Dove Evolution

My Top 10

Top 10 Things I Learned In Media Literacy Class
(not ranked by importance)

1. Advertising has gone from informative to emotional. Advertising is not informative at all. It hits us at the limbic and reptilian brain. Love the brain stuff.

2. The follow the money activity. I love to know all the parent companies of different products. I am so interested in how companies are consolidating. I never thought of doing that as an activity with kids and their media usage.

3. Disney. Having a daughter who loves Disney, it was really interesting seeing the movies from a different perspective. The portrayal of women in these movies seems archaic.

4. The constant influx advertising. I knew that advertising was all around us, but this class really opened my eyes to it. We can’t tell students to not listen to advertising. It is impossible. We need to teach them to be critical thinking in terms of their media consumption and the way they view advertising.

5. VNR’s Say what? VNR! I had never heard of that! I couldn’t imagine! I am outraged! I thought my morning news was news, not a FEED coming in from a PR firm!

6. Understanding more persuasive techniques. I knew many, but I couldn’t come up with 29 on my own. I feel this will be a really useful tool with students.

7. Media at War. I knew that our media took a pro-US viewpoint, but the movie was very revealing. There certainly are cons to having embedded media with the troops (especially with just the troops).

8. Facebook and Advertising. I just started using Facebook a few months ago. I never really noticed the ads too much, at least consciously. I didn’t realize the extent the company uses profile information to target advertising at its users.

9. Acxiom, Acxiom, Acxiom… Scary, scary, scary…. Need I say more? I guess I have to. I can’t believe this company collects so much information about people. They use their credit cards, buy plane tickets, get magazines and there is an assumption of privacy. They can target advertising to just about anyone.

10. How we have gone from having informative programming to infotainment. We are losing meaningful conversations about important issues in the world because we are inundated with such media fluff.

Questions for the Future:

1. How can we pull ourselves out of this? Will media education be enough to solve this problem? Advertisers are always trying to find the next new concept to cut through the clutter. How will we keep up with them?

2. Where will the Internet go? Will it remain, “free.” How will advertising and the Internet work together?

3. I am exciting to incorporate these concepts into my curriculum. I think the kids will really enjoy it. The question would be, with 4th and 5th graders, how far do I go?

Deconstructing Ads Video

Here is the "Deconstructing Ads" video for my final media literacy project.

Product Placement Video Project

The "Persuaders" Was Quite Persuading

What I learned from, "The Persuaders."

1. Almost all products are alike now. Many of them do a good job. Advertisers don't sell product based on the qualities of the product, but how we feel about it. This seems to pull at our emotions. I love the comment that successful ads don't persuade you to buy something, but get you to persuade yourself to buy it.

2. Brands that are good at marketing are ingrained in us. We attach certain feelings to them. When we buy the product we expect that feeling. I have felt it, but then I am usually disappointed after using the product. How long will people buy products and be continually disappointed? Will advertisers have to keep pushing us with new products and stronger emotions?

3. Acxion, the Big Brother of Advertising. I didn't realize people tracked my purchases. I use my debit card for almost all purchases. I think I will start using cash.

4. The use of words in political campaigns was interesting and a little scary. Luntz claimed that he was just changing the words that are used, but different words have different meanings and carry different emotions. By changing the words politicians use, they are attempting to make an apathetic public. This is dangerous. The public should be the ultimate checks and balances of our government. If we allow politicians to continually pull the wool over our eyes with their engineered wording, we may allow (or have allowed) them to do what is not in our or the country's best interest. They may also find issues to distract us from the real issues, such as knowing the debate around the Georgia state flag would create controversy and motivate voters.

5. We have become an advertising culture. Our culture is full of advertising, "clutter." Where are they going to go now? I thought the comment about how in a society that is full of advertising, people don't see the common good, only what is good for themselves (or their demographic). This is scary. My children will grow up in an age when advertisers are bombarding them with messages that focus on their wants by using their emotions. Scary.

My Mind Was Fed By "Feed"

I think M.T. Anderson's book was not only a commentary and the bleak future of the United States, but also a commentary on our current media-laden culture.

1. Media and advertising have become a distraction. Like the feed in the minds of most people in the book, we are overwhelmed with media messages. This constant advertising and meaningless entertainment has distracted us from having meaning discussions about important issues. Our current news "feed" is filled with stories that are more for entertainment than informative/educational.

2. Technology has weakened relationships. M-chat, conversations that are interrupted by blasts of advertising. The teenagers in Feed were unable to have meaningful relationships. Their connection to one another was based on their relationship with the feed. I worry about that with our current culture as well. Water cooler conversations based on celebrities, texting, Facebook, Twitter. Will it bring us closer? I hope so. I am cautiously optimistic.

3. Commercialism, Commercialism, Commercialism. In Feed, the characters were hit with advertisers all the time. Not only that, but the feed helped them make up their mind. This constant bombardment of persuasive messages had the characters changing hairstyles, clothes, and toys as the trends change. And those trends did change- quickly. These changes must make a lot of money for the corporations, but fill our world with waste: products tossed aside. In our current culture, companies profit from yearly changes in clothing styles, new upgrades in technology, etc. It makes me think: Do technology companies work together to hold back newer technologies so they can continually release new technology, making us upgrade and buy new products; our old products in the landfill?

4. Sorry. I have to do a 4th theme. I think the connection seen between the information that corporations had on Feed users and the information gathered by Acxiom as depicted in The Persuaders is uncanny. The lack of privacy in Feed is very obvious (such as the invasion of Titus' brain during a 'dream'), but in our culture we have a perceived notion of privacy. Most people are unaware of the profiles that corporations keep on them and what those profiles say. We may not have a feed in our brains, but hardware or not, are we moving in that direction at a rapid pace?

Response to the Propaganda Paper and the Big Trade-Off

Hodgkinson's article was not only unprofessional, it was irresponsible. Hodgkinson seems like an activist. As such, I feel it is imperative that his writing be grounded with facts and a solid, rational argument. Although Hodgkinson used a variety of persuasive techniques (such as scapegoating and the strawman) his argument preoccupation with board members of Facebook seemed more like ranting. He started off with describing the life of a Facebooker as lonely and not genuine. Instead of researching this and supporting it with fact he targeted the board members. I don't agree with the political leanings of the board members who are getting more rich off of Facebook and supporting neocon groups. Unfortunately,many readers will dismiss Hodgkinson's argument as rantings.
Facebook does have the potential to be a useful tool for groups of many different political groups. I saw a post today from a "friend," that had a link that led me to a website about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and a group that is trying to clean it up. I would not have known about this environmental problem if it weren't for Facebook- the trade-off.
When you sign up for Facebook, you sign away your privacy. People should know that. I was unaware of the ads that target my profile. This article illuminated that issue for me. I immediately went on to Facebook and looked at my profile. Interests include hiking and cooking. I looked at the ads on the sidebar: North Face, City Market, and culinary schools. What a powerful tool, except I barely notice that the ads are there. I have many 4th and 5th grade students with Facebook accounts. I wonder if they are aware of this? Room for a media education moment!

Response to Reading

I must admit that I am not a Twitterer (Tweeter?). Social networking through Facebook has been an interesting way to peek into the lives of people I know. For students, it can offer opportunities for collaboration on projects and ideas. Twitter seems much more like TV to me; A broadcasting tool, but in the hands of the users. I don’t really care what Ashton Kutcher did during his free time today. I think Postman would see Twitter as a form of entertainment and fluff that distracts from the possibility of important dialogue. The articles did open my mind to the possibility of using Twitter to motivate users to take social action, yet it seems to be in the minority. I think I would be ignorant if I thought my students didn’t use Twitter, but I am a still trying to think of a way to use it as an educational tool for kids…

Response to Readings- Wednesday July 7th

Postman, Chap 5-7
Postman fears the whether our culture could survive our news being delivered in 22 minutes. 22 minutes filled with fluff, intro music, and entertainment. I after the last reading I was struggling with what Postman would think of new media. I think Postman would enjoy the options and variety that are available on the Internet. There are a variety of websites, beyond the major new networks, that provide solid news coverage. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t on our way to most online media being focused on entertainment. People need to be educated to find informative news sources.

Is Google Making Us Stupid and Get Smarter
I love to Google. Yes, it is now a verb. I can search something I find interesting and follow the links to learn about related topics until I find myself on a topic that is totally different than what I first searched. I think there are trade-offs for having this information online. I expect my information to be in quick bursts that are easy to digest. If this is what I expect, what do we expect from our students? As teachers, will we have to cater to this new high paced delivery system? Can all information be presented in this format? What about the basic skills? You can’t teach kids basic math and sentence structure in small bursts.
Facts are available. They are out there. Do we need to teach them in school if students will discover them on their own? I feel we don’t need to teach as many wrote facts, but have a new mission as teachers. Carr talked in depth about how the quality of Neitzsche’s writing changed when he started using a typewriter. Access to information is important, but the quality is important as well. If our students are using online media to learn many facts, are the facts accurate and presented in an academic, thoughtful process? If information is presented to them poorly, their synthesis will also be lacking. These are the teachable moments. We need to teach our students how to judge the media they consume and how to synthesize it in a way that has academic merit.

Postman Response: Chap 1 to 4

It strikes me, reading this book about the death of the printed word in books and its replacement by television how our media has changed so much in the past two decades. I was a child when this book was written and now television will either be replaced by or completely altered by new media.

In chapter 3, Postman argues that the speaking style of colonial Americans mimicked written language, or, “falls into a dissertation” (pg 42). Have we lost the formality of language through the use of TV as a medium of entertainment? If so, how will newer forms of media change the way we speak to one another? Are blog comments the same as a paper response to literature? On page 45 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman quotes Stephen Douglas addressing the audience in the Lincoln-Douglas debates saying, “I desire to address myself to your judgment, your understanding, and your consciences, and not your passions and enthusiasms.” Our current politicians don’t debate for 6-8 hours. They can’t keep the attention of their audience. They don’t rely on spoken words, but use graphic organizers, images, or emotional illustrations. Their speeches don’t focus on the issues, but instead focus on the, “passions and enthusiasms,” of the audience. It is more entertainment than informative. This absence of content does seem pervasive in TV as a medium.

I do feel that Postman seemed quite pessimistic. I hold more hope for newer forms of media. Using Web 2.0/3.0, people will not only interact with the medium for entertainment, but use it to create, to produce. They have the ability to use the information that is provided to them and to formulate it into their own product and to make new meaning from it. TTYL.

My Media Education Project

For my media education project I would like to design a lesson about a media topic. I am wrestling with different ideas for topics. My top two are: product licensing and product placement. Both forms of advertising seem to be bombarding children in the past decade. My own daughter loves Disney Princesses. It seems like every product for kids also comes in a Disney Princess version. I think product placement may be more relevant to my students. The placements are sometimes so subtle (and yet sometimes so in your face). When students tell me about American Idol I ask them about product placements in it. Many don't realize those were paid product placements. Some realize it and think that is the way TV has always been. As the week goes on I am sure I will come up with a decision.

Wesch Videos:

Wesch Videos:

I had seen the "Vision of Students Today" video before, but it was great seeing it as part of a series. The videos made me think about our students and like in Feed, information will be at the fingertips of our students. Teaching about dates of famous events and and wrote knowledge will be irrelevant. What seems more important to me is teaching students how to find appropriate information, how to best synthesize it, to be creators of their own media, and how to be ethical with all the information at their fingertips. Media is being used by children. We can't avoid it. We need to help guide them in their use of technology. In my own work as a school counselor, I see the need to teach students about safe use of media, helping them interpret their media consumption, and to work through ethical issues that arise through media use.

Information R/evolution.

A Vision of Students Today.

The Machine is Us/ing Us.

1950's Winston Cigarette Commerical with The Flinstones

Summer Media Literacy Class

Just set up the blog. Met all the new students. Need to catch up on missed readings.