A Few Words on the Projects

This final project is the chance for you to bring together three key realms:

I have spoken to many of you and I am really excited about the ideas you have come up with!  I want you to run with the idea that feels most daunting, most exciting, more impactful in making your classroom/youth space into the place you want it to be.  Here are a few words of wisdom for you as you work on this...

1) You don't have to finish it by the end of this week.
I believe that teachers need time, support, and inspiration to be the innovative practitioners they want to be.  I hope that this class gives you time and space to THINK about ideas that you don't have time to think about otherwise.  I want to feel you vision the project you are planning and outline all of the moving parts.  Create as much of it as you can (you will be glad if you get a lot of it done!) But don't be afraid if you can't have every element completed by the end of the week.  Promise yourself you will finish it this summer, and do as much as you can in this course.

2) It is not about me.
Don't get wrapped up in what *I* want or am looking for.  I offer you the project handout and some grading criteria to help guide you and push you.  But my hope is that you can use the things you have explored in this class to create something for *you* and your students.  As I explained in the video I sent out on Sunday evening, the grade is not the thing.  You already have an A on this project.  Now let that knowledge free you up to take risks and do something fun.

3) It is all about you.
The Pecha Kucha is a chance to share your story.  I think that most of you will include information about the project you are planning and the media/technology you are using when you present your 20 slides.  But the best Pecha Kucha slide decks are all about YOU.  Tell the story of your journey.  Include personal photos if you have them (and very little text on the slides!!)  Talk about how you got to this point in your career and beliefs.  And explain what inspires you to try this "new thing" when you are back with your students in the fall.  Your full narrative will hit all of the academic points, so don't be afraid to use the pecha kucha in a personal, engaging and inviting way.

Hope these points are helpful!!  Can't wait to hear more about what you are planning.  Leave comments if you have questions that I can answer publicly!

GOOD LUCK!!

LB :)

Welcome to Digital Media Literacy!

Welcome to CURR 501: Digital Media Literacy!  

As a central tool of this class, you will create your own blog to use this week and next for all of your written assignments, and to keep track of your thoughts about any of the issues we cover. You can also maintain this blog after this class is over for personal or professional purposes.
  

A blog is your very own, personal online journal. It is public, in that I and your classmates can read it and comment on it, but it is your space and you can control most everything about it. (If you want to make it private so that *only* members of this class can read it, click here for instructions).  




In the context of this course, your blog has two purposes:  

1) Your blog will provide a space for you to keep all of your writing assignments over the course of our eight days together. You will not hand in any written assignments; rather you will post them on your blog. In this sense, your blog is merely your assignment notebook that you will use as you read and prepare for class each day. You can also post any additional thoughts you have: responses to class discussion, after thoughts, things you forgot to say in class or want to remember for future use, relevant experiences you have, etc. But importantly, your blog is a public space, and as you post (and comment on others'), you will gain a much richer understanding of everything we read and discuss in class. I want you to think of it as interactive and intertextual in that way. In this sense, your blog is much more than just a Microsoft Word document that happens to be online. It is a hypertextual space that allows you to link to images, webpages, video and other online tools and toys.

 2) Creating your own blog will also introduce you to the blogisphere if you don't know this place already. Why blog? I am trying to encourage you to practice the digital literacies we are learning about. Further, I think you will enjoy it, and I hope that you will discover creative educational uses for this online medium. You will see how easy it is to use blogger.com, and perhaps it will inspire you to be a blogger in other areas of your life.  

To start your own blog, you will go to: www.blogger.com
  

If you do not already have a Google account, you will need to create one.  If you do have a Google account, sign in in the box at the right.  This will allow you to create your own blog on a site called blogger.com.   

Click the button that says NEW BLOG (you will see this even if you have blogged before) and follow the instructions to get started.   

Don't forget your Username and Password!!  You will need them to login every time. Please write them down on the top of your syllabus so you don't forget!  

As you fill in the info, you will be asked to give your blog a TITLE. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "CURR 501: Digital Media Literacy")  

Then, you need to choose an address: http://_______.blogspot.com. This will be the web address associated with your site. You can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you. Do note that many addresses have already been used by other bloggers, so you may have to get creative.  Write it down so you don't forget it! (You can also find it later on in your Dashboard where all of your future blogs will be listed.)  

You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND STARTING WITH SIMPLE OR PICTURE WINDOW for ease and readability.  Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later so don't worry too much about it initially... Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. 

A “post” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many posts). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button at the bottom that says Publish. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

 Your First Po

Your First Post

Your first post should be a short introduction to you: who are you, how your summer is going so far, what do you do when you are not in class, etc. (Just a short paragraph — no big deal). Try to include one picture in this post and at least three hyperlinks.  You will post the rest of the entries as they are due (see syllabus for dates), or whenever you have something to say! 

When you are done creating your site and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of my first posting (scroll down) that includes your name and blog address so that I can post it in the link list to the right. 


Some Tips and Helpful Hints:

• Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word DESIGN, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc. (You can only do this if you are logged in to your blog.)
• Once you are in the DESIGN screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the top of the screen for all kinds of options.
• Poke around online and make a list of websites related to education, media literacy, social justice or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your LAYOUT screen.
• Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!

Good luck!!  

LB :)