Media Literacy PSA

PSA Reflection

The theme of my PSA is why it's important to teach media literacy skills in the context of political campaign ads.  I discuss not only poster ads, but also video ads.  These commercials are all too common come election time, and it's important for students to learn to evaluate these ads now so that they can make more informed decisions when they become a voting adult.

I chose to use campaign ads and screen captures from ad campaigns to help prove my point about why this is an important topic.  I also used relevant ads, such as pro-Obama campaigns that were designed during the 2008 election.  I matched my images with the facts I gave out, and even slipped the same persuasive techniques used in political ads, such as emotional appeals, humor, and the use of patriotism, to convince my audience that they need to do this.

The Power of Representation

"This is part of the reason why so many people love video games.  Many video games offer users a set of choices that closely model the many choices we face in direct, real-world experience.  The immersion we experience when "it feels so real" is captivating and pleasurable because it closely approximates lived experience."

What's really cool about many video games now is that you can customize your character or choose which character you want to play, which gives people a lot more freedom to represent themselves.  One thing that is loved about Bioware games are their character creators.  There is so much freedom within the newer games to design your character as you want, even down to facial structure.  It's all pretty cool, and the most recent games have a character creator that can make such realistic characters.

As for the actual experiences from playing games, some are not so real, and don't have real-life problems, but sometimes the puzzles and problem-solving skills involved in these things is what makes it feel more real.  Other games, however, can have an appeal because they do create real-world situations and experiences.  Games can be powerful, not only for our leisure time, but also for use in teaching skills or lessons we need to.

PSA Storyboard

My PSA is about why digital media literacy in relation to campaign ads should be taught in schools.  My PSA is directed at teachers to encourage them that this is a skill that should be taught, especially as election season approaches.  I've attempted to use loaded language and glittering generalities.  There are also some emotional appeals in place as well.

Critical Questions, Close Reading

Quote

"Cross-disciplinary integration can take many forms.  In some schools, students take American literature during the same year they take American history.  In other schools, students read words from 19th-Century literature concurrently while studying this historical period."  -- Chapter 3, pg. 49

I absolutely love this.  Maybe this is because I have both an English and Social Studies certification, but I've always loved collaborating and bringing the two subjects together to make things more clear.  I'm fortunate enough to be in a school where the teachers are willing to integrate and collaborate.  For example, right now I'm working with my Seventh Graders on Greek Mythology.  Since they learn World History in this grade, the Social Studies teacher is studying Ancient Greece with them.  So while he's talking about the history, I get to talk about the stories.  It's an excellent learning experience for the students, and helps them have a greater understanding for what their studying because they have context for both.

Media Message

Ship of Fools - The Boston Globe

Deconstruction

1. The author is a columnist for The Boston Globe, and clearly someone who does not agree with what the Sunderland's let their daughter do.  The purpose of this article was for the author to express her opinion on this topic.
2. She uses a lot of loaded language in this article.  Words like "protecting", "dangerous", and "responsibility" help draw the reader's attention to what the article is saying.  If someone has heard the story, and holds the same opinion as the author, these words will attract them and make them continue reading.
3. This is an opinion article.  Those who feel the same will agree, while others might disagree.  Depending on where they stand when starting to read this article, they'll either agree, or they might become angry.  This event caused a huge debate, so there are many different viewpoints of what happened.  Those who might be on the fence, or without much of an opinion might be swayed by reading this.
4. The value of protecting your children and taking responsibility for their actions is huge within this article.  The question for this event, throughout every article has been "should the Sunderlands have let their daughter attempt this?"  There are debates of whether it was neglectful to allow this to happen and other such values.  There is also only one point of view in this article:  the authors.  She is clearly against allowing this to happen, and doesn't offer an argument for the other side.
5. The other side of this argument is omitted, but there is also an interesting discussion absent too.  It is mentioned briefly that Abby's older brother attempted, and succeeded, this very same feat.  There is no discussion of whether he should have been allowed to do this, only that she shouldn't have been.

My students actually read and deconstructed this article, as well as a news article and a couple of videos on the subject as well.  This story and the other were in our textbook, and I embraced the opportunity to give them a media literacy lesson.  There are a number of things that this lesson did for my students.  Firstly, it reenforced some ideas that were represented in a short story we read by giving them a real life circumstance where a rogue wave caused a shipwreck.  Secondly, we did some activities on fact and opinion, and what the difference is.  We also discussed loaded language and what words were present between all the different articles.  This also lead to a discussion of connotation, and whether these "loaded" words made the articles and videos positive or negative.

PSA

Topic:  The need for critical media literacy when viewing political campaigns

Facts:
1.  "Political commercials express their opinion not simply through words. Just as music and editing help convey mood in movies, in ads they reinforce the impression the makers want you to have."  (pbs.org)

2.  "Advertising surrounds us and these persuasive political messages ramp up around primary and general election time in every year candidates run for office. If students aren’t educated to see through these slickly produced commercials, they’re bound to believe much of what they see and hear." (http://www.middleweb.com/18374/campaign-ads-politicians-permission-lie/)

3.  "Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages we receive from television, radio, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, video games, music, and all other forms of media." (https://medialiteracyproject.org/learn/media-literacy/)

Audience for PSA:  Teachers

Life Online

"Courts have stated clearly that a student "should be free to speak his mind when the school day ends" and the school administrators' disciplinary power must be restricted to the boundaries of the school itself."  -- Chapter 7, pg. 126

I know there is great debate about what should fall under the realm of the school and what shouldn't.  As an educator, though, I can understand why many of the situations that were mentioned in this chapter resulted in action being taken.  The problem is that many times, things that happen outside of school find their way into school.  If a girl is being bullied by classmates on Facebook, that sort of thing never stays just on Facebook.  It's discussed in school, and sometimes the bullying takes a physical form in school.  So while the courts say that students should be able to speak freely outside of school on the internet, if it effects what takes place in school, then does that really count for what is being said here?

"Offensive content of all kinds is protected by the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment."  -- Chapter 7, pg. 128

I was completely shocked by this, especially by some of the examples that were given.  I wouldn't have thought that some of these things would be protected by the Constitution.  Like the making and selling of videos that show animal cruelty.  It just seems crazy to me.

"It solves one of the big problems when engaging in discussion with young people:  their tendency to repeat the same ideas over and over, even when the point has already been made."  -- Chapter 7, pg. 132

I don't think this is just a problem when it comes to teens, but college kids as well.  I remember being in seminars and the most common phrase spoken being "I agree with what so and so said" because they didn't really know what they were talking about or hadn't done the reading and happened to be called out in class.  I was guilty of this a couple times, and being totally speechless when someone asked me for a reason why.  So I do think this format and others like it for class discussions can be helpful.

Meme

I was thinking about how this chapter talked about how much people share things on Facebook, and how it talked about how some of those students complained about teachers and other students by making Facebook groups.  This just seemed like a good example of this.

Deconstructing Media 2

Both deconstructions make good points, though I'm not sure that I agree completely with them.  Mostly, I have issues with the Alltel deconstruction.

My first thought when watching the ad wouldn't have been that it was racist, though it is clearly stereotyping immigrants.  I would say that the point of the ad is for the viewer to relate to the family who are having to rent out their room, as they are attempting to sell phone plans.  I do agree that there is stereotyping of immigrants, though it is never explicitly stated what immigrants we're talking about.  I don't see an attempt to make people want to be like the family shown, and not the immigrants, but that they want you to prevent from becoming them by having this phone plan and saving money.

I would have to argue that most companies probably support making profits over customer satisfaction.  This ad is not unlike any other for advertising internet service.  It could easily be related to HughesNet ads, which focus that they can provide internet service anywhere.  In a place like West Virginia, which is mostly rural, this approach is appealing.  Having had this internet service, I could also argue that customer satisfaction is not their top priority despite what their ads might say.  Therefore, I would imagine that the claim made in this deconstruction is accurate, because internet service won't be able to reach everyone.

When I saw this ad, it made me laugh, which I believe is the technique being used here.  Afterwards, though, I realized what's being said here:  that the father has to label his children to know who is who.  This is the stereotype we see often, that dads aren't as good as mothers when it comes to their kids.  This is completely inaccurate, as mothers could just as easily have difficulty telling the difference between their children.