digitalwriting

Media literacy standards to add to the Common Core Standards

 For those of you who are interested in responding to lack of media/digital literacies in the draft Common Core Standards, here’s some examples of the kinds of standards that could be included in any revision of the standards.  While these aren’t perfect or cutting-edge, they represent the kinds of standards that are already in many state standards that would be ignored or removed if states (except for Texas (see their media standards below) and Alaska) adopt the Common Core Standards in lieu of their own standards:

The American Diploma Project Viewing standards:
G1. Evaluate the aural, visual and written images and other special effects used in television, radio, film and the Internet for their ability to inform, persuade and entertain (for example, anecdote, expert witness, vivid detail, tearful testimony and humor).
G2. Examine the intersections and conflicts between the visual (such as media images, painting, film and graphic arts) and the verbal.
G3. Recognize how visual and sound techniques or design (such as special effects, camera angles and music) carry or influence messages in various media.
G4. Apply and adapt the principles of written composition to create coherent media productions using effective images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects — if possible — and present a distinctive point of view on a topic (for example, PowerPoint presentations, videos).

The ADP Standards for Producing Digital Media provide useful, highly specific
benchmarks for production of digital media related to development/focus on topics, coherence of production related to purpose/audience defined in their writing standards, and technical facility, all of which depends on the ability to critically analyze media.
C.3.1 Topics, Development and Focus
GRADES 9 – 10
      C.3.1.1.9-10 Present clearly identifiable messages (identifying and controlling both the explicit and implicit messages) using somewhat complex visual, audio, and graphic effects and interactive features. For example, students may design a Web site that presents visual and graphic effects on an assigned aspect of a literary work studied. (ADP G4)
      C.3.1.2.9-12.a Demonstrate consistent and effective audience focus through purposeful choice of medium; compelling images, words and sounds; and focused supporting ideas. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
      C.3.1.2.9-12.b Demonstrate awareness of the transactional nature of digital media (Internet) and mass media productions (film, TV) by considering audience in all stages of media production development, delivery and revision. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
GRADES 11 – 12
      C.3.1.1.11-12 Maintain a consistent focus on and control over explicit and implicit messages, skillfully using sophisticated media tools and elements (including visual, audio and graphic effects) and interactive features. For example, students may create an interactive Web site that incorporates audio and/or video on a chosen aspect of a literary work studied. (ADP G4)
      C.3.1.2.9-12.a Demonstrate consistent and effective audience focus through purposeful choice of medium; compelling images, words and sounds; and focused supporting ideas. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
      C.3.1.2.9-12.b Demonstrate awareness of the transactional nature of digital media (Internet) and mass media productions (film, TV) by considering audience in all stages of media production development, delivery and revision. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
C.3.2 Coherence and Cohesion
Effective organization is crucial to the success of various media productions – including video presentations, audio productions, Web sites, magazine and newspaper articles, and print advertisements. The organizational structures of each vary according to the purpose, intended audience and context. For a general idea regarding organization, please see the Writing strand, specifically C.1.2 Coherence and Cohesion.
C.3.3 Technical Facility and Control
GRADES 4 – 8
C.3.3.1.4-8 Use visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects that relate to and support clear, explicit messages. For example, "America the Beautiful" may serve as background music to a media tour of a national park or a short slide show that informs the audience of ways to avoid heat stroke may use "You Are My Sunshine" as background music. (ADP G4)
GRADES 9 – 10
C.3.3.1.9-10 Use varied visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects appropriately to support explicit and implicit messages. For example, students may use images that include a mix of opposites to make an impact, such as pictures or video of street people and wealthy people, or of drought-ridden scenes with lush green hills. (ADP G4)

GRADES 11 – 12
C.3.3.1.11-12 Effectively and purposefully employ conventional and unconventional visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects (e.g., layout, pictures, typefaces in print media; camera shots, lighting, editing, dialogue, setting and sound in video productions; sound, dialogue and programming format in audio productions; layout, navigation, and dynamic and interactive features in on-line productions) to convey explicit and implicit messages and achieve the purposes in complex media presentations. For example, a video presentation on career choices may include excerpts that range from job interviews to on-the-job scenes to explanations of the kinds of preparation needed for various careers. (ADP G4)


The “21st Century Skills” project posits that the following standards:
Create Media Products
   * Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions
    * Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
ICT (Information, Communications & Technology) Literacy
Apply Technology Effectively
   * Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate
information
    * Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs, media players, GPS, etc.), communication/networking tools and social networks appropriately to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economy
 
Wisconsin’s Standard E (Media and Technology).  And, one strong aspect of Wisconsin’s media literacy standards is that they emphasize both the critical analysis and production of media/technology, as well as the importance of focusing on multimodal and interactive aspects of communication.
Content Standard: Students in Wisconsin will use media and technology critically and creatively to obtain, organize, prepare and share information; to influence and persuade; and to entertain and be entertained.
By the end of grade eight, students will:
E.8.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
   * Demonstrate efficient word-processing skills
    * Construct and use simple databases
    * Use manuals and on-screen help in connection with computer applications
    * Perform basic computer operations on various platforms
    * Collect information from various on-line sources, such as web pages, news groups, and listservs
E.8.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.
   * Recognize common structural features found in print and broadcast advertising
    * Identify and explain the use of stereotypes and biases evident in various media
    * Compare the effect of particular symbols and images seen in various media
    * Develop criteria for selecting or avoiding specific broadcast programs and periodicals
E.8.3 Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.
   * Write informational articles that target audiences of a variety of publications
    * Use desktop publishing to produce products such as brochures and newsletters designed for particular organizations and audiences
    * Create video and audiotapes designed for particular audiences
E.8.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution.
   * Plan a promotion or campaign that involves broadcast and print media production and distribution
    * Analyze how messages may be affected by financial factors such as sponsorship
    * Identify advertising strategies and techniques aimed at teenagers
E.8.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose.
   * Revise media productions by adding, deleting, and adjusting the sequence and arrangement of information, images, or other content as necessary to improve focus, clarity, or effect
    * Develop criteria for comprehensive feedback on the quality of media work and use it during production
By the end of grade twelve, students will:
E.12.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
   * Design, format, and produce attractive word-processed documents for various purposes
    * Incorporate information from databases and spreadsheets into reports
    * Integrate graphics appropriately into reports, newsletters, and other documents
    * Retrieve and reproduce documents across various platforms
    * Use on-line sources to exchange information
E.12.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.
   * Develop and apply evaluative criteria of accuracy and point of view to broadcast news programs
    * Recognize and explain the impact of various media on daily life
    * Analyze the content and effect of subtle persuasive techniques used on-line and in broadcast and print media
    * Develop and apply criteria for evaluating broadcast programming
E.12.3 Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.
   * Create multimedia presentations in connection with major projects, such as research reports or exhibitions
    * Develop various media products to inform or entertain others in school or the community such as slide shows, videos, newspapers, sound recordings, literary publications, and brochures
E.12.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution.
   * Analyze the effect of media production techniques, such as music, camera angles, fade-outs, and lighting, on different audiences
    * Evaluate the impact of various market factors on the effectiveness of media production and distribution
    * Identify the impact of image and context on particular audiences receiving the same message
    * Develop and apply criteria for evaluating advertising campaigns for a variety of products, past and present
E.12.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose.
   * Develop and present criteria for evaluating a variety of media products
    * Evaluate audience feedback on the clarity, form, effectiveness, technical achievement and aesthetic appeal of media work

Minnesota Educational Media Organization’s (MEMO) standards.  In 2004, The Minnesota Educational Media Organization’s (MEMO) formulated a set of standards for “information and technology literacy” that included a set of media literacy standards that includes both critical analysis of and production of media:
Standard: The student will critically evaluate films, recordings, and other multimedia formats.
The student will:
• Understand how meaning is conveyed in images and sound.
• Understand the effect of media on perception and culture.
• Evaluate television, radio, film productions, newspapers, and magazines with
regard to quality of production, accuracy of information, bias, purpose, message
and audience.
• Analyze the messages and points of view employed in different media, including
advertising, news programs, web sites and documentaries.
Standard: The student will create video and multimedia productions.
Students will:
• Create multimedia presentations for an audience, demonstrating an understanding of visual design.
• Create video presentations for an audience, demonstrating an understanding of the language of images and sound.
Examples:
• Text design (for example, serif and sans serif fonts)
• Image (visual) design (color, line, texture, shape, etc.)
• Grammar of video (sequencing, camera angles and movement, scene composition, effects of lighting and sound, and sound quality.

           The Texas Media Literacy standards also include useful critical analysis standards:
- identify different forms of media (e.g., advertisements, newspapers, radio programs); and
identify techniques used in media (e.g., sound, movement).
- understand how communication changes when moving from one genre of media to another;
- explain how various design techniques used in media influence the message (e.g., shape, color, sound); and compare various written conventions used for digital media (e.g., language in an informal e-mail vs. language in a web-based news article).
- explain the positive and negative impacts of advertisement techniques used in various genres of media to impact consumer behavior; explain how various design techniques used in media influence the message (e.g., pacing, close-ups, sound effects); and compare various written conventions used for digital media (e.g. language in an informal e-mail vs. language in a web-based news article).
- explain how messages conveyed in various forms of media are presented differently (e.g., documentaries, online information, televised news).
- consider the difference in techniques used in media (e.g., commercials, documentaries, news)
- identify the point of view of media presentations; and analyze various digital media venues for levels of formality and informality.
- interpret both explicit and implicit messages in various forms of media; interpret how visual and sound techniques (e.g., special effects, camera angles, lighting, music) influence the message; evaluate the role of media in focusing attention on events and informing opinion on issues; interpret how visual and sound techniques (e.g., special effects, camera angles, lighting, music) influence the message; evaluate various techniques used to create a point of view in media and the impact on audience; and assess the correct level of formality and tone for successful participation in various digital media.

The following is a response to the lack of attention to media/digital literacies in the English Common Core Standards:

Whereas in 1996, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) passed a resolution urging language arts teachers to consider the importance of bringing visual texts into the classroom. The resolution said: "Viewing and visually representing (defined in the NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts) are a part of our growing consciousness of how people gather and share information. Teachers and students need to expand their appreciation of the power of print and nonprint texts. Teachers should guide students in constructing meaning through creating and viewing nonprint texts."

Whereas in 2000, the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) defined
media literacy as: (empowering) “people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages. As communication technologies transform society, they impact our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our diverse cultures, making media literacy an essential life skill for the 21st century.”

Whereas the 2009 K-12 Horizon Report (http://www.nmc.org/horizon), declared the number one critical challenge for schools in the 21st century is: "a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy."

Whereas the 2010 K-12 Horizon Report continues to include this critical challenge when it says:
“Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.;

Whereas media/digital literacy has become central to life and work in society;

Whereas, today’s educators recognize that the words “text” and “literacy” are not confined to the words on page;

Whereas the Common Core Standards only refer in general terms to media as “nonprint texts in media forms old and new. The need to research and to consume and produce media is embedded into every element of today’s curriculum;”

Whereas media/digital literacy are now well articulated in much more detail in most state standards, often under the category of “viewing” or “visually representing,” resulting in a strong media literacy curriculum focus;

Whereas if media/digital literacy is not explicitly articulated “in the standards,” many teachers many not focus on media/digital instruction;

We, the undersigned urge that more specific media/digital literacy standards related to critical analysis of media/digital consumption/use, production, representations, social/cultural analysis, ownership, and influence on society be explicitly stated in the Common Core Standards.

video of Big Sur visit

Watch PBS online? You can if you visit its new video portal - Los Angeles Times

Watch PBS online? You can if you visit its new video portal - Los Angeles Times.

Watch PBS online? You can if you visit its new video portal In allowing viewers to stream an array of its best-known shows, PBS is joining on-demand video sites like Hulu.com and YouTube -- places for younger consumers who aren't wedded to watching TV on a TV. By David Sarno April 22, 2009

The Public Broadcasting Service turns 40 this year, and on Tuesday it gave itself a gift that just might make it feel young again. PBS' new video portal allows online viewers to stream an array of its best-known shows over the Web. The new site gathers more than 130 episodes of nearly 20 programs, including marquee fare such as "Frontline," "Nova" and "Masterpiece Theater." PBS says thousands of hours of programming should be available to users by the summer.

In giving its shows away online, PBS is joining on-demand video sites such as Hulu.com and YouTube -- places for younger consumers who aren't wedded to watching TV on a television. Those two sites, both commercial, have been touting themselves as advertiser-friendly viewing destinations where video surfers can go to browse among a variety of familiar titles.

But on these sites, familiar can mean that you saw it decades earlier. Major media companies are still wary of posting their best material online, leaving YouTube and Hulu thin on the most popular shows but overgrown with cultural castoffs such as "The Lone Ranger," "Alf" and "Coolio's Rules." PBS' initial selection of about 20 programs is small compared with the pulpy catalogs maintained by the other sites, but full-length episodes of nearly every show in PBS' prime-time lineup have been put online.

In addition to acting as a clearinghouse for PBS content, the portal will function as the hub of a nationwide network of online affiliates, all of which can share programming through a single Web infrastructure, whose cost PBS would specify only as "in the seven figures." "I think this is really good of PBS," said Jackie Kain, senior vice president of new media at Los Angeles' KCET public television station. "We're all trying to create a local identity as it relates to a national identity," she said, referring to the way each station will create a unique mixture of original and borrowed content. "We're all part of a system."

Future Tense: Engaging kids with social media

Future Tense: Engaging kids with social media.

Engaging kids with social media MP3 - iTunes Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School teacher Delainia Haug has tapped the power of digital media to create a learning community -- called DigME -- in her school. Using a variety of digital media, students are studying and producing content across four separate subjects.

I know the idea of a digital carrot-and-stick to motivate students is not necessarily new. But what Cynthia Lewis at the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development notes is that many students in this generation -- who we think are entirely comfortable with digital media -- often have few skills that they'll need, especially in college. In fact, this program seems to be showing the students that they can go to college.

 It's unclear what the impact of a digital media program is on increased student achievement; this is the first year of the program and there were no plans -- this year -- to study the effect on progress. But Lewis keeps an eye on what the kids are up to and if the fact they're updating their wiki pages late into the evening is any indication, motivation will translate into success.

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy : March 2009

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy : March 2009.

Commentary Learning Argument Practices Through Online Role-Play: Toward a Rhetoric of Significance and Transformation Richard Beach Candance Doerr-Stevens

  One important literacy practice is the ability to formulate effective arguments to convince others of the validity of one's position. In this commentary, we discuss the literacy practices involved in formulating arguments as well as the challenges involved in helping students acquire these practices. In contrast to more traditional approaches to teaching argument, we propose that students can learn these practices through participation in online role-play activities.

We also argue that students will be more motivated to engage in online role-play if they are debating an issue or problem that affects their everyday lives and that will lead to change, an approach driven by what we describe as a rhetoric of significance and transformation.

We believe that it is important that students learn how to engage in these collaborative arguments with others to address and solve problems in their everyday lives. In this commentary, we propose some activities designed to foster use of collaborative arguments in the classroom through the use of online role-play.

Learning to Engage in Written Arguments

Students typically engage in arguments in schools through writing persuasive essays in which they voice opinions on an issue, but they generally provide little support for those opinions (Felton & Herko, 2004). These formalized approaches to teaching arguments are often divorced from students' uses of arguing in everyday conversations in which they are more likely to employ counter-claims, rebuttals, and qualifications than in formal persuasive essays (Felton & Herko, 2004). Their persuasive essay tasks also occur in a rhetorical vacuum. One possible explanation for students' poor performance on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) persuasive writing assessments (Greenwald, Persky, Campbell, & Mazzeo, 1999) has to do with the authenticity of test-taking rhetorical context in which students are writing for no authentic purpose and audience, a limitation that the new NAEP composition assessments are addressing. When students have a specific purpose and audience for their written arguments, they are more likely to consider counter-arguments and rebuttals (Midgette, Haria, & MacArthur, 2008). Moreover, in writing persuasive essays, students may have little ownership of or conviction about the position they are adopting, resulting in writing as no more than an exercise in “knowledge telling” (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1984).

Instruction in argument is further limited by a focus on adopting a competitive, confrontational stance, particularly in oral debates in which the goal is to win over audiences and defeat opponents. This competitive approach differs from a more collaborative perspective in which people collectively posit, test out, and revise alternative positions within a larger context of engaging in community rhetorical action leading to change (Flower, 2008).

 Students' notions of argument are also shaped by their experience with portrayals of argument in the media designed to influence audience beliefs. Unfortunately, students often find that the media appeals to the beliefs of certain niche audiences who gravitate to those outlets reporting news consistent with their beliefs. While U.S. audiences largely acquired their news from the same outlets up until the 1970s—CBS, NBC, ABC, the AP, and major newspapers—since the 1980s, the news has increasingly been channeled and filtered by outlets such as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNN, or the Huffington Post, targeted to certain niche audiences who then adopt the beliefs espoused by these outlets (Manjoo, 2008).

Audiences therefore construct their beliefs about information on issues according to their identification with their particular values groups—“conservative Republicans,” “environmentalists,” “libertarians,” “liberal Democrats,” and the like—associated with and constructed by specific media outlets. An analysis of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the Wall Street Journal characterized these outlets as “echo chambers” in that these outlets restrict access to alternative, competing news sources and negatively portray political opponents (Jamieson & Cappella, 2008).

Click on link for rest of this commentary

Sustainability-Themed Video Games Come to the Classroom | Edutopia

Sustainability-Themed Video Games Come to the Classroom | Edutopia.

Sustainability-Themed Video Games Come to the Classroom Educators hope gaming will animate pressing environmental issues. by Brian Libby

 From global warming to pollution to vanishing wildlife, children face a world profoundly threatened by environmental catastrophe. Luckily, they have video games to help them through -- sustainability games, to be precise. These are a new generation of educational tools designed to help students learn about environmental issues. Ironically, this learning comes courtesy of technologies that many once believed would sap our attention spans and remove us from the very outside world that now needs rescue. PowerUp, part of IBM's TryScience initiative, is perhaps the most sophisticated of these new video games. The game charges players with saving the imaginary planet Helios from ecological destruction by carrying out missions to supply solar, wind, and water power before severe storms wreak havoc. Students learn engineering and science principles by building solar towers or searching junkyards for parts to repair wind turbines.

Top News - Post video to eSN.TV--earn national recognition

Top News - Post video to eSN.TV--earn national recognition.

Post video to eSN.TV--earn national recognition Meris Stansbury,

Thanks to our Student Video Network (SVN) initiative at eSN.TV, your students can earn valuable video-production experience--and a shot at national recognition for their efforts. eSchool News founded the SVN to give students across North America the chance to experience what it's like to be real news anchors and reporters. Now, beginning this month, students can upload their own videos to eSN.TV for consideration.

We've upgraded our web site to allow users to post their own videos to www.eSchoolNews.TV. And we're encouraging students to create and submit video samples that illustrate how they handle breaking news coverage. Simply click on the "Upload Video" tab to get started. If your school's sample video is chosen, you might be invited to become an SVN affiliate. After that, not only will your students get to experience real deadlines and the fast pace of daily news programming, but their work also will be available for viewing by the hundreds of thousands of members of the eSchool News Network. They'll develop samples for their video portfolios--and, of course, they'll have loads of fun learning practical, real-world skills. If you submit a sample video for the SVN, we ask that you choose two or three stories from the "Top News" section of our home page and create a student newscast. This newscast should present a summary of the stories you've chosen, enough for a two- to three-minute video clip. If possible, the stories you choose should have a common theme or topic that ties them together. To view actual examples of SVN productions, go to www.eSchoolNews.TV, and in the category box, select "Student Video Network."

Micropayments: A rainbow for journalism...or a Hail Mary? | Technology | Los Angeles Times

Micropayments: A rainbow for journalism...or a Hail Mary? | Technology | Los Angeles Times.

Micropayments: A rainbow for journalism...or a Hail Mary? 4:44 PM, January 13, 2009

Here’s a funny question: Did you pay to read this? It’s funny because it has two obvious and opposite answers. If you’re at your kitchen table holding The Times’ Calendar section, then of course you paid. Everyone knows a copy of the daily costs 75 cents. On the other hand, if you’re reading this on your home computer or office workstation, then of course you didn’t pay. Everyone knows reading news online is free. It’s so rigidly free, in fact, that most newspapers (including this one) that have tried to charge for their content have found such efforts to be a bit like pulling the sword from the stone. One pretender after another has slunk away, amid derisive shouts from the crowd. But if there’s any lesson from the Silicon Valley mentality, it’s that failure breeds success. And now is certainly the time for some mad science. Newspapers’ print operations are becoming gaunt, shedding ever more staff in exchange for ever fewer readers — all while their online counterparts are breaking traffic and readership records with regularity. Last month, the Pew Research Center signaled the tectonic shift we’d been expecting had finally arrived. For the first time, more Americans were getting their news from the Web than from newspapers. Another Pew finding rang a louder knell yet ... ...among people under 30, the Internet is now tied with TV as the leading source for national and international news. Printed newspapers ran a distant third, even though they produce a substantial amount of the Web’s news content. The upward trend line of Web news and the downward slope of print suggest — strongly — that the right survival strategy for news organizations is to worry less about saving the papers and start getting creative about converting online success into real revenue. Although specialized publications like the Wall Street Journal and Consumer Reports have successfully charged subscription fees, most analysts doubt that general circulation newspapers could get away with it — too much of what they write is available elsewhere. So instead of paying in advance for all of a paper’s online content, what if you paid a teeny tiny fee every time you read an online article or a blog post? Say you want to read last night’s Lakers story — when you load the Web page, The Times might bill you half a penny. Then, if you wanted to jump to the latest Washington politics story, you’d pay half a penny more. These kinds of small-scale revenues are called “micropayments.” Something sort of like it is the model behind iTunes, which just unveiled a sliding pay scale charging between 69 cents and $1.29 per song.

Percentage of kids solicited online drops, Harvard report says - Los Angeles Times

Percentage of kids solicited online drops, Harvard report says - Los Angeles Times.