INVITATION

How do we help students become critical thinkers with the ability to question the world around them? How do help them develop an informed understanding of the nature of mass media, the techniques used by the media, and the impact of media on our society? How do we teach students visual and media literacy skills that allow them not only to become informed consumers but also to create media products?

TASKS

Students use technology to learn about mass media techniques and create presentations that show learned skills. Students analyze and focus on the three main areas of media literacy: electronic media, print media, and popular culture. They then incorporate each category into an informative presentation.

TOOLS

Computers; the Internet; Sherlock.

AppleWorks; Inspiration; Photoshop LE or Photoshop Elements; QuickTime Pro; Director Academic.

Cinema 4D XL (optional); Final Cut Pro (optional); SmartSound (optional).

INTERACTIONS

Students work in groups of four with each member assigned to an area of research and development. The categories assigned in each group are General Media Literacy, Literacy in Electronic Media, Literacy in Print Media, and Literacy in Popular Culture. The students work together to create a presentation outline, organize plans for the final presentation application (Director Academic and AppleWorks), and assign tasks. Once the tasks have been determined, students work on and complete the assigned tasks and bring all tasks together to create the final product.

SITUATIONS

Students work in the classroom, computer labs, media center, and community. If possible, students work together outside of class so that classroom time can be more productive. This project can be completed in two or three weeks depending on the length of the project and teacher expectations.

ASSESSMENT

The teacher develops a rubric that focuses on the individual understanding of media propaganda and creates learnings for understanding. Categories of understanding include demonstrating critical thinking skills by identifying the differences between explicit and implicit messages in media works; identifying key elements and techniques used to create media works in a variety of forms and explaining how these elements contribute to the theme or message; analyzing the elements of media works in order to explain the reactions of different audiences to the works; and describing and explaining how and why media works are used to market related products. Technology aspects of the rubric may include utilization of multiple media types, synthesis of information, detailed and appropriate graphics, and visual media that supports content.

Because of the pervasive influence print and electronic media have in our lives, it is important for students to learn how to understand and interpret media works. In this project, students analyze various aspects of media communications, including key elements of the works themselves, the audience, production codes, and practices. Students also learn about the media through the process of creating their own media works, using a range of technologies to do so. By working in the various media to communicate their own ideas, students develop critical thinking skills and experience firsthand how media works are designed to influence audiences and reflect the perspectives of their creators.

This project involves two phases. First the students use research to develop a slideshow or interactive presentation that shows examples of media that takes advantage of or misleads the consumer with propaganda. In the second phase, students create examples of media that can be used to convey similar messages without the use of propaganda.

Phase 1: What a wonderful picture

As an anticipatory set, discuss with students that finding truth in photographs is also an integral part of the critical thinking skills involved in media literacy. Create a slideshow in AppleWorks or QuickTime Pro involving different photographs used for advertisements but delete or cover up the text. Challenge students to analyze the images by asking the following questions:

What do you think the advertisement is for? What is the relationship between the images and the product? Is the product in the foreground of the advertisement or the background? Why do you think this is the case? How might the camera angles used affect or propagandize the advertisement? How would you create the advertisement and remain true to the real context of the images? When the photograph or advertisement has been thoroughly discussed, add or show the text and discuss student reactions.

Phase 2: Investigating with Sherlock

Students move into a computer lab and utilize Sherlock to find information concerning media literacy based on their assigned category or task. These categories include the following:

General Media Literacy: Knowledge or lack of knowledge concerning all media formats. This includes statistics, polls, general research, probability, and predictions.

Electronic Media: Radio, television, film, CDs, videos, telephones, computers, photography, and cameras.

Print Media: Newspapers, magazines, books, comics, advertising, junk mail, travel brochures, fanzines, and electroniczines.

Popular Culture: Stardom, celebrity-making, shopping malls, toys, clothing trends, fashion fads, fast food, theme parks, and slang.

Prepare categories of research to begin students on a track of investigation yet allow students to continue meaningful research beyond the initial research category list. The initial list will include Web sites and media literacy categories for student research. Allow students to discover interesting facts and then bring them together in a whole group and hold a roundtable discussion concerning student research. This will give you an opportunity to evaluate students and check for an understanding of media literacy. Move students into discussion of electronic media, print media, and popular culture. Create a database with fields for each media type or set up shared files on a server for students to share research.

Once students have conducted their research, they can create a class database of authors using AppleWorks. Students can use the "Creating a Database With AppleWorks" Step-by-Step Card for assistance with this activity. Assign a database taskforce of two or three students to design the database so the other students can input their information. The database should include fields such as first name, last name, pen name, birthplace, date of death, titles of work, genre, and awards or honors. Students can add fields as they work with the database if there is additional information they want to include. The database will be useful for future activities relating to specific authors or genres studied in the class.

Phase 3: Welcome to the show

Following research and gathering of multimedia elements, students begin to finalize the project. The project can be a slideshow where students communicate information to the audience during the presentation or the project can be an interactive presentation allowing the audience to interact with the presentation. The slideshow can be created in AppleWorks; an interactive project would work best in Director Academic. Discuss with students the best approach for their project. Is the assessment going to be individual, group based, or both? Students should combine their parts of the project into one final project involving all students for the final presentation.

Phase 4: Advertisements based on truth?

The second portion of this project asks students to take the information and knowledge learned in Phases 1 through 3 and apply that knowledge by creating their own promotional advertisements or video.

Students remain in the same groups and decide what medium they will use for their advertisement. Will it be graphics oriented only for magazine or newspaper layout? If so, will they utilize Photoshop LE or Photoshop Elements, or AppleWorks? Will it be directed toward television and will it involve real images or animation? Will students use Final Cut Pro, Cinema 4D XL, or a combination of both? Is sound an important development tool and, if so, will students use their own voices, SmartSound, or both? The goal of this portion of the project is to engage students in creating an advertisement that does not rely on misconceptions in order to sell or promote a product. The project will need to involve truths both verbally and visually. Following the presentations, students should discuss if the product would sell. Why or why not? What would have made it better? Would the manipulation of presentation have given this product a better chance in the public market? Why? Some area of discussion concerning manipulation of visual stimuli may involve camera angles, camera-subject distance, and artificial-reality.

Camera Angles

By manipulating the angle of a camera, still or video, an image can be distorted to represent something it is not. For example, by shooting an image of a basketball player from the floor, the photographer accentuates the already imposing height of a tall person. This supports the fact that cameras can create meaning.

High Angle Shot: A shot in which the camera is higher than the subject of the picture.

Flat Angle Shot: A shot in which the camera is on the same level as the subject of the picture.

Low Angle Shot: A shot in which the camera is lower than the subject of the picture.

Camera-Subject Distance

By changing the distance between the camera and the subject, the photographer can confuse the viewer as to what is actually in the foreground and what is supposed to be in the background. Utilization of this technique, as well as effects in Final Cut Pro, can easily change perspectives.

Long Shot: The subject of the picture is surrounded by other material which gives it context. If the long shot is of a person, you will be able to see his/her whole body with background or foreground material around him/her.

Establishing Shot: The establishing shot is a long shot that establishes setting. You mostly see establishing shots in movies or in comic books.

Medium Shot: The subject of the picture has some other material around it which gives it further meaning. If the medium shot is of a person, you will see the upper body of the person with background or foreground material around him/her.

Close-up Shot: The subject of the picture is the only material in the picture. There is no other material to define the subject. If the close-up is of a person, you will see only the face.

Artificial-Reality

Video and photographs do not always tell or represent reality. With the advent of sophisticated technology, it is more difficult than ever to distinguish between what is real and what is not. How many movies do we watch today that prompt us to ask the question, "I wonder if that is computer animated or scaled models or real"?

Posed: The subject is arranged, or set up; there is no attempt at hiding the fact that the subject is totally aware of the presence of the camera. Most magazine covers or advertisements are posed.

Aware: The subject is aware of the camera, but tries to create an illusion that the images captured are natural. Political figures and celebrities in the public eye are always aware of the presence of the cameras, which affects their actions and words. Advertising attempts to create "reality snapshots" which many people buy into continuously. The media literacy rule here makes it easy: no matter how natural and real a picture looks in a TV or magazine ad, if the image is selling something, it is posed.

Natural: The subject is genuinely "caught" within a real context. Some news photos and sports shots fall in this category. Some would argue that athletes are aware of cameras, which dictates their behavior on and off the field during a game; others argue that the presence of a camera would not affect the game or a news story such as a protest. But recent history has shown that the presence of the camera adversely affects human behavior whether it is measurable or not. Just take a video camera out at a family function or in your classroom and see how behaviors change.

Phase 5: Show me the money

Once the video or advertisement has been created without misleading the potential consumer and discussed with the students, allow students a few extra days to apply some of the above information to try and manipulate the classroom to "buy into" their new product. The class should then continue to discuss what changed. How did the addition of misdirection or manipulation of camera angles change the meaning? Would it sell on the market now? If so, why? Students can continue researching this concept throughout the year, applying knowledge of media literacy to assignments and real-world activities in the days that follow.

PREPARATION

Students should be comfortable with Inspiration, AppleWorks, the Internet, Photoshop LE or Photoshop Elements, QuickTime Pro, and Director Academic. Optional applications include Final Cut Pro, Cinema 4D XL, and SmartSound.

Create slideshows that point out false and misleading advertisements.

Show commercials and ask students to respond to the product and the sales approach.

Bookmark sites on the Internet for focused student research.

Prepare a rubric for individual and group assessment.

Collect books and magazines that students can use for research.

Show full videos that define the manipulation of truths such as The Truman Show, Pleasantville, Tomorrow Never Dies, Wag the Dog, Ed TV, and others.

Create videos on the topic of media literacy and begin a city-wide campaign.

Work with the local media and television stations and produce a media literacy CD.

BOOKS

Approaches to Media Literacy: A Handbook by Art Silverblatt

Changing the World Through Media Education (Developing Minds) by Elana Yonah Rosen

Fake, Fact, and Fantasy: Children's Interpretations of Television Reality (Communication Series) by Maire Messenger Davies

Media Literacy by James Potter

The New Media Literacy Handbook: An Educator's Guide to Bringing New Media into the Classroom by Cornelia Brunner

Center for Media Literacy
http://www.medialit.org/

mediawatch
http://www.mediawatch.ca/

New Mexico Media Literacy Project
http://www.nmmlp.org/

Media Films
http://angelfire.com/ms/MediaLiteracy/Films.html

Media Literacy
http://www.unm.edu/~jeffryes/medialit.html

Media Literacy - What Is It and Why Teach It?
http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/bigpict/what.htm

Teaching Media (Grades 9-12 or OAC)
http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/class/teamedia/tujs.htm

Media Literacy Clearinghouse
http://www.med.sc.edu:81/medialit/default.htm

Media Literacy
http://home.earthlink.net/~macnw/literacy.html

Educational Resources in Media Literacy/Studies
http://www.cln.org/subjects/media.html