Reading and Discussion #12

My top 5 motivations for digital and media literacy education are:

1.  to strengthen students' ability to resist negative messages preset in mass media, digital media, and popular culture about violence, materialism, stereotypes, and sexuality

2.  to build students' ability to be active, thoughtful "readers" or interpreters of the media messages in their cultural environment

3.  to modernize curriculum and make it more relevant to students

4.  to help students use their own voices for advocacy and social change

5.  to improve students' writing and communication skills by enabling them to use a wide range of message forms, symbol systems, and technologies



I read the chapter and selected three quotes that interested me/caught my attention:

"A passionate teacher, armed with a good idea, can be tremendously inspiring to other colleagues (p. 168). 

     This quote caught my eye in two different ways.  First, I chose is because I liked and agreed with it.  However, after I thought about it for a little while I realized the exact opposite can also happen.  I will draw from my own media experience to  create the point.  I have always been a fan of the move "Freedom Writers".  This media experience may not be completely accurate, since the movie is clearly dramatized to add more emotional effect. The point is that in this movie, the teacher has a good idea and plenty of enthusiasm.  When she approaches her colleagues and principle about her idea, they scoff at her and even try to stop her from helping her students learn more through media literacy.  Maybe this is not representative of schools as a whole, but it is easy to imagine why an enthusiastic teacher with a good idea can be viewed as the enemy just as often as the leader or source of inspiration.  Many people will see someone like this and think that these "good ideas" just mean more work for them.  It's important to find allies to your cause before introducing an idea that requires effort and change on the part of people who may be happy with their complacency.

"When it comes to cell phones, educators in some schools are discovering that policies based on respect and courtesy have a bigger impact than those based on control on prohibition (p. 179)

   This quote made me want to say "WELL DUH"!  But I realize it's not that obvious to everyone that allowing students the autonomy to make their own decisions based on doing the right this is usually the best way to get positive results.  I have seen both sides of the coin.  When I worked with troubled youth in placement, the policy was control and prohibition.  Students were court ordered to the program, so they were there for bad decisions they made.  They were not allowed to have cell phones, electronics, or internet access.  Their access to television and media was almost completely cut off.  These students took matters into their own hands quite often - sneaking in cell phones, finding ways around the school network firewall, or simply running away in order to have contact with loved ones.  Fast forward to the position I hold now with Upward Bound, and it could not be more opposite.  When students come to campus for Saturday sessions or the summer program, they are allowed to have cell phones, iPods, tablets, etc.  They are simply asked to be respectful and courteous, and they are given guidelines to follow.  I've had much less trouble with this group of students.  I rarely see them using their cell phones inappropriately, and when I do it becomes an important teachable moment.

"Media texts and technology tools provide all of us, young and old, with resources for a lifetime of learning and entertainment - and they both represent and shape our culture's values and priorities, offering us a daily array of tensions and taboos (p. 186)"

This quote was at the very end of the book.  It did not surprise me.  Rather, I felt this was a great way to round of the discussion part of this course.  This quote sums up the important of media and technology in our daily lives.  Media becomes more and more important to the shaping and sustaining of our cultural views and beliefs.  Media can both help and hinder a cause depending on the source.  It is so very important that our students are taught to differentiate the messages sent by the media and read everything with a skeptical eye before making informed decisions.  Media is only going to become more and more ingrained in our daily lives as technology progresses.