome.

Media Resopnse 2

5 minutes into the video posted below is a dinner scene from 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days. The focus of the scene is on the young blonde woman (Otilia). She is at her boyfriend's house for his mother's birthday. She is late to the party because she is helping her friend have an abortion, which is illegal in Romania. No one at the party knows what she was doing before coming to the party.

Just in case you don't speak Romanian, the conversation is rather frivolous. They ask her about her studies, they make some disparaging comments about the working class, the best way to make potatoes, young people are rude these day, etc.

This is a very rich scene with a lot of meaning in the context of the entire film, so if you haven't seen this film, then perhaps that isn't coming through, but that's actually okay for this post.

Do you remember playing this game when you were a bit shorter?



I think this game conditioned me to like the unique and have a desire to find that which isn't like the other. This seems like what teachers are doing daily. Finding that which is unknown to students and helping them see it, so that it changes the way everything is viewed. I love it when someone can change my mind.

This scene from 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile will now always be a part of any editing lesson I teach. This is unique and different, but not wrong. It is very effective. The work that a particular student does may be different, but if the correct themes are there and effective: well done.

reading response 2, Jeff Hill

I have been reading Jenkins' "Convergence Culture" for another class. "Convergence Culture" is focused on the flow of content across multiple media platforms and the relationship between the commercially produced and grassroots produced media. I mention it because one element that Jenkins stresses in his book comes through in the reading for this week. Jenkins lays the foundation of his work with the idea that what is happening now and what will happen with media is inevitable. The current media will become more a part of our life and the new media, both creations of new forms of media and new innovations of the current media, will soon invade our existence. There is no stopping it.

Media Education is understanding the power of the media and using it to the benefit of furthering education. Livingstone addresses this by referring to teaching internet literacy as empowering the students and enabling them to do what they can do best. I like the debunking of the term "tech-savvy teen" across the board. It may have some relevance in familiarity or even in comfort of use, being familiar with something doesn' t ensure competence nor does it even suggest that the technology is being used either correctly or to its potential. That's something I need to remind myself of. Just because a student can work quickly with an operating system and understand the language of a program, doesn't mean he or she is media literate in a full sense of the phrase.

And I'm not trying to be down on the student in any way. Kress's article focuses on the many ways of communication or perhaps more accurately, the inefficiencies in one mode of language. We are teaching a new language. Students may have the lingo down pat, but the formal is typically lacking. There are so many ways of reading and understanding that we must focus education while being open to the many interpretations (i.e. the drawing of an elephant), especially when all may be correct.

During particularly good discussions in class, Brother Parkin will often interrupt and say something to the effect of "Do you realize that we could all be in an accounting class right now?" I am in an education class that often discusses motivation and trying to keep student interested, which seems difficult in many regards, but I am encouraged by our reading assignments because the attention is given to focusing the learning instead of trying to create an atmosphere in which media literacy is appealing. The appeal is there because society is surrounded by media and its constant changes.

Jeff Hill

I found a consistent progression in each article. They each started with the idea of language as both a barrier preventing acceptance and an equalizer because once the language was understood, the participants felt a sense of autonomy. This is important for the classroom because you don’t want students to feel as though they are only being acted upon, but that they are an integral member of the community and they in turn will be invested in the class or project. These articles are about how language (Discourse) creates a community.

I really like the vibe Gee generated when he examines language. He isn’t harshly making commentary, but is encouraging as he guides the reader though concepts and new ways of understanding a Discourse we may have thought we already knew.

“All language is meaningful only in and through the contexts in which it is used. All language is meaningful only on the basis of shared experiences and shared information (63).”

It’s because of what we share in the classroom that makes education possible. The meaning will come out of the whole, not the singular assignment, student, project, etc. The teacher continually contextualizes the classroom.

Gee continues, “it is important here to see the word ‘contextualised’ as naming an active process: the process of a person ‘contextualising’, that is, of a person making and doing a context, not just passively registering one. What does it mean to say we humans actively ‘contextualise’ language? ‘Context’ is not just ‘out there’. We do not just ‘reflect’ context when we speak or write. Rather, we always actively create ‘context’. We make the world around us mean certain things (64).”

In Boyd’s analysis of MySpace, she describes the process of creating a profile: “By looking at others’ profiles, teens get a sense of what types of presentations are socially appropriate; others’ profiles provide critical cues about what to present on their own profile. While profiles are constructed through a series of generic forms, there is plenty of room for them to manipulate the profiles to express themselves (127).”

The participant first learns the language, then engages with the community by presenting his or her page. It is only after a learning curve that he or she can fully invest her or himself in the community. The teacher creates those models for the students. Social networking sites are incredibly popular and this is a good example of something educators can learn from them.

There was a similar situation with Goldman’s case study with the student representatives at the local school board. It was technology that helped them first learn the language of the school board and then develop their own voices. It took some time, but they became influential within the context of the school board.

The students’ language and identity are expressed in the context of the classroom or community you are teaching. Allow them to form that identity.