Media Literacy (VISUAL LENS)

"Visual literacy is a learned “reading” of

images. Semiotics is the study of how the

reading of signs and symbols together

communicate complicated ideas in the

form of codes (Lester, 2000). Just as basic

textual literacy uses vocabulary, metaphors, 

and genres, visual literacy employs

 colors, icons, and various media

to communicate ideas and feelings to

readers. Grounded in the senses and

surrounded by a context, both basic and

visual literacy rely on active construction

of meaning through a process of interpreting 

codes and signs."

Reference:  Abilock, D. (Photographer). (2003). Power lens. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6DFAmexYq7vMTFmZjZhNWItZWY5Ni00NzdhLWIxYzItMmE4NmI0MGI5NzJl&hl=en

I chose this section of the text because I feel like images are a HUGE part of our world, and this generation. Children, adolescents, and younger adults today tend to be able to receive information in more of a visual manner, rather than textual or even digital. Before a law was passed against it, advertising companies, like Coca-Cola, would flash images on the screen of a movie for about 0.25 seconds. This quick view of an image could start a thirst for that product--images control us! Stop signs, billboards, trees beside the road, McDonald's signs, brand names--all of these give direct messages to our brains, allowing us to be either informed, persuaded, or dissuaded from anything.

Images tend to spark situations or thoughts in our minds, which lead to certain emotions or actions. The following video shows images that are entertaining, and surely spark emotions :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66t4aZA8to

People	Objects	Activities
President of the US	Books	Thoughtful look
	White and Grey Shirt	Leaned toward audience--listening
	Greenery	Lips pressed together--stressed
		Wrinkled forehead--deep in thought and stressed out

Three things:  Obama had just received disturbing news; he is thinking diligently; and he's in a semi-relaxed room, not a typical office.

Questions: What is he considering?

This second picture gives me more confidence in the president's leadership abilities--he seems like he truly cares about the situation in this picture.

Media Literacy :)

People	Objects	Activities
Mayor of Dauphin Island, AL	Boardwalk	Walking back from water
Mayor of Gulf Shores, AL	Ship	Looking through binoculars
President of US.	Flag	P of US smiling
Governor of Alabama	Coast Guard Officials	Coast Guard Officer looking toward P of US.

Three things observed:  Obama's sleeves rolled up; Coast Guard Officer looking for answers from P of US; resemblance of walking in slow motion and on a mission.

The caption raises the question--who are we trusting with taking care of business?

How Can I Use a Digital Story???

A digital story is a really great way to incorporate audio and visual learning styles into one activity. Teachers can use digital stories to present new information in an eye-catching manner. This tool brings images, words, and sounds into a "movie-like" production to present thoughts, information, and emotion to the viewer.  To tie this activity to the ISTE-NETS standards, I chose the "Digital-Age Learning" Standard:

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. 

This shows that teachers can follow this standard, and bring new information in a contemporary fashion that will capture the attention of the student.

In my future classroom, this activity could be a good tool to present information regarding either "The Life Cycle of a Cell," or maybe even "French Civilization and Culture" (depending on which of my classes I would choose to use this tool in!).


Click here to view an idea for a classroom use of a digital story. (The video at the center of the page under "The Student Response.")

Copyright & Free Use

Can students upload their multimedia projects to Youtube?--Yes, but they must realize that they lose the rights to it when it is accessible to others on the Internet.

    Fair use ends when the multimedia creator loses control of his product's use, such as when it is accessed by others over the Internet.

Are there limitations to the amount of pictures or length of music or video that can be used in a multimedia project?--Yes, only certain amounts of copyrighted material may be used.

     Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds

    A photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety

    Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less

Do you need to request permission from the original creator in order to use copyrighted material in a multimedia project for a school-related assignment?--Not necessarily.

     Students may use portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works in their academic multimedia projects, with proper credit and citations.

Quotes in italics are from: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/copyright1.html

Comic From Last Week! :(

Digital Story--again!

 Hey everyone! Here is my digital story again!
Enjoy!

Spelling Issues?

"...the notion that a word should always be spelled the same way is a much more recent invention than the language itself."

This statement jumped out at me mainly because it is a foreign concept to me.  I remember reading split page books in high school--one page with Old English, the other in Contemporary English. I would find while reading that some words were spelled two or three different ways on the same page, but they meant the exact same thing. 

Today, this would be an editor's nightnmare, and very very quickly corrected. We seem to have found ourselves trying to become more unified in our spelling for a greater literate community to understand--in doing so, however, we have yet to realize that we confuse some people to no end with the way certain words are spelled (Example from the article above: through, tough, dough, etc.)

The link below gives a funny insight on some of the confusing words that the English language uses, and its rules, or lack thereof. Enjoy!
DUMB English!


References: 

Shea, Ammon. "The Keypad Solution." The New York Times. N.p., 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html>.

Survey Results! :)

Hey everyone! Here are the results to my VARK survey :)

The VARK Questionnaire Results

Your scores were: Visual: 9 Aural: 8 Read/Write: 3 Kinesthetic: 7 From this survey, I learned that I am a very multimodal learner--I have three areas where I am closely related in my learning styles. I am one who learns from Visual, Aural, and Kinesthetic methods. Since I am so closely related in each learning style area, I feel that I should focus on each type of learning methods. In some of my classes, I need to be able to touch and feel what is going on in order for me to understand. In other classes, I need to make graphic organizers for myself and the information to allow myself to visually accept all of the information. In others even, I need to look up videos on Youtube that have explanations that I can listen to which help me learn the information. As I was taking this test, I thought, " This test could never tell me the way I think/learn because my learning spectrum is so varied." My thoughts changed, however, when I saw the results. I do think this is an accurate test because it shows the variety in my learning styles. In this picture, I made my eyes and ears very large to show that I am an auditory and visual learner. I also included the shapes outside the face to show my kinesthetic needs. :)

Digital Story...

Hey everyone! I was trying to be a good student on Sunday afternoon. While looking over the Syllabus page, I came across this assignment that had yet to be updated...It said to choose a teacher quote, and to create a video behind it supporting the idea of the quote. Well, the syllabus has since been changed, but I thought I should post the link to my video anyway since I put effort into it. :) Enjoy!
EDUC 2201 Digital Story #1

What's a Wordle? and Poll-who?

Wordle and Poll Everywhere can be really useful tools in a classroom. These tools are ways of collecting information as well as displaying it in a way that is visually pleasing. Poll Everywhere is a web-based tool that allows real-time responses from participants, through either texts or web pages designated to a certain person's poll.  Wordle is an online resource that allows text to be entered, and an image is created with the words--displaying the words by the number of times repeated in the text: greatest number of repetitions creating the larger words in the image.
One way Wordle can be used in a classroom is to enter a famous speech, such as "The Gettysburg Address" or Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and the words that are repeated over and over in the speech will be represented as the focal points of a Wordle image.


One of the standards of the ISTE, is: "Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments."  These web tools apply directly to this standard in that they allow both teachers and students to express their creativity and subject knowledge using technology.

A way that these tools could be used in my future classroom is by entering vocabulary words (ex. Parts of a Cell) into the Wordle text box, and creating a visually stimulating route for students to recognize information for later recollection.
Example:

References:
Jen, Wagner. "Wordle Ideas."Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2011. <http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferW/wordle-ideas>.


ISTE. " ISTE | NETS for Teachers 2008 ." ISTE | Membership, NETS Standards, Books, Journals and Professional Development for Teachers . N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2011. <http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx>.

Laziness or Lack of Care?

"By 1750, Lord Chesterfield famously warned his son that "orthography … is so absolutely necessary for a man of letters, or a gentleman, that one false spelling may fix a ridicule upon him for the rest of his life." Today, it is difficult to imagine anyone taking Chesterfield's admonition seriously. If spell-check doesn't catch the problem, whatever! Does spelling really matter, anyway?" (Baron, 2009).

These few sentences hold a really powerful message that encapsulates the entire evolution of the English language, and how the care that people have for using proper English has nearly faded into the background in some cases--but the word "most" has no place in that statement. Although the last statement--"Does spelling really matter, anyway?"--applies to some people, there are many more people who do not believe this is true. Writers and speakers of English are often ridiculed if using improper grammar, so they are more likely to try to use the most proper grammar they can.

This video is from my childhood--one of many used as a tool to teach basic lessons in a catchy way, allowing for easier memory of the subjects being presented. Enjoy & remember your childhood if you're as old as me! ...if not, mock me for my age. :)

References:

Baron, Naomi. " Educational Leadership:Literacy 2.0:Are Digital Media Changing Language? ." Membership, policy, and professional development for educators – ASCD . N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx>.

Video from youtube.com address:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eam2rL5S-4