Infographic

Infographics are fun visual representation of data that students will find highly amusing. It will ease the pressure of trying to understand and analyze data as they will be presented in an artful manner that young learners can relate to. It is fun and at the same time stimulating. It is also thought-provoking where interesting discussions arise as students dissect texts and images. It is a great way to fuse graphic design and data handling.

Magazine Cover Design

Using http://www.magcover.com/, I designed a magazine cover that would cater to DIY fanatics. The publisher of this magazine is Homepage, an independent and privately held publishing companies. It is the home to some of the world's best-selling hobby and leisure magazines. The intended audience are creative housewives and husbands, single men and women who are looking for hobbies that can be lucrative, furniture makers and DIY fans. I would like my readers to take the magazine home, collect them, and regard them as a very useful manual that is worth keeping and handing down. 

The cover shows a step-by-step image of up cycling a table. It immediately appeals to DIY-ers because they can easily relate to it and get an idea from it. The font of the headline is a classic design similar to what the magazine features, classic designs. The color, earthy and natural represents wood which is one of the most beautiful and practical material to work with. The font size is perfect for the size of the picture, not too overpowering but big enough to be easily noticed. 

If I were to give two adjectives to describe this cover design it would be motivating and resourceful. The magazine is supposed to motivate people to create and not be afraid to experiment.

Representation, Stereotype and Bias

Stereotype

This magazine ad is an example of stereotype. It shows a group of women all dressed in "power suits". Our society believes that to represent a powerful, modern, working woman, she has to be dressed in a way the fashion world dictates. Clad in black and trimmed suits apparently represents her most. 

Representation

This magazine ad is an example of representation because it is trying to portray order in the midst of chaos. This ad is trying to tweak the fact that the life of a mom is glamorous instead of showing that with all the responsibilities that come with housekeeping, an inexperienced mom would find it difficult to cope. Drinking vitamin water will not change the difficulty that parenting entails.

Bias

This magazine ad is an example of bias in society. Fashion has dictated that a beautiful woman should be skinny, tall and blonde. It has become a universal point of view that a woman who has a rounded shape, a bit heavy and average in height is not considered as "beautiful" in the fashion world. Such biases brings forth insecurities, "it hurts not to be beautiful!" 

Codes in Media

The Technical Codes found in the media samples were:

MOVIES

Symbol: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" had a lot of colors and animation. The objects, like different kinds of foods were made to be very attractive and fantasy-like, bringing the audience to dreamland.

Technical Jr.:The camera zoomed in on the major food groups and main characters.

Symbol: "Series of Unfortunate Events" used a lot of shades. Dark colors like gray, black and green were used to symbolize gloomy and sad emotions and situations. A lot of visuals such as thorns, swirls and shadows were used to show confusion, pain, and fear.

Technical Jr.:The camera zoomed in and out, wiped and swiped rapidly, keeping the viewers interested and guessing what is happening next.

TV COMMERCIALS

Symbol: The Wrigley's TV commercial made use of familiar junk food that most viewers have already tried, making it easier for the ad to convince them about their negative effects.

The catch phrase "Eat, Drink, Chew Extra" has a chant-like rhythm that is easy to remember. The commercial also used a popular song "Bad Boys" changing the lyrics to "Bad boys, bad boys, what ya gonna chew when he comes for you". It sent a message to the viewers that eating all these junk food will cause tooth decay or bad breath therefore chewing gum was a necessity.

Technical Code Jr.:The camera zoomed in on the junk foods that were supposed to be attacking or enticing the woman that made an emphasis on the "villains". A close up on the woman chewing gum saved the day.

Symbol: The Nolan Cheese commercial was very humorous. The typical mouse trap was used to show a typical rat looking for food and getting trapped along the way. But he redeemed himself towards the end when he got stronger after eating cheese. The way strength from eating dairy was portrayed was effective.

Technical Code Jr./Written: There was a blackout in the middle of the commercial right after the rat ate the cheese to show suspense. The music "Rocky" made it exciting for the audience to watch the rat do weight lifting. The catch phrase "Seriously Strong" worked perfectly with the images.

MAGAZINE ADS

Symbols: The Wendy's hamburger showed a superimposed picture of a hamburger. Using smaller fonts and having the drink behind it made the hamburger look gigantic.

Written: The buzzwords went well with the image like "Baconator" showing tons of pieces of bacon popping out of the hamburger and "Smaller is better works only for gadgets" emphasizing the appetizing and filling size of the hamburger.

Symbols: The Farm Fresh Produce ad used a colored photo of the vegetables against a black and white background photo of the city. This effectively expressed the message that no matter how polluted or routinely life in the city can be, there is still a possibility to have something fresh and out of the ordinary.

Technical Code Jr: The use of colored and black and white photograph showed a clear contrast between fresh and shiny to drab and boring.

Media has a such strong presence in our daily life. We are actually living in a media saturated world where all the things that we see affect us emotionally, socially and intellectually. It is therefore an important skill for learners to be able to analyze and undertand how media can be both deceiving and beneficial. This skill will allow our 21st century learners become effective and critical producers and consumers of media messages.

LESSON PLAN

Objective: How are food marketers crossing the line between advertising and entertainment to engage young consumers, and why does this concern children’s consumption in daily life? To what extent are product-related games, quizzes and apps making children both recipients and tools of marketing? In the lesson below, students look at various forms of advertising, then keep logs of the ads and other branded content they encounter over the course of a week. The students will reflect on their experiences researching and how they will become different consumers.

Materials: Computers with Internet access, projector, links to examples of advertisements and commercials. (see links below)

Warm-Up: Display the following three-question quiz on the board/projector.

1. It is conservatively estimated that children influence more than $_______________ in food and beverage purchases each year in the United States.

a. 10 million

b. 50 million

c. 50 billion

d. 100 billion

2. In February, the McDonald’s sites HappyMeal.com and McWorld.com received a total of ______________ visitors, around half of whom were under 12.

a. 7,000

b. 70,000

c. 700,000

d. 7 million

3. General Mills’ Lucky Charms site, with virtual adventures starring Lucky the Leprechaun, had __________ visitors in February.

a. 27,000

b. 57,000

c. 157, 000

d. 227,000

(correct answers: 1. d; 2. c; 3. d)

Reflection: Have students answer the questions with table groups. Ask students if they find any of these numbers surprising.

Lesson and Activities:

Activity A

A. Show the movie title sequence.

Ask the question, "What were the feelings you had while watching the movie? List them all down on the board or chart paper.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

B. Show the magazine ad. Ask the same question, "What were the feelings you had while looking at the ad? List them all down on the board or chart paper. 

C. Show the Magazine ad again and play the movie at the same time. Alternately show the ad and the movie making sure that you give an ample amount of time using the music from the movie as a background music to the magazine ad.

Ask the same question again, "What were the feelings you had while watching both at the same time? List them all down on the board or a piece of paper.

D. Compare your lists and discuss the similarities and differences.

E. Show the TV commercial

Wrigley's Extra Chewing Gum

Ask the students to describe the commercial. Ask the question, "What is the message of this TV commercial? Is it effective? What are the benefits of using images and music altogether to relay a message?

F. Do steps A-E for Activity B with the following media samples.

Activity B

Movie Title Sequences:

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Magazine Ad:























TV Commercials:
Nolan Cheese Commercial

G. Compare the results of Activity A and Activity B.

H. Show the Wendy's ad again and play the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie at the same time. Ask the question: How did your feelings change about the magazine ad? List down answers on the board or chart paper and discuss the differences from the list made in Activity A.

Activity C 

Poll the class. Ask for a show of hands for each of these questions, and tally responses on the board:

• Have you ever played a game, taken a quiz or used an app related to a food, drink or other product?
• Have you ever “liked” a product on Facebook? Ask some students to share which products they have “liked” or tagged online. List them on the board.

What do you notice about the list? Have you asked your parents to buy these products? Were you already consumers of these products?

Reflection:

Look around the grocery store. How does the junk food aisle differ from the produce section?

What are some of the marketing techniques you see in the grocery stores?  Are they efficient?

What restaurants are you attracted to at a food court and why?

How do you think things are different today than they were when ads were only in print, display, radio and television?

Chip Kidd: Designing Books is No laughing Matter

I enjoyed watching this talk for two reasons. First, Chip Kidd's jokes were very witty therefore it wasn't necessary to try too hard to be funny. Second, it was like watching a book cover in action. The way he dressed and how he moved gave us an idea of what to expect to see and hear. Stories need a face and book covers do just that. It gives the book a face whose expression we can decode. Chip Kidd mentioned that "a book designer gives form to content but manages a very careful balance between the two." This is especially true when we, human beings, naturally make connections to what we see. I personally respond immediately to an image by making interpretations upon seeing it and then I read whatever text comes with it. The way we respond to different stimuli depends on the emotions it arouses. It is then very important for a book cover  to tell us a story or provoke us to discover the story. After all, we do judge a book by its cover!

I love it when he said, "a book cover is a haiku of a story". It definitely is. I believe that a book cover is like a poetry, a collection of a few, carefully selected, intense  and thought provoking words that tell a story. And even if Ipads and Kindles are very convenient to have, there is nothing like the comfort that the familiar sound of flipping pages in a quiet room gives to an avid reader. 

The book cover of the "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk presents a challenge to the mind. It provokes the readers to figure out what the page would result to if folded along the crease. It makes me think that the story would require some intellectual challenges to solve a mystery or maybe it can even be how to survive higher level Math!

The book cover of "The Mind's Eye" by oliver sacks uses an image of something very familiar, an eye test chart. It serves its purpose 100% because it fools the mind into thinking that your eyes are actually blurry by staring at it. I think this is a book explaining how our minds based from what we've experienced interprets what we see or it can also be a story about misinterpreting people or situations.

The book cover of "Exit A" by Anthony Swofford makes use of an app calles "Unblock". It is a game where one figures out how to arrange certain blocks for "THE" -usually red- block to exit. The level of difficulty increases as you advance. Considering that there's a picture of what seems to be a teenager in one corner, I think this book is a story about one boy's struggle to get through middle or high school. The blocks represents all the challenges he needed to overcome to get out of unpleasant situations. 

Media and Information Literacy

To read the article: Media and Information Literacy pages 120-127

http://www.shootingatbubbles.com/archives/the-newspaper-industry-is-the-wrong-to-crash-this-early/

Because of the increasing demand for faster data delivery new technologies led to the convergence of traditional and new media.  For many years, TV, radio and printed materials like newspaper, books and magazines brought all the necessary information into our homes. Domestic schedules and routine were mostly set around broadcast times. Traditional media served as an important part of daily life and primary source of information. But its roles, to inform, to educate, to present a point of view and to influence others opinions have been challenged by new media, which has greatly affected the audiences’ means of participation. New media as described in Wikipedia is “a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century which refers to on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. Another important promise of new media is the "democratization" of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content. Another aspect of new media is the real-time generation of new, unregulated content.” It has therefore started a cyber culture covering all forms of communication in the digital world and all sorts of technological innovations like laptops, tablets and Smartphone.

This culture brought about information revolution and swept away the limitations of the analog world.  Younger generations are drawn to faster means of acquiring information with Internet based gadgets. They are not as patient as we used to be to wait around for broadcasting schedule. Blogs, online news, Facebook, You Tube, podcasts and instant messaging enabled anybody to be journalists with little to no investment and with a worldwide audience. The surfacing of blog stream is an indication of the audience desire for diverse information. Traditional journalist for example, writes about what the editor assigns to them. Bloggers on the other hand are led to write by passion, making blogs more popular and interesting to read. This is why we see a lot of traditional journalist blogging, which contributes to blogs gaining more credibility. The media environment depends highly on the needs of the audience.  The primary need is to have a “voice”. The Internet provides a round the clock medium for exposure. Anyone can be a journalist by producing news without relying on traditional media or the dictates of an editor.

As technologies advance, new media tools provide a lot of potential to help in teaching and learning. But how we learn with them can have both positive and negative effect on our ability to learn. Social networking sites allow students to explore and access information about their interests on a global scale. They can even discuss these interests with a wider range of people. Because resources are so accessible, students are drawn towards self-learning. However, for students that are not skilled at evaluating contents, it would be difficult for them to sort through and find accurate information. As dictionaries, encyclopedias newspaper and calculators find their way to the “Museum of Forgotten Tools”, comes the rise of Wikipedia, Google, YouTube and Smartphone. Students have become highly dependent on them. While Wikipedia is a great tool for gathering information, it is difficult to find information about more in-depth topics than just mere definition. It doesn’t include information that an expert or an experienced professor can provide. Therefore, it cannot replace traditional academics. You tube on the other provides a lot of potential for student learning. Learning using a video has become a preferred choice among students and teachers. It can be use to back up a lecture or to trigger discussions, which can improve students’ classroom experience. But in order to create a more meaningful learning environment there should be a balance between the use of video in the classroom and live instruction.  The use of Smartphone allows students to have access to many applications including dictionaries, calculators and language translators. It is therefore a challenge to give spelling tests or geography tests when students can easily look for the answers from their Smartphones. This leaves us with the question, is it still necessary to have such tests when students can easily access answers?

All these new media tools are one way or the other causing students to have a short attention span. And I must admit, they do the same thing to me, too. Now a days we expect to learn instantaneously which presents a big problem for subjects that require in-depth analysis. But whatever argument there may be over the use of new technology, they are here to stay. They have also created a culture where everyone is free and willing to participate. 

References: 

The Role of New Media Technology in Education

Wikipedia New Media

Innovation Through Technology

To read the article, click here: Innovation Through Technology

How to Use Web 2.0 to Teach Literacy Strategies to Struggling Readers

It is not surprising to read, “96 percent of nine- to seventeen-year-olds embrace the Web 2.0 culture of social networking, blogging, twitter- ing, GPS mapping, or interactive gaming at some level” (National School Board Association, 2007) and “according to the National School Board Association (2007), they typically spend about nine hours per week outside of school using social networking and ten hours watching television.” It is therefore the task of schools to embrace this “techy” culture and use it to its advantage. Students will be more engaged if we, allow them to live and learn in their world, at school.  The article also explained that according to administrators who responded to the CoSN survey, the top three reasons for using Web 2.0 in school are to (1) keep students interested and engaged in school, (2) meet the needs of different kinds of learners, and (3) develop the critical-thinking skills of students.  It is therefore inevitable to embrace the innovations of visualization, democratization of knowledge and participatory cultures of learning. There is no valid reason for schools to live in the past if the future of education will rely heavily on Web 2.0.  If we examine closely, we will come to realize that our students’ use of the Web usually is for the purpose of expressing themselves and sharing their stories to their circle of friends. They create profile pages and upload photos and videos. They react with each other and actively make comments on each other’s pages. If students are equipped with the ability to make critical judgments of what they post online then we as educators can use this skill to our advantage by looking at the Web as an exceptional learning environment. We could turn creation of profile as personal expression, uploading of photos and videos as a way to express creativity and interest, commenting as thoughtful discussion and critical thinking. The use of the Web also subjects our students to exposure to a massive amount of visual input. They need a lot of guidance to be able to turn these images to ideas and share them with others.  

All three innovations are very important but I believe I should address visualization considering that 4^th graders are on the verge of becoming constant consumers of information. According to the article, it is important to acknowledge that people learn better combining visuals with text and sound than through using either process alone which is highly helpful to language learners. Visualization promotes critical and creative thinking if directed effectively, resulting to interesting discussions in the classroom and build vocabulary. As I have mentioned earlier, our students are already exposed to it, all we need to do is to bank on it and make the experience more worthwhile for them. Although, our division tries its best to promote the use of technology by providing students and teachers equipments and the library with the necessary resources, it is still necessary to take the time to build their critical thinking skills. We try our best as educators to teach them to be their own critiques, to expose themselves to useful information and visuals. But despite all these provisions, students come home and are left to use the Web without any guidance. They are then free to expose themselves to all forms of images that may not be helpful to enhance the skill learned in school. 

ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

To read the article, click here: 
http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/visualliteracy.pdf

Gadget Anatomy

I believe that one of my strength is the ability to evaluate the aesthetic and technical characteristics of images. This is because I’m a painter and production designer. I have worked on several painting, illustrated a book and have done several designs for TV commercials, fashion shows, stage plays and product launches. In design school I learned how to combine aesthetic appeal with functional quality and communicate visual ideas. In art school I learned fundamental processes of visual perception and artistic expression. For both jobs, I had the opportunity to make judgments and decisions to make visual representations of thoughts and ideas. Through the years I’ve developed the critical eye to consider as strength in order to engage capably in a visually oriented society. I believe I am visually literate in a way that I can evaluate the aesthetic and technical characteristics of images and effectively fulfill the learning outcomes as stated in Standard Four of ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. 

On the other hand, I would consider my weakness as not taking the time to look into the ethical, legal, social and economic issues surrounding images and visual media as stated in Standard Seven. Because visual aids are readily available online, it is very easy to take for granted copyright issues. It is very important to emphasize the importance of this matter to students while in the process of collecting visuals to include and support a project or presentation. It would highly beneficial to young students to help build a culture of respect for intellectual properties thus protecting their own in the future.

To integrate visual literacy to my curriculum I would partner with the digital literacy coaches and the librarian to see to it that students are provided the necessary to tools to critically choose materials online and to derive meaning and function to what they see. The digital coaches are capable to provide the necessary skills for students to function effectively in the digital world. 

The Wrong Bet: Why Curriculum and Standards Won't Help

I think it makes a lot of sense for schools to change their orientation and look towards the future instead of the past. For several years the education system has adopted the traditional education paradigm as we enter into the 21^st century. This trend is similar to someone walking forward with a backward orientation. The focus is on where one left behind and not on where one is going. If schools around the world continue to follow common core standards, students who are under the category of creators and empathizers will have a difficult time to find their place in a world of factory and knowledge workers. It should be the goal of every educational institution to cater both the left-brain and right-brain thinkers as explained in Daniel Pink‘s “The Whole New Mind”. I believe schools should work towards tapping the full potential of every student into becoming creative, competitive, decisive and critical thinkers. Otherwise there will always be a competition of where labor is cheaper and not where it is more ingenious.

Coming from a country where labor is considered “cheap” I couldn’t agree completely with Zhao’s argument. As Zhao mentioned, people from countries who are willing to work for less will always have the “unfair” advantage of getting jobs. He also implies that developed countries need to work their way to compete with the less deserving developing countries. Such generalization is unacceptable and I believe that he needs to look into why people from developing countries get the job done and in a very satisfactory manner.

http://planetphilippines.com/current-affairs/english-proficiency-is-key-to-landing-a-job/

The traditional education paradigm has not affected my opportunities at all. I experience an educational system similar to the Asian countries that Zhao mentioned where a central government education authority prescribes and enforces what students need to learn. I must say that my education was sufficient enough to drive me in the direction of seeking a higher education geared towards the arts. The culture of empathy, resourcefulness and the need to excel taught me to be flexible despite having a rigid education. This has allowed me to have the same opportunities people from developed countries experience.

I am trying my best to instill the same characteristic to my students. I strive my best to give them venues to relate well with others, to be problem solvers and to have high standards. I believe that empathy results to competence, as it is very important to be aware of what the job entails as you work with other people. For one to be creative, one has to be resourceful. And to become an innovative global citizen it is a requirement to always strive for excellence as students try to break grounds, leading the way for others to follow.

World Class Learner: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students

Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums

TED - http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/charles_leadbeater_on_education.html

1. What is the purpose of this media/information resource?

The purpose of TED refects the basic doctrine of information literacy because it recognizes the need for information, gives power to ideas, and leaves room for interpretation, and allows viewers to have access to new ideas and alternative solutions to some of the worlds problems.

2. How is this produced?

Charles Leadbeater did his research in a variety of slums in developing countries.  He took the information gathered and wrote a talk to synthesize and convey his findings.  A video is made of London’s TEDSalon in April of 2010 of Charles Leadbeater’s talk.  After the talk, the video of the presentation was edited and uploaded to the TED website in June 2010.

3. Who created it?

This TED Talk was created by Charles Leadbeater in association with TED and research was sponsored by CIsco.  These 3 entities worked in collaboration to produce the TED talk we were able to watch on ted.com.

4. Who is the intended audience? How do you know?

Anyone concerned with global education and is looking for reform in the current system.  Also, this talk is intended for investors who care about the future of education and, thus, society.  You know that this is the intended audience because it addresses the needs of education and education reformers explaining its future impact on the world.  Leadbeater talks about pro-ams (professionals and amateurs) that are needed to be involved in making education intrinsic and extrinsic in order to reach the largest group of people, showing that everyone and anyone can be an educator and make a difference.

5. What is the main message?

A radical reform of education is needed to transform education systems to meet the needs of children and pull them into education instead of pushing them.  Mr. Leadbeater emphasized the need for social entrepreneurship to create highly motivating and low costs ways to educate at a large scale in the developing world.

6. Who benefits and what do they gain?

The children who receive this new, innovative education reform will benefit first hand. As these children grow up, the societies and communities from which they come will benefit, as well with the skills and education they have received.  

7. What would have been my information needs that would have led me to this video?

In order to find this video, you would have had to search for “education,” “reform,” “talks,” and “slums” in Google in the videos section. Since Leadbeater is an expert in innovation strategies, that could be another way to look for information regarding this talk.  

8. How would I understand, organize and assess the information found?

We watched the video in order to understand, we took time to discuss the information presented in order to organize our thoughts and ideas and we assessed the information by looking at its context and thinking of ways that it would apply to our own teaching practices.

9. Identify and explain the Big6 steps you're applying in this activity.

We are using number 4, Using Information, to understand the problem and the solutions Leadbeater is giving.  We then use number 5, Synthesis, to take in the information and make our own opinions based on the information presented.  We used number 6, Evaluation, to combine the information with our own opinions and apply them to our own realities and improve our teaching by applying our existing knowledge to the new information we have learned.