CAC Fieldwork

     When me and my partner arrived at the CAC, we had to teach a lesson to five students. We had to explain how to use an iPad and how to use the iStopMotion program. The children caught on fast and couldn't wait to get started on their own iStopMotion movie. The children had to choose a place where they wanted to be stuck, and had to find a way out. They had to draw multiple scenes and take a lot of pictures for their movie. The children really enjoyed making their own video production. I think what worked well was having the students take turns drawing and taking pictures, it gave them all a chance to use the iPad. I also think that using the white board was a good idea, it allowed the students to create their own background and characters for each scene. I enjoyed going to the CAC and I would like to go back again.

Networking

 

      Students today are learning how to network throughout online communities and websites. Networking, "is the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information," (49). Some examples of networking websites are, Amazon.com, Google.com, Ebay.com, Delicious, and Getoutfoxed.com. These websites, provide reviews about products, suggest products that you might like, give you links to websites that might interest you, and give feedback about sellers.

 

            Students must be able to filter out which websites are credible and what information isn't. They also have to be able to take the information they are receiving and put it into their own words. Guinee and Eagleton (2006) have been researching how students take notes in the digital environment , "discovering, to their dismay, that young people tend to copy large blocks of text rather than paraphrasing it for future reference," (51).

 

            The problem with online communities is that they are open to people from all different cultures and backgrounds and not everyone respects or under stands other people's cultures and customs. "Culture travels easily, but the individuals who initially produced and consumed such culture are not always welcome everywhere it circulates," (52). We need to help students understand other people's cultures and respect their beliefs. There are schools that have already made the effort to get students to understand other cultures by having them communicate with students from other cultures, getting to know them and understanding the differences between them.

 

            I think that networking is a great way to gain information about anything. The only problem with networking websites is that you have to be able to distinguish between what is true and what is false. If you are buying a new product you should look at reviews on multiple websites so that you can see more than one opinion. If your getting information for school you should compare different articles so that you can filter out the one's that don't belong and are not truthful. I think that online communities are a great way to bring people together from all over the world, but we need to respect each other beliefs and try to understand each others cultures. If someone does not understand why someone acts a certain way, they should take the time to research that particular culture so that they will have a better understanding.

Collective Intelligence, Judgment, Transmedia Navigation

http://prezi.com/etuxl8k1z0wa/edit/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=email#73

Appropriation

            Students today are becoming more involved in appropriation, multi-tasking, and distributed cognition. Students are taking ideas from other artists and building upon their ideas and making it their own.  Students appropriate across all forms of media, including, books, videos, music, and images.The Lenhardt & Madden Pew study of 2005, found that "Almost one-quarter of American teens had sampled and remixed existing media content," (32).

           

            Students are multi-tasking more than they were years ago. Multi-tasking involves shifting attention to multiple things at once instead of focusing on one task at a time. Students are not concentrating on one task at a time, instead they are constantly shifting their attention. "The attention span of  teens at PARC is often between 30 seconds and five minutes parallels that of top managers, who operate in a world of fast context-switching. So the short attention span of today's youth may turn out to be far from dysfunctional for future work worlds," (35). Multi-tasking can be a good skill to have, but not everyone can multi-task effectively.

           

There are many tools and technologies that can help us become more intelligent, we just need to learn how to use them. Distributed Cognition is "the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand our mental capacities," (37). Distributed cognition can help us solve everyday problems and is used by students, teachers and gamers. Students need to learn how to use tools and information technologies that are available, and also learn which tools to use in different situations. In the Comparative Media Studies Program "students experimented with the use of handhelds to allow tourists to access old photographs of historic neighborhoods and compare them with what they are seeing on location," (Jenkins 2004).

 

            I think that appropriation, multi-tasking, and distributed cognition are all great learning tools. When students are appropriating they are taking ideas from other people and making it their own. Appropriating or sampling teaches students to create something based off of another person's idea without copying it word for word. I think appropriating is a useful skill when students are doing homework, because they learn how to put things into their own words.

           

            I think that multi-tasking is a good skill to have, but shouldn't be used all of the time. There are many things that require your full attention and that you have to take the time to complete. Adults and students need to learn how to stay focused on one task at a time in certain situations. When you are driving your focus and full attention needs to be on the road and you should not be texting or talking on the phone.

 

            Distributed cognition is something that we should spend more time with. We need to take the time to learn about the tools and technologies that can help expand our intelligence. If we learn how to use these tools, it will make our lives a lot easier.

Participatory Culture

            In the U.S. teens are involved in what is called participatory culture. "A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing ones creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices," (Lendhardt & Madden, 2005). The article, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century by Henry Jenkins, Katie Clinton, Ravi, Prushotma, Alice J. Robinson, and Margaret Wiegel, addresses the issues of participatory culture and media education in the United States.

 

            Teens are creating their own websites, blogs, pod casts, and videos and sharing them on the internet. Some teens have even started their own companies using the internet. Blake Ross was a 14 year old boy who helped create his own web browser named Fire fox, with the help of other adults and youth. The problem with media technology is that not everyone has equal access to the internet. Children who have their own computer in the home, are at an advantage. Children who have their own computer perform better in school when using computers and have acquired more skill than children who have to rely on libraries and do not have internet access. The children without the computers struggle and have a hard time keeping up with the lessons on the computer in the classroom. Wartella, Okeefe, states that, "Children who have access to home computers demonstrate more positive attitudes towards computers, show more enthusiasm and report more enthusiasm and ease when using computers than those who do not, (Okeefe 8).

           

            The problem with the internet is that most children are not being supervised by adults and do not know what is appropriate to post and share with others and what isn't. Children used to write in school newspapers that were reviewed by adults, what they share on their websites is often not reviewed by anyone and they do not know what they shouldn't be sharing. Children and teens post things that get them negative attention and they don't realize that anyone can see it.

           

            I think that the Internet and media technology can be a great learning tool for students and opportunity to acquire skills that they will need for a job. I think that everyone should have free access to the internet. Children who do not have access to the internet struggle with computers and are not comfortable using them. Children who do have computers and game systems at home are at an advantage. I think that children should be able to create and share things over the internet, but should be supervised by an adult and learn about internet safety. Computers can help students acquire the same amount of knowledge as a text book. We should think of the computer more as a learning tool than just a distraction for students. I don't' think that teachers shouldn't be afraid of  media education and that it could really benefit them while teaching.

Core Media Literacy Skills

     Play is a very important part in a child's development. "Play as Psychologists and anthropologists have long recognized, is key in shaping children's relationship to their bodies, tools, communities, surroundings, and knowledge, most of children's earliest learning comes through playing with materials at hand," (22). When children play games they are engaged in what they are doing and have to acquire skills and knowledge to be able to move on to the next level and complete the game. Children are having fun while playing, but they are also learning and problem solving, which helps them in the real world. Stimulations are also a way for children to learn and understand what they are doing. Other forms of play are performance and role play. Performance can be a great tool for learning because children have to act out what they have learned and have fun doing it. It is easier for some children to show what they have learned through performing than writing about it. Role play can help children learn about a specific culture or person. When a child dresses up as a person from another era they are not just playing, but learning about the style of clothing that was worn during that time and about the culture.

 

      I think that play is important for children and it can help them in their everyday lives. Playing isn't just for fun, it is a way for children learn and show what they have learned. I think that games, performance, role playing and stimulations should be used more in the classroom. I think that children would better understand a topic if it was in the form of a game because it is something that they are familiar with and comfortable doing. If children are having fun and playing while they are learning they will be more willing to try and not focused on being graded and the consequences of getting a question wrong.