Literacy Gangnam Style: Why is this 'meme' particularly powerful? What does the medium do to the message?
In week one of my Media Literacy class we watched this video. Okay, so it's in French, but the message is still being delivered despite language limitations. To me this indicates the importance of the medium in which it is delivered. If I were to sit down and attempt to read a French brochure for this school's French Immersion program, I would become bored and put it down because I don't understand it and there is nothing to keep my attention. But, what happens when we take a catchy song like Gangnam Style and turn it into a learning tool? We make it relatable and conspicuous.
I don't need to know what "c'est tellement tripant d'etre" means to understand these kids are having fun, dancing and enjoying themselves at this school.So, this meme is powerful because it is smart marketing. They are able to draw in their viewer then really drive home their objective, maybe even subconsciously as you are bobbing your head along to the beat. If more teachers promoted this form of presentation for cumulative tasks, kids would enjoy themselves a little more getting to the final product. This video was not only fun to watch, but it was probably more fun to make than a traditional research paper.
For more information on the background of this Gangnam Style video, click here.
A few months ago there was a slew of "Harlem Shake" videos popping up on Youtube. Here is an example of a Toronto private school using the Harlem Shake phenomena as a promotional tool. It caught my attention, what about yours?
I don't need to know what "c'est tellement tripant d'etre" means to understand these kids are having fun, dancing and enjoying themselves at this school.So, this meme is powerful because it is smart marketing. They are able to draw in their viewer then really drive home their objective, maybe even subconsciously as you are bobbing your head along to the beat. If more teachers promoted this form of presentation for cumulative tasks, kids would enjoy themselves a little more getting to the final product. This video was not only fun to watch, but it was probably more fun to make than a traditional research paper.
For more information on the background of this Gangnam Style video, click here.
A few months ago there was a slew of "Harlem Shake" videos popping up on Youtube. Here is an example of a Toronto private school using the Harlem Shake phenomena as a promotional tool. It caught my attention, what about yours?
Why are Web 2.0 and Digital Storytelling skills important to me? Why are they important for my students?
I have never been a very tech savvy person. I grew up during the dawn of web 1.0 and for me, that was challenging enough to navigate. This being said, as a student I have learned how to collaborate and contribute to a community within a classroom setting. Similar to how the classroom has been facilitating the growth of my imagination and education for years, Web 2.0 and Digital Storytelling are also vehicles for learning just at a much larger scale. Sharing ideas, photos, creativity, information, memories and emotions are all things I love to do in person, so why wouldn't I want to learn how to acquire skills that will allow me to share all of these things with people around the globe? I mean, check out that cool comic I made up there, that's Web 2.0!
If we remain in our personal subjective world for too long, we will stop growing as individuals. Humans thrive on communication and knowledge and that is what Web 2.0 and Digital Storytelling give us. Affinity spaces based on common interests allow people to interact and feel as though they are contributing to something much bigger than themselves. It makes us feel substantial, like our thoughts and our ideas matter. This is important to me, I want to feel as though I am a member of something, and that I can put something out there and someone somewhere will read it and connect with it.
I want my students to explore the world without leaving my classroom. Childrens' imaginations are fresh and uncultivated, by fostering their natural curiosity we are setting them up to become lifelong learners. Skills materialize in many different ways, so the experiences my students will encounter using these tools will differ from each other, allowing them to teach one another how to use new technologies. Playing around with digital tools and investigating transmedia is going to allow them to flourish as individuals and give them a broader perception of the world while harnessing their creativity. Really, what more could you want as a teacher?
Kevin Honeycutt has some great resources on his website. He also discusses some cool free digital tools for students in the video below.
If we remain in our personal subjective world for too long, we will stop growing as individuals. Humans thrive on communication and knowledge and that is what Web 2.0 and Digital Storytelling give us. Affinity spaces based on common interests allow people to interact and feel as though they are contributing to something much bigger than themselves. It makes us feel substantial, like our thoughts and our ideas matter. This is important to me, I want to feel as though I am a member of something, and that I can put something out there and someone somewhere will read it and connect with it.
I want my students to explore the world without leaving my classroom. Childrens' imaginations are fresh and uncultivated, by fostering their natural curiosity we are setting them up to become lifelong learners. Skills materialize in many different ways, so the experiences my students will encounter using these tools will differ from each other, allowing them to teach one another how to use new technologies. Playing around with digital tools and investigating transmedia is going to allow them to flourish as individuals and give them a broader perception of the world while harnessing their creativity. Really, what more could you want as a teacher?
Kevin Honeycutt has some great resources on his website. He also discusses some cool free digital tools for students in the video below.