Month: January 2021

01/31/21

Reading Review Part B – How can a library program promote media literacy through video production?

 

When beginning to tack my Reading Review Part B it was apparent that my key words were too overarching and rather broad.  I circled back to my initial ideas about audio technology in a makerspace but linked it with media literacy more in this second phase of researching.  My inquiry question was adapted to being more focused on how can a library program promote media literacy through video production?  This then enabled me to dig further within video production to more specifics centered around podcast, video publishing, screencasting and livestreaming.

Data Collection – Resources:

 

1. Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.[Kindle Edition]. Corwin. Retrieved from Amazon.ca

My strongest resource helping with learning more on this topic thus far has been Will Richardson’s book: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (2010).  I have found the ideas that Richardson presents on practical cross-curricular connections through using this medium to be insightful. I am interested in learning more about how the technology could be incorporated within a makerspace to generate full school community use.  Richardson’s chapter explores how podcasting can support Languages, English, Social Studies and Science.  He also makes connections to how teachers, students and administrators can benefit from including this medium to enhance delivery of meetings, presentations and projects.

Some of the drawbacks I am finding with Richardson’s text is due to the date of the book, many of the suggested links are dead and technology has evolved since publication.  I would love to see a book or chapter on this topic with a 2020 perspective.  To find more contemporary topics on this topic, I looked at the UBC collections and discovered a number of journals that touch on elements of my topic.

2. Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera?Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

A more recent article in my search, “Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera?”, explores how “managing a super saturated environment, where literacy, pedagogy, social justice, programming and social goals” (Boggs, 2017, p. 213) can be integrated in multimedia projects like video, but not take the fun out of the process and learning.  Though this article focuses very specifically on the video making process, I believe there are some takeaways when considering fluid partnerships literacies are interwoven within media.  An interesting takeaway was the consideration for educators to step back and enable students to ‘hold the camera’.  Constricting teens, through unintended forced, shaped perspectives holds back students from developing media literacy.

3. Regan, B. (2008). Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It.MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 15(4), 10–13.

This article by Bob Regan explores some of the 21st century literacies Richardson raises in Why School?  The focus of the paper is on how collaborative technologies in a school “contribute to students’ experience of working with people outside of their school” (Regan, 2008, p. 12). Students using multimedia tools for presentations are able to discover the movement of shapes, and images and “find ways to express ideas and explore subjects.”  The article further explains that “students have the opportunity to view and learned from the work of students not just in their class, but worldwide, cultivating a 21st skill of global awareness” (Regan, 2008, p. 12).   Regan refers to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills which offers a framework and resources supporting media literacy.

It is at this exact point in my research that I notice my search had initially veered away from media literacy into the territory of tech inclusion in a library program.  For this assignment, my goal was to try and stay with my key words but get narrower – not to fully segue off.  Regan’s article brought me back to focusing on the connection of media literacy with technology integration.

Media literacy should to be a central educational focus when bringing in multi-media mediums into a classroom and library program. Students need to be taught when creating a moving images, podcasts and vlogs what the “collective impact these images have” (Quijada, A, 2013). One of the Tedx Talk videos I reviewed focuses on teaching students how to deconstruct media to create critical thinkers through media literacy.  This is an essential step that students be exposed to and taught before creating media and subsequently scaffolded during the creation stage.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/aHAApvHZ6XE[/youtube]

(Quijada, A, 2013)

4. Rodesiler, L. (2010). Empowering Students Through Critical Media Literacy: This Means War. Clearing House, 83(5), 164–167. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/00098650903505464

I found a helpful article by Luke Rodesiler (2010) which focuses on teaching students’ techniques to deconstruct messages within media.  Using MAPS (mode, audience, purpose and situation) as a “protocol for Critical Media Analysis” (Rodesiler, 2013).  Some of the ideas that Rodeliser shares pose relatable questions to consider within MAPS and within the context of non-verbal communication as well as through representation and selection.  A downside with this article is the lack of connection to multimedia production.  The focus is more about synthesizing what you have read, viewed, or heard.

5. Tucker-Raymond, E. (09/2016). Making it social: considering the purpose of literacy to support participation in making and engineering.  The Association. doi:10.1002/jaal.583

The article “Making it social,” focuses on the makerspace concept of problem solving through making.  I found that this article has a few supportive elements, but it is very focused exclusively to the making/creating side of education and considering how collaborative sharing and feedback through a process, enables students to learn more within their creating.  Are students posting/sharing throughout the creation process and thereby getting more ideas/questions from their peers.  The assignment isn’t just about the final product but openly demonstrating the process on how a student goes through their learning journey.  Their destination might also not be what they first intended it to be. Their assignment isn’t linear but rather evolves through process – very similar in ideology to the Reading Review assignment we are currently doing.

Concluding thoughts:

 

In my researching, I found that many of the resources cite many other resources that may be helpful for further review such as Regan’s frequent references to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning.  So, as I investigate further with my query, I am happy to see that there a number of resources that I can use for my topic.  Not one singular resource checks all of my boxes, but when combined I am starting to see a bigger picture come together.  Though as I investigate, this work in process shows that there is still much more to be explored, specifically with a contemporary lens.

Works Cited:

 

Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

Framework for 21st Century Learning. (2019).   Retrieved from http://static.battelleforkids.org/documents/p21/P21_Framework_Brief.pdf

Quijada, A. (2013). Creating critical thinkers through media literacy: Andrea Quijada at TEDxABQED [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE

Regan, B. (2008). Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 15(4), 10–13.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. [Kindle Edition] Corwin. Retrieved from Amazon.ca

Rodesiler, L. (2010). Empowering Students Through Critical Media Literacy: This Means War. Clearing House, 83(5), 164–167. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/00098650903505464

Thoughtful Learning [image] (n.d). How to Improve Media Literacy.  Retrieved from https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/blogpost/how-improve-media-literacy.

Tucker-Raymond, E. (09/2016). Making it social: considering the purpose of literacy to support participation in making and engineering.  The Association. doi:10.1002/jaal.583

01/23/21

Exploring Digital Technologies within a School Library Program

 

My keyword generation for my first LIBE 477 blog assignment was centered on the use of digital technologies within a school library program. I had a rough idea based on my current teaching assignment of the areas where technology integration in our library program might benefit from me investigating. I work in a secondary school part-time as a teacher-librarian/film teacher.  With the current pandemic and necessity for some courses to ‘go online’ or use a hybrid learning approach, there has been an increased demand from teachers that require technology to record lesson intros, demonstrate interactive video learning tasks, etc.  Our library learning commons has seen so much interest in this area that we have considered increasing our technology expenditures on portable microphones and webcams.

My initial thinking with this assignment and task was to look at how audio tools for recording and editing could be maximized beyond teacher tools but rather be incorporated to our makerspace and promoted within our library program.  My initial inquiry was centered around the question – how can audio technology promote literacy?   Could I create lendable kits that would facilitate producing online learning/teaching resources, podcasting, oral storytelling, video-conferencing, voiceovers, speeches or even radio plays?  Better yet, could I partition some of the existing makerspace to create a controlled acoustic environment like a sound room?  I still think that this is an area I’d like to investigate more, but through my inquiry, I encountered new ideas and there were a number of other keywords that generated my interest.

Keywords Generated:
  • Digital Wellness
  • Digital Literacy
  • Media Literacy
  • Inspiration lab & creation stations
  • Online Library Learning Commons
  • Digital Access

Most of the above keywords have some sort of crossover and all can tie directly to curriculum and a library program. What jumped out to me the most in my searches when integrating technology was the importance of promoting digital wellness.

Digital Wellness emphasizes on the following strands:

  • Well-being – maintaining balance
  • Digital citizenship – fostering “responsible, ethical, honest, and litera(cy) in today’s digital world.” (WOSU, 2021)
  • Etiquette – promoting positive online exchange
  • Safety – safe online practice and protecting what we share.

These ideas can be reinforced throughout projects utilizing technology and beyond.  Our library program works hard to ensure safety and etiquette are incorporated as students navigate within the digital realm, but digital citizenship and well-being are areas that I would like to explore more.

Media Literacy:  promotes critical evaluation, creation and manipulation of media.  As media literacy encompasses a variety of mediums, I would like to learn more about how audio mediums can be used to promote literacy.  Curricular areas such as English, Languages, Social Studies and Drama could benefit from a broader inclusion of audio mediums in the LLC as courses explore topics with spoken language, storytelling, radio plays.

Digital Literacy: “is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process” (Martin, A.,  2005, p. 135).  The broad definition encompasses elements of other keywords on my list such as digital wellness as well as components of media literacy and much more.

Inspiration Lab & Creation Stations: are new terms to me that I discovered in my search about audiovisual elements within a makerspace. Vancouver Public Library offers inspiration labs “dedicated to digital creativity, collaboration and storytelling” (VPL, 2021) and I was very intrigued by their design. Our library learning commons already lends green screens out of our makerspace.  We haven’t tapped into video production, as this is done through our film department.  Though we are looking at acquiring more equipment facilitate videoconferencing and recording on devices, we haven’t looked at this outside of teacher use to facilitate lesson delivery.  The concept of inspiration labs and creation station as part of a makerspace is something I hadn’t fully considered.  Whilst the VPL model is more technologically advanced than what our school community would need, there are elements that can be drawn from this that would elevate a high school makerspace.

Online Library Learning Commons: currently our online profile is the space where students and teachers can go to find the catalogue, encyclopedias and databases.  I am curious how our online presence can be broadened.  From social media usage for community engagement to creating online collaborative workspaces, I feel that there is more within this topic to be explored.  Could there be a landing page for podcasts for example?  Our online library learning commons is very much a search, find, locate and leave space, which differs immensely from our physical space.  An area that I would love to explore is bringing our online space into more alignment with our LLC philosophy that fosters community engagement.

Digital Access: ties into ideas about fostering online community engagement with our LLC.   As technology expands, the ability for all members of our school community to participate digitally must lead our thinking.  I included it as a keyword because the reality of expanding digital technologies might require different ways for lending and even skills-based teaching.  Such as, adjusting open hours to enable access and offering overnight device lending.  Further tutorial/booster sessions might need developing to ensure accessibility and ease of use for new technology to support both staff and students.

Works Cited:

Martin, A. (2005). “DigEuLit – A European Framework for Digital Literacy: A Progress Report.” Journal of E-Literacy. Vol 2.

Media Smarts. (n.d). Digital Literacy Fundamentals.  Retrieved from https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals

Vancouver Public Library. (2021) Inspiration Lab.  Retrieved from https://www.vpl.ca/inspirationlab

WOSU Public Media. (2021) Digital Wellness. Retrieved from https://wosu.org/classroom/digital-wellness/