David Considine (1995) in An Introduction to Media Literacy writes how "responsible citizens need to possess the ability to question the accuracy and authenticity of information in all its forms, not just print." This thinking upon which I agree reminds me of a specific day a few weeks ago in which my 11th grade student Basil called me over to his computer. That particular day, my class was unable to avoid the swine flu talk, since it was everywhere we looked that day.
We were doing in-class wikis that day (pat myself on the back) and Basil had his browser turned to a Yahoo! Answers site (remove pat from my back) and wanted to show me what some random person had written about the swine flu. "Look Mr. Adams," Basil explained, "this person says that it isn't even as serious as the regular flu, so I think it is okay." "But Basil," I pleaded, "that is a random person without so much as an emoticon for a picture! How do you even begin to trust that person?" "Well," Basil continued, "this one looks a little more legit than the others . . . so . . . "
The upside to this otherwise saddening discourse was that I was able to talk about online writing with Basil and with the entire class and turn the experience into a reason to encourage students to be cautious with their wikis and only seek out reputable sources in their quests for information.
Considine goes on to add to my point that "consuming information" is not the goal, rather becoming a "media literate individual able to produce, create and successfully communicate" that information—that is the objective. Were 100% of my students able to create sickeningly beautiful wikis that captured their research and turned it into an organic and streamingly communicative body of writing? No. Did the assignment help them on their way? Yes.
Even though I have been a loyal Jimmy John's customer for over a decade, the above advertisement absolutely sickens me every time I see it on TV. The ad is built on the simple premise that kids today (even in a private-uniform-mandatory school) are wild and uncontrollable and the only way we can calm them down is to reward them for doing nothing but behaving as they are supposed to. Often, that is the way I feel about digital literacy. There is a fine line between simply "showing a movie" in a classroom to calm the students down and to help you pass the time and viewing a movie critically as a class to more fully build upon the curriculum. We are watching The Crucible this week in my 11th grade class because I personally think that the film is well done and that it can add to our discussion about the play (which frankly can be quite boring in spite of its rich subject).
I chose not to show A Farewell to Arms because I felt that the movie was a touch antiquated and that it literally would act as "time filler" AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - the visual images of that book are truly profound and I believe they live on best in our imagination.
This brings me to today: a lesson I built around the premise of media literacy. David M. Considine (2000) writes in Media Literacy and Adolescents: Teenagers and Screenagers that "today's movie teens drink, do drugs, have sex but almost never study, work or express their involvement with faith or family." It is because of this awareness at teachers that we have to weed through the sludgy filth and bring forth the quality that exists and put it on a pedestal where it belongs.
To further look at the family's impact on personal identity (an ongoing lesson in cahoots with Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street), I garnered several media examples to show to the students. First I talked about Sylvia Plath and we watched her read her tremendous poem "Daddy" on a You Tube clip. The 9th graders could not have taken it more seriously. We then shifted moods to look at Tupac's "Dear Momma." While some students sang along to the song, others were hearing it for the first time. I took time to describe how for this unique song, Tupac sheds his rough, violent image to display the untarnished love and affection he has for his mother. While objectively I would state that most of the music the students listen to is garbage, I truly believe that eventually they will sift through to the quality, and what better role can a teacher take but to help their search?
After looking at a Barack Obama excerpt from his book Dreams of My Father (note that I said "looking") as well as another song about mothers by Kanye West, I was able to sneak in a hilarious clip about a real boy who loves his very real father and is not afraid to show it.
While the students laughed at the father's funny voice, I felt that the video showed a unique and healthy father/son relationship—one we would be wise to try and model in our own lives (if we have children).
While today's lesson went smashingly well, I do have to ask: how often can I do a lesson like this one? Clearly we have to cover "real" content - state standards require Romeo and Juliet - so most of my days simply have to be reading "actual" text, right?
It is difficult to truly state how much of what I do (even today) is for the students and for myself. I want to make it through the day happy and satisfied and somedays (yesterday) it is extremely frustrating to have a well thought out lesson that does not work. I know that I will engage the students in some way if I utilize media - but the challenge is to use the good stuff that actually does something and to have it used to create real dialogue. The students are thirsty for debate and often the clips I show generate conversations that lead students into loopholes and they do not articulate their thoughts as well as they would like to.
I suppose my final and ongoing question here would be: how do I best utilize new literacies, promote media literacy that reflects and builds upon my curriculum and allows for the initial inklings of adult style debate to emerge?
Also, where do we draw the line as educators between using technology to appease students and utilizing media to enhance lessons and develop the critical thinkers we so greatly desire?
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