Final Project 12/16

For my final project, I have created a mockup of a media resource website for a new University of Minnesota campus wide Media Literacy group we are exploring to be spearheaded by a partnership between the Libraries and the Digital Media Center (OIT).

The site is here: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/spic0016/medialit/


Background (objectives and site use):

In the Libraries, we like to think of media literacy as a 3 pronged philosophy with media literacy as an umbrella, and support for non-print media resources ("reading") and student-produced media ("writing") as the two core components of our media program. Of course, as we have learned, there is much more to being media literate depending on your audience and objectives (certainly, I have a lot more understanding of "critical media literacy" now).

There is more to it, but one part of my job is to go out and assist faculty with developing student-produced media assignments, make class visits to discuss the production process and services, and then providing equipment loans and on-demand support to students producing media in the SMART Commons Wilson/Walter.

The DMC also provides consulting services, as well as training on use of media tools and pedagogy (we taught a digital teaching seminar last summer together), in addition to technology assessment.

With all that said, when surveys go out every 2 years, we still find the number one concern is how to effectively integrate technology into curriculum. And I will admit, if you are a faculty member in a non-media intensive discipline (e.g., Sociology) and wanting to assign something like a video project to your students, there are resources (e.g., equipment, production stations, student production support) available, but they are inconsistent across campus (St. Paul has very little) and not always easy to ferret out. In addition, this may be your first time developing an assignment so where do you go for support with the various technology support groups on campus.


And that only covers the production support end of things. Remember media literacy is also about being able to think critically about the information you are consuming in all forms/genres. So, it is my responsibility to help faculty use non-print media resources (e.g., images/audio/video) to support their teaching as well. We license a great deal of digital content, and also have large physical non-print media collections, in addition to the vast repositories of online audiovisual resources.

So combining these elements (critical media literacy, student-produced media, media resources) and with a group on the horizon, I thought it would be a good idea to take a stab at a comprehensive site.

Here are the objectives (educate faculty):
1) What is media literacy and why is it important?

2) Why would I want to integrate media resources into my curriculum and how does that support not only reinforcing my learning objectives, but also media literacy?
a) Where can I find support for using the resources?
b) What media resources are available here on campus and online?

3) How can student-produced media projects enhance their learning, but also support media literacy?
a) Where can I find support for developing and assessing the effectiveness of student-produced media assignments?
b) What resources are available (they are varied by class/dept./college/campus wide)?
c) Can you show me some examples of media projects other instructors are integrating into their courses to teach?

4) What is critical media literacy? Where can I find resources on this topic and others?



Site Use:

While still a work in progress (my site) speaks to the above questions:

Home Page: Brief introduction of media literacy and the purpose of the site.
Why media?: Addresses the question of why it is important to create a multimodal environment and how that is beneficial.
Media Projects:Examples of some student media projects here on campus and the value of student-produced media assignments.
Media Resources:Starts to highlight some of the wonderful non-print media resources we offer (paid money for) here on campus and beyond to support teaching.
Project Dev. Support: Highlights some key resources on campus to provide support on developing media assignments.
Student Support: Discussion on local resources available to support student produced media.
Critical Media Literacy: Defines critical media literacy and why this approach is important in understanding information in the digital age, and its context within varying disciplines.
Digital Tools: Tools that can be used to support media production.
Media Literacy Bibliography: List of sources (articles, books, websites, videos) that better explain the importance of media literacy and uses of media in the classroom.

Film adaptation integration into Media Studies curriculum 12/10

In light of all the media discussion around current conservative rhetoric surrounding the election of Barack Obama, in addition to this new digital world that we live in where privacy is an afterthought (and this generation is alright appears to be OK with this), national wiretapping - U.S.A Patriot Act on library circulation, and information is less and less offered in tangible formats (e.g., 1984 being silenced on the Kindle) I would encourage students in my ideal media studies class to read and then view film portions of Orwell's/Radford's 1984 with a mind on these particular discourses.

Some key text reading differences:
In the spirit of the Rachel Malchow Lloyd assignment (I know her family, by the way), I think it might be helpful to recognize some of the political differences in the two mediums. It's been a couple years, but apparently two major differences according to the Wikipedia entry are 1) evidently in the film party members are called "brothers"/"sisters" instead of comrades, which is interesting considering the Cold War was still very much in effect during 1984 (boycotted Olympics), but still fits with the 1980's language. In addition, Neo-Bolshevism is also mentioned explicitly in the book but not in the film.

Going back to my original point, I would like to students in my class produce a modern adaptation of 1984 (not a futuristic one mind you) within the contexts of media defined "conservative attitudes", information privacy, and information permanency. I think the distopian feel would still need to be there, so I would be careful for the students to make the film too modern. That said here is a possible story idea using many of the elements from the book/film.

For example, in producing some video or through image/audio on Voicethread, I could see students getting creative with a Kindle that has an e-book of 1984 on the screen, and then someone playing "Winston" in the Ministry of Truth pushes a button, and all of a sudden the book is gone.

Or someone is using Skype, and types something that is an NSA code word (e.g., Facebook on Obama assassination), and then an FBI agent shows up to the door - and you get some notoriety on the 24 hour news stations (themselves a kind of Big Brother in the cult of amature).

Students could even weave in our own cultural discourse on the influence of 1984 in the way we think about rights, privacy, and government roles/manipulation.

The point of this would be to show how the sounds and visuals inherent to the text provide a different level of texture, but not necessary a superior one. I think by bridging the gap between the 1940's when this was written (likely a reason why Neo-Bolshevism was not brought into 1980's film) and its very real application in the modern world; I think students could get a real understanding of how Orwell's world came to be and perhaps how it exists today in certain regions of the world (e.g., Iran, North Korea). Finally, not to be too alarmist as the Internet has a multitude of perspectives, but also how it could come to be within our society with so few true independent mass media channels.

Music Poetry Post 12/3

I have to be honest, I had difficulty being honest about the choice of song and musicians to select for this post. You see, going into high school I liked heavy rock music like Guns' N Roses and Led Zepplin, which graduated to alternative grunge with Nirvana (I still like both to some extent). But something weird happened to me when I was a senior. I became an obsessive Beatles fan (over a girl), and that may have been the start of a movement towards a more chilled adult contemporary, who knows? As I have gone through my 20's and now early 30's, it seems I have mellowed out a bit - at least with respect to music. (There was a stop in Techno, and pop, soul, and blues music have long been a standby as well).

Today, you are more likely to catch me listening to Ben Folds Five, Rufus Wainwright, Mason Jennings, or Regina Spektor. The song I chose to discuss is Regina Spektors' "Laughing With". The truth is this is a new song, so I don't really have a sentimental attachment to this song like I do others. However, what I like about Regina's songs is that she uses different vocal functions (such as the glottal stop (sp?)). Additionally, she writes her own lyrics, and they often include fantastical stories or in the case of "Laughing With", riddled social commentary that can be interpreted in different perspectives.

This song is about God, and the idea that people take God for granted until they are in dire straights or want something. It's unclear if she is pointing out the hypocrisy of this behavior, her questioning the existence of God, or if she is merely commentating on what she observes as our peculiar social relationship with the God. She lists all the reasons when "no one is laughing at God" such as:

When they are starving, freezing or poor.
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else And they hope that they’re mistaken

But then returns to the dismissive nature of God in postmodern American cultural context:

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke


So this is why I like Regina. She has a compelling personality, melody, and appearance. Her music is upbeat (even in minor), her songs are full of wit, and she has developed a cult following as a kind of humble, shy, entertainer with this great energy.

Which leads me to answer the larger question. Why do I like this genre of music? Well, I would say that race/culture (Regina is from a Jewish heritage), education, political ideology (she is most definitely, liberal), perceived socio/cultural-economic status all play a role as well. Not that everyone at her concerts is a young 30 something, non-married, white, Jewish, liberal, academic media librarian - but I would suspect that if I were sitting at a table with fellow fans, I would certainly relate to them more so than say, country music lovers...Though through Taylor Swift we might be able to find some middle ground! :)