Media+Literacy

I have been doing some "experimentation" wit ha student in my class that has been having a lot of problems paying attention and keeping up with math worksheets. After reading the articles on Hip Hop in the classroom, thought of the idea to mabye music while he worked. Before I had introduced music to during math I knew that I needed to make sure the song was clean of cursing. I also wanted the song to be reflective of the environment that he see's everyday. I wanted this because I knew that once he started listing to the music he would start to concentrate.So ultimately I had choose the song " Hard Knock Life" - Jay Z.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekomM8aobQo My preliminary observations during my intervention with Hip-Hip music was quite interesting. The student actually completed his work on time and efficiently. He did ask to go to the bathroom every 5 seconds like he used to do or bother other students. He just wanted to sit, listen to the music and do his work. So naturally I will be continuing this pratice to see if further progress can be made. ~ Jason Allen

I have been experimenting with some new media literacies in my room as well. Many students I see on a daily basis, I pull them from their classrooms for extra support. I notice some of the relationships these students have with their regular teachers are poor, I believe many students seek an affinity space in the classroom I share with three other co-workers. When we work with them we let them use a wide variety of technology, such as: iPads, laptops, websites and sometimes even their phones for Internet. What we have learned are some students can handle using these technologies and getting their work done, while other do become easily distracted. One student in particular we have worked with on great levels, we' ll call Ellis, has taken a positive approach to technology. When Ellis works on work for school he tells us he works better when listening to music. So we have tested this strategy out a few times. He does seem to get more work done while listening to the music he chooses. Some of the other students cannot concentrate while listening, we did another observation with a student we will call Vick. Vick informed us he did better listening to music as well, however after several frequent check ins we noted he had not had any work done. This was done over a twenty minute session of time. I guess in theory what works for some students does not work for all, looking at technology for new media literacies. (Selene-Group one)


 * Media Literacy**


 * Louder than a Definition: Media Literacy in Hip Hop and Slam Poetry**

Media is defined as "the main means of mass communication regarded collectively." Of course the challenge is defining within our society what "the main means" of communication are. This may be dependent on the "collective," one is referring to.

A "collective" might be defined differently within each state, county and classroom across the country. In the documentary "Louder than a Bomb," for example the "main means of mass communication," could be defined as Slam poetry. It was the media through which students effectively shared experiences, perspective and histories to one another, expanding their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

The second component is the "literacy" aspect. To be literate is defined as **"**able to read and write", or "knowledgeable or educated in a particular field or fields." The ability to read and write is somewhat self explanatory. However where and how a student attains those abilities and what a student does with them, that is through what "means of mass communication," they utilize them varies widely. In the case of the poets in "Louder than a Bomb," students may be able to read and write but they communicate those skills through spoken word.

Much like defining "the means" and "collective" of media, defining "knowledgeable or educated," is very relative to the "field" one belongs to. The students in "Louder than a Bomb," are certainly very literate in the "field" of Slam Poetry, but also by default of that excellence, very literate in politics, economics, history and society in general. One might summarize then that being exceptionally "literate" in one area opens doors to literacy in others as well.

Definition of Media Literacy
Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.

Here is the link to the definition: []


 * Where Should Media Literacy Enter the Classroom:**

Media Literacy should be seen in all facets of the classroom. Whether its unitizing media when facilitating discussion about a particular topic or in how a project or homework assignment is completed. Utilizing the media, and therefore building one's literacy in the use and understanding of media will assist students in going beyond the basic knowledge given through lecture, discussion, and textbook reading materials. Students can use the media to broaden their basic knowledge of a topic.

**Intergrating the ideas of Traditional Literacy with the ideas of Media Literacy:**
Scholastic has partnered with author Patrick Carman to bring readers __Skeleton Creek__. The book series is a multimodal text where readers use both the text itself and videos to learn the story of __Skeleton Creek__. Here is a link to the Scholastic site: __[]__ Here is a link to a fan site: [].


 * Additional Research:**

It like the more I look at Media Literacy, the more I realize how it influences not only the youths in our classrooms but also the teachers. I have been doing some some out of class research on the subject, that with a steady increase of the advancement of Media Literacy and technology, students have be able to increase their grade point averages. Below, I Inserted a table filled with some samples of research articles that I have read and the ways that Media literacy should be integrated more in the everyday classroom.

2) Even when students are given the proper tools to interpret information, they are prone to seek out information that relates directly to them and not academics.
====2) The student created content (i.e. facebook, myspace, twitter accounts, blogs) is not inherently valuable. When totaled, all of this text is reserved almost exclusively for the adolescent experience that while valuable at the time, does not enhance their academic abilities.====

5) The new type of media literacy is not preparing students for college or business level reading and writing.

 * Author(s)& year || Title of article || Primary purpose(s)/objective(s) || Participant(s) || Method(s) || Results || Conclusions/Discussion ||
 * Chang, Chen, Hu, Lee, Lin & Liu, 2011 || Developing and validating a media literacy self-evaluation scale (MLSS) for elementary school students || Develop a validated scale for media literacy to assessmedia literacy amongst primary school students || Fifth graders(n=146)sixth graders(n=154)male (n=151) female (n=149) || Students selected at randomSurveyquestionnaires mailed900 sent66% received 594 responses used || Female students turned out to be more media literate than their male counterpartsWith further researc hit has been discovered that the grade point averages have increased do to Media literacy intervention || With the newly found data, teachers should take gender for consideration when trying to develop a media instructional activity ||
 * Drobisz, Hayes, Majchrzak, & Smith, 2011 || Computer games versus maps before reading stories: priming readers’ spatial situations models || Investigate how maps and computer games relate in preparation for readers to understand and retail spatial associations in text narratives || Primary school (n=83)male (n=43)female (n=40)in grade 5 || Students took a three part experiment in 45-minute session that required receiving a treatment, reading a storyA posttest was given about various questions on the experiment || It was found that there was a significant between-condition difference to the posttest retention of spatial associations in the readingNo between-condition differences discovered in analysis time on spatial discontinuity sentences || Computer based readings of short stories, computer games and maps may be an successful way for understanding and retaining spatial relations in text. ||
 * Hoffman & Nadelson, 2009 || Motivational engagement and video gaming: a mixed methods study || Investigate through a mixed methods design to discover factors related with motivational engagement in video gaming || College volunteers(n=189) || Qualitative method to analyze and uncover the antecedents of gamingQuantitative method used to identify the variance of individual differences || Students played video games to fulfill recreational, social and self-esteem needs || Students may not be likely to achieve instructional expectations unless the video game has a direct relationship with the video game plot and the content that is needed to be learned ||
 * Karemaker, O’Malley & Pitchford, 2008 || Does whole-word multimedia software support literacy acquisition? || Find if various multimedia features of standard literacy learning programs create benefits for emergent literacy skills compared with typical whole-class teaching practices. || Primary school (n=61)male(n=31)female(n=30) || Teachers delivered two interventions for one-hour every day for five days, elapsing two weeks“shared word “ activity(15min.)“word/sentence level work”(15min)“focus “ activity (20min)“plenary session”(10min) || The interventions resulted in a significant development in all aspects of literacy on the measures of written word recognition, word naming after receiving multimedia software intervention || The study has clearly shown the benefits of using multimedia software to support early literacySurpassing the past methods of using printed text ||

> > The Core Principles of Media Literacy > ====== > The purpose of media literacy education is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today’s world.
 * 1) **Media Literacy Education requires** **active inquiry and critical thinking about the** **messages we receive and create.**
 * 2) **Media Literacy Education** **expands the concept of literacy** **to include** **all forms of media (i.e., reading and writing).**
 * 3) **Media Literacy Education builds and reinforces skills for** **learners of all ages. Like print literacy, those skills necessitate integrated, interactive, and repeated** **practice.**
 * 4) **Media Literacy Education develops informed, reflective and engaged participants** **essential for a democratic society.**
 * 5) **Media Literacy Education recognizes that** **media are a part of culture and function as** **agents of socialization.**
 * 6) **Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to****construct their own meanings from media messages.**

Here is the link to this information: [] Education

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 * Here is my Teen interview! []**
 * ~ Jason Allen**