Journal #8

In their article, "Lights, Camera. Learning", found in L7L June/July 2009 issue, Glen Bull and Lynn Bell focus on the transformative effect that digital media has had not only on popular but also educational culture. Because analog TV media has only been in existence for about the last 60 years, the fact that digital media has changed what we do and view so quickly it seems like a tornado effect. There have been one million hours of video posted to You-Tube in the last six months according to this article, which is more time than the TV networks combined have broadcast since their existence! WHY? Michael Wench who is a digital ethnographer feels that this huge growth in "participatory media" is due to it's two-way conversation. While analog is just a direct one way stream of information, digital provides not only the one way feed, but also the chance to interact with it, thereby creating a dialogue. What does this mean for educators...plenty. Learning needs to be interactive;therefore, this digital medium becomes a wonderful classroom tool.
Different subject correspond depending on their nature as to how we can incorporate digital media as part of the curriculum. An obvious choice would be social studies because images and sound bring history to life. Not only that, but it also allows students, with teacher guidance to utilize authentic,digitized primary sources for raw data. Another subject that lends itself well to the use of images over time is science. Because science is based largely on observation and empirical thought about the world around us, time-lapse, zoom details and super-slow-mo type special effects allow students more astute observation opportunities. No matter what your subject area, digital media can help aid your classroom presentations and assignments.

Q? What about mathematics and English? How would I incorporate these with digital images?
A. Digital imagery brings a subject like math to a new level of understanding, especially for students who have trouble visualizing a concept or who are second language learners. By presenting a visual road map of relationships, concepts and patterns, visual learners can analyze solutions with more facility. English, language arts specifically is a different approach because instead of importing knowledge, students are exporting their personal synthesis of knowledge. There is, according to the authors, a wonderful occasion in language arts to both "consume and create multimodel compositions". It is a new concept to be explore-non printed text and an area in which I think students will be highly creative and excel within the frameworks provided by their educators.

Q? Why is You-Tube so popular?
A. Long ago when human communities were still indigenous and societies smaller in size, individuals were recognized for having creative talents. Still today Aborigines sing themselves from location to location on their walk-abouts, for they keep no other tracking devices, they are singers. Native Americans honor that each of them can create, they are "artists". People would make up stories about natural phenomenon or relationships and tell them around the fire, they were writers of oral traditions. People would hollow out tree stumps and stretch hides across them or cur reeds and make flutes and they were musicians. Today you cannot hold any of those titles with society recognizing you specific talent and titling you as such; however, we have never lost that innate yearning to be creative. As humans we have unlimited potential to create in many different ways, AND to be acknowledged for it.
This is why You-Tube is so popular. Because it allows for two way connection-a conversation between thew poster and the viewer, and it allows the need to create to be satisfied, You-Tube has fulfilled a huge void in societies globally who have no other satisfying outlets for their members.