I recently completed my Media Specialist AQ course, and I can not say enough great things about the course and my teachers throughout the three parts. I was lucky enough to learn from the best (thank you Neil Andersen, Barry Duncan, Ian Esquivel and Sylvie Webb) and I hope that my efforts in the classroom and online live up to the standards they set. I often find myself thinking about what they have taught me outside of the classroom. They changed the way I see the world, and the most obvious way is that I can't seem to help reading the street.
"Reading the street was one of the most interesting activities I did in all three parts of the course. We would take a Saturday and travel to a specific part of the city and then do an extended walk. We were asked to take pictures or record audio or video (usually in groups). We had to create a media text and really think critically about what we saw, essentially making the familiar strange. On the left are a couple of the images I captured on that walk.
I had a "teacher dream" last night. For those of you who are teachers, I'm sure you know what I mean. For those who are not, every teacher I have ever met has a version of this kind of dream. They basically dream about being back in school. The profession is such that many really don't stop thinking about it, even when they're asleep. Last night's dream was different. I was still the teacher, still in front of the classroom, but while many of my "teacher dreams" have been riddled with anxiety (I'm late for class, I have forgotten what I was going to teach etc), this one was a great dream. It was the first day of school and we were introducing ourselves. I went last and we were laughing and sharing. A student asked me a question (my academic history was a bit boring for them), and I didn't know the answer. It wasn't related to our subject, it was about an obscure comic from my old university, so I asked who had their phones with them. The students froze. I think they thought I was going to confiscate them. I smiled and pulled mine out, noting that it's faster to look the information up on my phone than it would be to wait for the ancient computer in the corner to boot up. The students were relieved and one student at the front found the information faster than I could. Class continued and I woke up.
When I go back into my classroom, I will have that freedom. My school board has lifted their ban on cell phones in the school.I'll be able to use the technology that my students already have to engage them, to take
When I first logged on to Twitter in 2008, I thought it might be a fun way to connect with other parents. I never dreamed that I would get as much out of it as I did. A few months ago, I began anew with Twitter, this time in a professional capacity. Once more, I was amazed at the connections and resources that I have made and discovered with this useful service. I began participating in #Edchat. If you haven't yet heard about it, and you are involved in education, check it out. It is an overwhelmingly large conversation about education. Each week, a poll determines the topic to be discussed, voted on by participants. The sheer volume of tweets every Tuesday from 12-1pm EST and 7-8pm EST is mind-boggling. More than that, I find it inspiring to see a new venue for passionate discussion of our shared profession. Twitter has allowed teachers to reach out beyond their departments and schools, to expand their professional networks across the globe.
Thanks to the Media Education Association's twitterfeed, this report came to my attention this morning. Sonia Livingstone and Yinhan Wang of the London School of Economics and Political Science describe the state of Media Literacy in the UK. The report states that while initial efforts to promote Media Literacy and Media Education were successful, the progress of that success has stalled and in some cases,dropped off. It highlights areas of particular concern to Media Educators:
Fewer children check the reliability of websites than adults. (6)
Children are taught about the internet, but their learning about television lags, even though it is still an important source of information. (8)
"Children should be made to feel confident in their skills and abilities to create." (8)
I recently completed my Media Specialist AQ course, and I can not say enough great things about the course and my teachers throughout the three parts. I was lucky enough to learn from the best (thank you Neil Andersen, Barry Duncan, Ian Esquivel and Sylvie Webb) and I hope that my efforts in the classroom and online live up to the standards they set. I often find myself thinking about what they have taught me outside of the classroom. They changed the way I see the world, and the most obvious way is that I can't seem to help reading the street.
I never dreamed that I would get as much out of it as I did. A few months ago, I began anew with Twitter, this time in a professional capacity. Once more, I was amazed at the connections and resources that I have made and discovered with this useful service. I began participating in .jpg)
Thanks to the