Edutopia, a web site published by The George Lucas Educational Foundation, released an article with reasons why art in education is important. The link to the article is http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development. Information about the organization is clearly stated on the site's foundation section.In the foundation section there are also links to in-depth information about the mission of the organization and a message from George Lucas. An address, along with others avenues of contact, is listed.
The information is not biased because the focus of the organization and website is to make education better by helping students, parents, and teachers realize how they can make education as beneficial as possible in today's society, especially with the integration of technology. It does not rely on loaded language, it is just using language that would appeal to teachers. In a way it uses emotion as a means of persuasion because it is trying to appeal to teachers and parents who know that educational society should be better and want to make a change. In certain areas it provides other viewpoints but there are no links to alternative viewpoints. The site's information is extremely well organized and it clearly states the points that it is trying to address .It seems extremely thorough and is easy to understand. The site is copyright.
The information should be current since the site is about the evolving education system; it is up to date. Yes a reference date is listed for the materials and all of the links work. It is a very professional site.
Since it is a .org site it indicates that it is a non-profit organization.
The article describes the correlation between the arts and academic success and how the arts should be revived in schools instead of taken away. It also seems credible because not only is it a non-profit educational source, but one of the founders of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Steve Arnold, is very involved in other educational ventures. The man for whom the foundation is named, George Lucas, is well known for his accomplishments in the entertainment industry. With these accomplishments he has been a strong supporter of using new technology to promote learning, so the website for his foundation is credible and very informative.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Double Entry Journal #6
The relationship between media literacy skills and traditional literacy skills are intertwined yet different in several ways. Media literacy used to focus more on moral issues such as stereotypes and undesirable influences and also on things such as advertising. However, today's digital media is focused more on the technological aspect of things and about using technology correctly and to the fullest extent. They also have a relationship when it comes down to how things are read. While it may seem like there isn't a difference between reading something in a book and reading it online, for some people there is. Nevertheless, the same skills used in offline reading are the same skills used in online reading as well. There also is now the problem with having to judge whether or not the work is true, where as when it is in a textbook there is not much doubt that it's a reliable source.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
"Researchers who directed several hundred college students to three bogus Web sites about fictitious nutritional supplements found that half of the students lacked the skills to identify the trustworthiness of the information, yet most thought they had strong research skills (Ivanitskaya, O'Boyle, & Casey, 2006)."
RESPONSE:
The fact that college students who thought they had strong research skills were able to be fooled by bogus sites really surprised me. Because of the technological age that we have grown up in I assumed students my age would be able to judge whether or not information was false based on the sources given. I think a major reason is we assume information can be taken at face value when we really need to look into it further. This is a good example of the fact that media literacy skills need to become a more important part of the education system everywhere.
I chose this video because I think it is a good representation of media literacy.
The fact that college students who thought they had strong research skills were able to be fooled by bogus sites really surprised me. Because of the technological age that we have grown up in I assumed students my age would be able to judge whether or not information was false based on the sources given. I think a major reason is we assume information can be taken at face value when we really need to look into it further. This is a good example of the fact that media literacy skills need to become a more important part of the education system everywhere.
I chose this video because I think it is a good representation of media literacy.
SOURCES:
David, J. L. (2009). Teaching media literacy. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 84-86. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.aspx
Ivanitskaya, L., O'Boyle, I., & Casey, A. M. (2006). Health information literacy and competencies of information age students: Results from the Interactive Online Research Readiness Self-Assessment (RRSA). Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8(2), e6.
(2009). Show your media literacy. (2009). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v6uG4-lNLo&context=C372aee1ADOEgsToPDskJGSg457XcNsuDGrZ9XouF6
Monday, February 20, 2012
Reflection Voki
The only revisions I made to my reflection were I changed the sentence about what the students would be making from "In my future classroom, I plan to have students create digital stories on either a previous vacation or their dream vacation to a specific country they studied prior to assembling the story." to "In my future classroom, I plan to have students create digital stories about a specific location they have visited or would like to visit. Prior to creating the story they will research and learn more about the location and it's history." The sentence was too long and needed split up. I also took out some words that were unnecessary when describing how to make a good digital story.
Reflection Revision
In my reflection I found five uses of the word "that", four of which were unnecessary.
A sentence written in the passive voice is, "For example, the digital story Patrick's Amazing Summer Vacation was created by a student, Patrick, and describes his adventures that took place over the summer." It should be, "For example, the digital story Patrick's Amazing Summer Vacation, is a video created by a student, Patrick, that describes his summer adventures."
A sentence written in the passive voice is, "For example, the digital story Patrick's Amazing Summer Vacation was created by a student, Patrick, and describes his adventures that took place over the summer." It should be, "For example, the digital story Patrick's Amazing Summer Vacation, is a video created by a student, Patrick, that describes his summer adventures."
Monday, February 13, 2012
Fair Use Questions/Double Entry Journal #5
1. Media in Education would be things such as showing a movie to a class as a reward, while Media Literacy in Education is more focused on the understanding, analysis, and deep thinking behind the media messages.
2. Cultural creativity.
3. It is more important today because of the ever-changing technology surrounding us.
4. Was the work used for a different purpose than it originally was meant and was the amount of the material used an appropriate amount.
5. Yes, because the teaching is using it to teach the students a concept. The movie is used to show the racial stereotypes, not just for entertainment.
6. Principle four, which is, student use of copyrighted materials for academic and creative work. It relates most strongly to my digital work because it was a hands on learning experience using media literacy, had a certain goal, and was also educational.
7. Yes, there should be just enough to teach the goal.
8. No, because as long as it still pertains to the school related assignment and isn’t taken out of context, it is okay to use in an educational setting.
9. It depends on the situation. If the school system’s rules are letting the teacher get everything accomplished that they need to for proper learning then they don’t need to worry about it.
10. I was surprised with the myth that talked about making money. I always assumed that as long as you weren’t profiting from it it was okay as well.
Yes, my digital story that I made for class does fall under the fair use guidelines. The pieces of media that I used were all used for a specific purpose, they all were given credit, they weren't used in an excessive amount, and they were used in an educational assignment by a student.
2. Cultural creativity.
3. It is more important today because of the ever-changing technology surrounding us.
4. Was the work used for a different purpose than it originally was meant and was the amount of the material used an appropriate amount.
5. Yes, because the teaching is using it to teach the students a concept. The movie is used to show the racial stereotypes, not just for entertainment.
6. Principle four, which is, student use of copyrighted materials for academic and creative work. It relates most strongly to my digital work because it was a hands on learning experience using media literacy, had a certain goal, and was also educational.
7. Yes, there should be just enough to teach the goal.
8. No, because as long as it still pertains to the school related assignment and isn’t taken out of context, it is okay to use in an educational setting.
9. It depends on the situation. If the school system’s rules are letting the teacher get everything accomplished that they need to for proper learning then they don’t need to worry about it.
10. I was surprised with the myth that talked about making money. I always assumed that as long as you weren’t profiting from it it was okay as well.
Yes, my digital story that I made for class does fall under the fair use guidelines. The pieces of media that I used were all used for a specific purpose, they all were given credit, they weren't used in an excessive amount, and they were used in an educational assignment by a student.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Double Blog Entry #4
QUOTE:
RESPONSE:
“As with any art form, digital storytelling continues to
evolve to accommodate new technologies, purposes, and creative visions. The
important question for educators to ask is, “What does digital storytelling
offer education?” (Ohler, 2005)
I had never really thought about this before, but it proves
a very good point. Students start out drawing or telling stories and then
eventually they write down their own, more complex stories. With technology
evolving the way it has, it makes sense for their stories to be told digitally
and incorporate writing, art, and music. I also chose this quote because I
think digital storytelling is a great way to integrate technology into creative
writing. With that said, I don’t think there should be too many digital
storytelling assignments. They can be so time consuming and lengthy I think
that they should just be given sparingly.
I chose this photo because I thought it was a good representation of all of the skills that can help make a digital story more efficient.
SOURCES:
Ohler, J. (2005, December). The digital world of storytelling. Educational Leadership, 44-47. Retrieved from http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf
Tolisano, S. (Artist). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://4everlearner.pbworks.com/f/digital-storytelling-skills-not-tools.pdf
Friday, February 3, 2012
Classroom Examples - Elementary
Projecting Success
This activity involved the use of technology in a rural town where the students had no interest in learning. The teacher used digital cameras to encourage the students to learn how to use technology and also used her own success as a writer as motivation for them to want to write. She had them do a project where they took pictures of themselves as famous authors and then had them create slide presentations with facts about their lives. Not only was this motivational to the children, but also to the parents.
The strategy being employed is reinforcing effort. It works because the children learn to feel confident about the work that they're doing when they can see their achievements, they begin to enjoy what they're doing, they use enjoyable tools such as technology, and they enjoyed receiving praise from their teachers, classmates, and parents.
This activity involved the use of technology in a rural town where the students had no interest in learning. The teacher used digital cameras to encourage the students to learn how to use technology and also used her own success as a writer as motivation for them to want to write. She had them do a project where they took pictures of themselves as famous authors and then had them create slide presentations with facts about their lives. Not only was this motivational to the children, but also to the parents.
The strategy being employed is reinforcing effort. It works because the children learn to feel confident about the work that they're doing when they can see their achievements, they begin to enjoy what they're doing, they use enjoyable tools such as technology, and they enjoyed receiving praise from their teachers, classmates, and parents.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Double Entry Journal #3
QUOTE:
"Gradually, we have become
less obsessed with correctness and more focused on tolerance and personal
expression. This shift, however admirable, has linguistic consequences. " (Baron, 2009)
RESPONSE:
I chose this quote because it, along with the rest of the
article and the article from the New York Times, made me realize just how many
changes occur to the English language that go unnoticed. When before there
always used to be a lot of emphasis placed on correctness, now it has just
become common to change the way things are written or just look over them if
they're wrong. I completely agree that text messaging is one of the major
factors that has changed the way we speak and write. I also agree that modern
times have caused confusion with when to use apostrophes, when to break up a
word, or when to combine a word.
My opinion is drawn off of the fact that I personally see
people using text-messaging lingo everywhere and I shamefully do it as well. We
use the phrases so much they’re commonplace now.
I chose this graphic because I thought it was humorous and fit in well with the way texting plays a large impact in society.
SOURCES:
Baron, N. (2009, March). Are digital media changing language?. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language¢.aspx
Shea, A. (2010, January 22). The keypad solution. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html
Wheeler, E. (Producer). (2010). Social media is not an excuse for bad writing. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://wheelerblogs.com/tag/pr/page/2/
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Learning Styles and Preferences
Do learning styles exist?
-Yes, but they are more of preferences than styles.
Are they useful for classroom instruction?
-They're not as important as they seem to be because it is more important that the presentation matches the nature of the subject and not a certain learning style. Just because people may have ways that they prefer to learn doesn't mean that they can't learn in other ways.
What is the best philosophy for using learning styles?
-David Merrill came up with the best philosophy for learning styles by saying that the instruction should most importantly be determined by the content and then after that be adjusted to help enhance learning styles/preferences.
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