My First Prezi: Justification for Digital Literacies in the Classroom

I decided to try Prezi to create my presentation for class this week.  I've used PowerPoint quite a bit and was ready to try something new and different.  Overall, Prezi was fairly easy to use, but it took me a while to figure out how everything would look in the final presentation.  There are so many possibilities with text layouts, presentation paths, frames, etc. that it could get overwhelming.  When I started, I envisioned a much more complex presentation, but then I realized that part of Prezi's beauty was in simplicity.

I had recently read several journal articles about digital literacy in classrooms, including "An American Perspective: Justifying Uses o Digital Tools to Foster Critical Media Literacy" by Richard Beach in The Journal of Media Literacy (Volume 57, Numbers 1 & 2, 2010).  The quote at the beginning of the presentation is from that article.  I was hoping that this presentation would help me flesh out some ideas for a final project.  Maybe it did.  At this point I'm not entirely sure, but I am also not entirely sure of the shape my final project will take.  Mostly, I've done a lot of brainstorming and thinking about it.  This my first tangible product.  Alright, let's cut to the chase.  Here's my presentation:

Justification on Prezi

Camping: A Breakfast Story

These photos--and to some extent the storyline--are from a camping trip in Kentucky a few years ago.

Overall, creating a comic was really fun and easy.  ComicLife is super easy to use.  It was really simple to drag in the images and add the text.  The characters are based on friends that were camping with me at the time, but I had to think about what they might say or think in brief snippets to make the story come to life in this comic.  Because so much of the story is told through the pictures, it was also important to for me to choose appropriate photographs to convey the story.  This is one thing that differs from most traditional print texts for adolescents and adults.

Digital comics would be great to incorporate into a multigenre writing unit, or even as a prewriting activity for narratives.  My students often struggled to zoom in on characters, slow down the storyline, and--the classic--show versus tell what is happening.  It would be so great to teach these skills using digital comics.  If I were writing a narrative about camping, I could use this comic to prepare me to write a scene about making breakfast.  When I was teaching, we actually did use a comic to demonstrate "zooming in" in writing, but it would have been even more engaging to have students create a "zoom" and not just look at one.

Unemployment: A Comic...sort of but not really

This is my feeble first attempt at creating a comic.  Although, this is not at all comical.  It sort of tells a universal story about the all-too-common experience of facing unemployment.  I chose this topic because I created a digital poem based on a found poem called "An Unemployed Machinist" by by John Giorno on poets.org.  I had the images prepared and the topic was in my mind.  I would like to make more of an attempt at creating a comic with more of a storyline, since that is a genre very unfamiliar to me.  My home computer is old and not the quickest machine on the block, so I will try to make it to class early next week so that I can give ComicLife a second attempt.

My digital poem

I created this digital poem for an assignment in class 11/9.

The poem is from poets.org.

Images are from flicker.

Potentials of Podcasting

I really enjoyed creating a podcast.  It was fun to choose a topic (reading a personal essay from 10 years ago) and then to actually do it.  The topic I chose allowed me to step back into the shoes of my 18-year old self, which was interesting.  It was encouraging and surprising to read my words again.  Especially since I was recording myself reading, I tried to get into character and feel the emotions I felt when I wrote the piece.  I loved it.  It also allowed me a chance to read my teacher's comments again, which was so encouraging.  Now that I am an educator, I read the comments differently than I did previously.  I understood how essential it is to provide feedback on a student writer's ideas, not just her mechanics.  I knew this before I did the podcast; I internalized it as I was re-reading my teacher's comments.

Once I finally figured out how to turn my blog into a podcast using Blogger, morphing my audio file into a podcast was simple.

Podcasting could be used for a variety of activities in the classroom.

• Booktalks:  If the technology were available, podcasts of booktalks could be shared among students, classes, and even from year-to-year to promote a culture of reading in the classroom.  Although I would not use this as an assessment for comprehension or independent reading, since students could easily read a summary online and translate that into a booktalk.  It would be a nice supplement to other classroom activities.
• Interviews:  There seems to be a lot of potential for using podcasting as a tool for interviews.  Specifically, I think it would be neat to have students interview characters, authors, or other readers about a book.  These would be excellent extensions for other activities in a regular English class.  Depending on the unit of study, students could interview other students, teachers, family members, community members, school staff members, etc. for a variety of reasons.  There really are so many possible uses for this tool!
• Radio Shows:  In a media class, it would be neat to have students research information about various radio shows, such as All Things Considered, A Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, call-in shows (for advice on finances, relationships, etc.), sports shows, conservative talk radio, etc.  It would be neat to have them look at the different kinds of radio shows, targeted audience, bias, and other unique aspects of the genre.  As a culminating project, students could create podcasts of radio shows.

It's been really fun for me to learn about podcasting.  I believe that this medium has so much potential for use in classrooms that have the available resources.

Getting Rid of the Gunk Podcast

Getting Rid of the Gunk

Here is an audio recording for a podcasting assignment.  For this project, I decided to record myself reading an essay entitled "Getting Rid of the Gunk."  I wrote the essay as part of a "Culture of Me" project during my senior year in high school.  Writing this essay was a liberating experience because it allowed me to voice my own thoughts and struggles.  My twelfth grade English teacher, Mr. Wiebe read this essay to all of his other English classes and told me to send him my first book when it was published.  I've often thought back to that experience.  It's not only a great example of what a powerful writing assignment can do but also the power of a teacher's encouragement.

At the end of my essay, Mr. Wiebe wrote, "We could let all incoming 9th graders have this paper to read along with whatever else they receive at orientation.  It would be the most valuable gift by far [...] Blessings and thanks.  What a powerful vision of life as based on a real life you lived and live.  This inspires!"

That feedback resonates so much more than any editing marks a teacher ever made.

Listen to my essay, Getting Rid of the Gunk

My first iMovie

Although I have used MovieMaker a number of times, this was my first success at using iMovie. The last time I tried iMovie, I just about had a conniption since I was so unfamiliar with using Macs.  This time around, I was much more patient and determined to be successful.  This might not be the next Oscar winner, but it does have images, sound, and transitions.

  I didn't get around to adding a title, but these photos were taken during a family trip to Duluth for a wedding.

A Reflection on an Online Debate

Debate topic:  Public schools are failing American students and therefore should be dismantled.

1. What were some things that you did to create your role through use of language, information in/images used for your bio?

I explained my role (charter school administrator) with brief descriptions about my "experiences" at our school.  I drew largely from personal experience with different charter schools, their students, and their administrators

2. What arguments were you making to convince other roles to support your position?

My primary argument was that we should not dismantle the public school system because we do not have a plan to replace it.  A secondary argument was that the problems identified in the public schools are exacerbated by societal problems that are beyond what a public school system can remedy.

3. What evidence or reasons were your employing to support your positions? Do you think that this evidence or reasons were effective in convincing others to adopt your positions?

Again, I drew from personal experience. Because the debate stemmed from issues surrounding charter schools as a solution to the problem in public schools, I felt that my professional experience was a huge asset for me (I work for a company that takes over "failing" public schools and manages them using a charter school model).  I used actual examples of situations in our schools to support my arguments.  I wish I had spent more time planning and sorting my thoughts to create more cohesive, well-supported ideas.  The debate over the role of schools, assessments, standards, and standardized tests is something that I internally dialogue daily.  Due to a business trip and poor internet connection, I didn't learn about the topic of this debate until 2 days before it happened.  If I could do it again, I would spend more time developing my role, arguments, and evidence.

4. Which roles had the most versus least power in this role-play? What are some reasons that these roles did or did not have power? What were some strategies that the roles with power employed?

I'm not sure that any roles stood out to me as having the most power; however, it seemed that the roles played by Rick and Erin had the least power.  I think this is because they were so belligerent and one-sided.  Roles that were more insightful and interested in multiple perspectives had more credibility.

5. Were there differences between your personal beliefs and those of your role? Did your own personal beliefs on this issue change at all due to the role-play?

Yes and no.  I agree that the problem is much bigger than the public schools.  I believe that we are crumbling as a society; however, I also believe that we have a responsibility to do the best we can in the situation we are given.  I'm not entirely sure whether charter schools hold the answer to "fixing" public schools or not.  The topic is so multi-faceted that it is hard for me to break my opinion down into a simple pro or con.  Nothing was brought up that I hadn't already considered.

6. How might you use an online role-play in your teacher to address certain issues or teacher about an event or text?

To be honest, I don't think I will.  This was a great activity for graduate students, but I still have questions about how beneficial it would be in an elementary, middle, or high school classroom.  In addition, I plan to stay at my job for quite some time.  Whether I like it or not, our schools are not going to have enough technology to make something like this a realistic possibility anytime soon.  Furthermore, our schools operate using a very structured, traditional, teacher-centered teaching method that would not endorse this kind of activity.  While I don't always agree with that stance, it is a reality for me, as well as all of the teachers and students at our schools.

Picky about wikis

Hello, my name is Lisa. And I do not like wikis. I apologize, Rick. Despite your many attempts to demonstrate the potentials of this medium, I still have not become a fan. I have created wikis, joined wikis, edited wikis, imported images and videos to wikis, but I still have not been won-over.  I would even insert hyperlinks to my previous wikis for you to critique, but I guess I deleted them out of sheer embarrassment and frustration.

I can certainly see the benefits of wikis. They can be used to collaborate and share information. You can add images, links, and all kinds of other fabulous things.

Here are the reasons I do not like wikis:

1. Because multiple people can edit a wiki, something that I might not want changed or deleted could be modified by someone else.
If I do not allow others to edit a wiki, I might as well just create a website. Maybe this is the controlling, only-child side of my personality coming out, but I think it is a legitimate concern. It might be valuable to look at previous comments, edits, or dialogue. This is an option for email, blogs, and websites that allow comments. This is not an option for wikis, at least not that I am aware of.


2. The pbwikis that I have worked with are cumbersome.
Wikis have so many links and pages within pages, that they are often difficult to navigate.  It can be overwhelming and confusing.  Maybe I just haven't seen--or created--one that is organized in a way that suits me.

3. The pbwikis that I have worked with are unattractive.
I can't help it.  Any website, blog, or wiki MUST be visually appealing and reasonable to navigate.  If not, I generally will not bother with it unless I have no choice.  Yes, this can be harsh.  However, I believe that an inherent quality of digital media is that it should be user-friendly and appealing.

4.  I don't trust the content on wikis.
With so many people contributing information, I do not trust them as sources of credible information.  Wikipedia is the best example of this.  Yes, there is a lot of information on this site.  Yes, it can be helpful.  No, you should not trust everything you read on it.  No, you may not use this as a source for your research paper.

That said, I still think I might create a wiki for my final project.  I might also create a website or do something entirely different.  I'm still not quite sure.  Like I said earlier, I think there is potential for wikis; I just need to figure out how to make it work for me.

I have started a wiki that may or may not turn into something more for my final project.  I've been thinking all week about what I could create a wiki about that would be helpful to me or others.  So far, I have not come up with any great ideas.  Tonight I was hoping to spend more time sorting it all out, but I'm stuck using the computer in the lobby at my hotel (I'm traveling for work this week).  The computer is ridiculously slow and has frozen up several times on me.  Fortunately, I set up my wiki and wrote most of this post before I left.  Nonetheless, I was hoping to have a base of the wiki started tonight.  Alas, I am at the whim of technology.  I PROMISE I'll work on it next weekend when I get home.  I'm thinking I might use it as a way of gathering, organizing, and possibly presenting information and ideas for my final project.  I'll keep you posted about that.