Reel Works in School & 7 Things you should know about Digital Storytelling

Explain some of the benefits of youth filmmaking for learning in and out of school. 

I want to begin by saying that any tool or tools that has to do with technology is a great game changer for the the classroom and learning. I think that student can do so much more with film making and Digital storytelling

Benefits of using digital media in the classroom or in school are:

as explained in 7 Things you should know about Digital Storytelling 

1. The use of video

2. Images

3. Video 

4. Prezi links

5. Social media add on's

 These are all tools that can be used to narrate stories and give persuasion to what ever message students are trying to convey With their project much like what we saw in Reel Works in Schools. 

Benefits of using digital media out of school are:

1. Students can interview community people 

2. Target issues that deal with real life outside of school issues like what we saw in the video ACES The Lie Called Freedom what a powerful video. 

3. Opportunity to expand and create outside the box and parameters of school. 

EDUC 6810 Wk. 1 Reading and Comments

Bullshit and the Art of Crap Detection by Neil Postman

Wow! When I first read Bullshit and the Art of Crap Detection by Neil Postman 

I thought this guy is on a major rant. However the more I read the more it revealed that this guy has some great substance. What is the message that educators want students to walk away with? How do educators take at face value what students say especially with such a vocal young society, which can express so much in so many different ways? Student need to better understand how to express themselves with the use of digital media and social media. They can’t just post or show in appropriate language or as the call it

“Physical Art”.

   

Which brings me to what (Postman, 1969) said in his article about “Each person’s crap detector is embedded in their value system; if you want to teach the art of crap detecting, you must help students become aware of their values”. I totally agree with this statement, I believe that this statement changes everything because of its meaning, he basically said you get what you give. If you want students to give you great quality work free from bullshit then make them see what they are worth show them their value. Students should be taught how to recognize bullshit, including their own. Don’t be surprised if they call you out on your own bullshit be honest they will respect you for it. They may not like it but they will know you are not feeding them a line of crap.

Today in 2014 Neil Postman would probably say that Teachers must become masters in Pomposity, Fanaticism, Inanity and how to identify a classroom’s culture of Superstition. It's the only way to identify and prevent it from bringing the horror of bullshit to your classrooms.

Postman, N. (2007, July 22). Neil Postman – Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection. Retrieved August 23, 2014, from http://criticalsnips.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/neil-postman-bullshit-and-the-art-of-crap-detection

Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y

This video was really good I especially liked the way Cameron shared her opinion on how people mis the real message because they don’t take the time to really look, listen, and do little researching. Don’t believe what you see in the media the majority of the time it’s not true. Often times we hear students say well if it’s on the internet it’s true. If I had a 100.00 bill for every time I heard that well let’s just say I could purchase a plane ticket to Florida.

We are a culture of image and we want to look like the parts we play. If people in in our group don’t look the same or share the same image as our society or community then what do we do? We generally stereo type people immediately.

Cameron showed pictures of her being a simple kid who had went to sleep over’s and played soccer who new! If she did not mention it in this video I would have never known that about her. Cameron is just like my daughter or some of the girls on my youth team. To see Cameron’s picture or her twitter page is to see this image of super model with a fancy career. After watching the video I looked at Cameron’s twitter page it was much like her video, Images of her at work and images of her just being Cameron. She is even on twitter taking the ice bucket challenge.

One of the things I was very impressed by was her comment about paying her way through college.

Russell, C. (2013, January 16). Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from http://youtu.be/KM4Xe6Dlp0Y

Toward Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts, Debates, Organizations, and Policy

Critical literacy is the ability to actively read text in a manner that promotes a deeper understanding of socially constructed concepts and helps you to create your own meaning or message. It encourages individuals to understand and question the attitudes, values, and beliefs of written texts, visual applications, and spoken words. (Kellner & Share, 2005)

With Critical Media Literacy students and teachers learn to use media intelligently, they also learn to discriminate and evaluate media content. What you see is not always true. Studying the influence of mass media in our lives allows students to view advertising and advertisement in a new light. Students become aware of the tremendous amount of advertising that they are exposed to on a daily basis. By looking at advertising critically, students begin to understand how the media oppresses certain groups, cultures, and messages. The messages are constructed using creative language that is distinguish between connotation and denotation and signifier and signified (Fiske, 1990).

What all three have in common (Postman's speech, Russell's video, Kellner and Share’s journal article) is that the media will always have one type of interpretation and we will have another. Critical Media Literacy requires information, education, and awareness in order to be able to distinguish the differences in other words don’t fall for the bullshit.

          

Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2005). Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education. Toward Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts, Debates, Organizations, and Policy, 26(3), 369-386.

Let Me Introduce Myself

My name is Walesca Marrero I am a Puerto Rican who relocated to Grafton WV from Invereness Florida with my husband Paul and Children Nic, Matt and Victoria.  I grew up in Paterson New Jersey where I still have some family the majority are all in the Sunshine State. 

I am currently the Executive Director of the Taylor County Collaborative Family Resource Network a non-profit that works under a contract through the WV Dept. Health and Human Reources other wise know as WV DHHR. My job is to assess the needs of children and families then bring in community provider and non providers to develop ways to meet those needs. I also am responsible for finding the funding for any projects we do that requires grant writng & research.

What I hope to learn and accomplish in this class is to get a better understanding on how to use media literacy and digital tools. This will help me to develope new ways of conveying stories about my community, our young people, and provide a new resource for grant funders. 

I am also looking forward to expanding into my local schools and helping teachers and students on how to use digtial media for storytelling and apply it to social networking. I am hoping that this will empower students to use critical thinking to create new projects that will enhace skills needed in 21st Century learning.

Walesca

Teach with a vision

1. Why is teaching media literacy important? You have to know the language first, and know how to use it correctly. There is so much media junk online now that we must be able to sort out the garbage in order to promote the good stuff. Connecting the right messages in order to interpret the stories and be able to teach their meaning at different levels or ages.

2. What do you want to learn about teaching media literacy? I want to learn everything I can so that I am confident when teaching, presenting or just developing digital stories.

3.What concerns do you have about teach media literacy? My concern is knowing when is inappropriate to use images from different websites to convey a messages especially images from google or other websites. Another concern is the use of logos, how should you go about creating your own logo not one that you download or belongs to a site.

4. When are assignments do in this course?  All assignments are due by midnight Sunday and most buy the following Sunday unless assignments requires feedback from peers or instructor.

5. What are the rules for late assignments? I must contact you within 24 hours of missing a due date for an assignment. If I don't contact you I will not receive points for my assignments.

6. What is the best way to contact me? Best way to contact you is by  Gmail, video chat or cell phone.

7. Should you work ahead? I should check with you first before working ahead.

my Animoto

Living Life