This week, the Students whom I work with at Golf Road Junior Public School had an amazing opportunity directly related to our work together in studying Media Literacy, specific to Television and Film Media. After being approached by MediaSmarts, I was connected with the CBC who wanted to engage with and film a class focused on Students’ perceptions and opinions on Violence within popular films. Along with the TDSB, we accepted and were excited by the opportunity to converge our ideas with those of a prominent Canadian media stakeholder. Our collaboration became a part of a larger segment focused on a recent American-based study which analyzed the PG rating in relation to popular films.
As an ICT and Media Literacy Teacher, I am constantly looking to a variety of media and web-based sources to drive my instruction and to learn through fluid sources that are constantly changing. I thought of this opportunity less as spectacle and more as a learning experience which could be leveraged in multiple ways, possibly: focusing on the content to be explored, focusing on the media method and elements used throughout this exploration, focusing on inquiry practices that spark Text-To-Self/Text-To-World connections, and the like.
In preparation for the experience, I worked to develop a lesson using a variety of Web-based tools and resources (TDSB’s Academic Workspace [AW], Padlet, Wordle, YouTube and Google Docs) that I hosted to share on Planboard. Developing rich content that engaged Students with our focus question, “How do you, as Youth/a Student feel about the amount of Violence in Popular Movies?“, was key in forming a foundation through which Students felt comfortable exploring further. I understood that the dynamics of the lesson and my plans would flux as Students, many for the first time, were in front of the camera – this element asked Students to communicate effectively and to demonstrate their knowledge in ways which they may not have otherwise envisioned.
The end result was fantastic as Students and I had an opportunity to share in something truly exciting and authentic together. Beyond shaping and sharing our experiences and thoughts within our common ICT Media Lab, we shared them with the nation – definitely indicative of Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century.
With this all, please see the video below, specifically at the 1:31 mark and forward:
This post was originally published on www.classpace.ca on December 20, 2013.
Joseph Romano is an ICT Lead Teacher & holds a Position of Responsibility (POR) at the Toronto District School Board. As the Founder and Virtual Education Strategist at Classpace (www.classpace.ca), Joseph researches Virtual World Pedagogy (#VWP). Joseph works as an Educational Technology Advisor at MaRS Discovery District's Education Division. As a Collaborator in the Hive Toronto Learning Network, Joseph connects with others focused on digital literacy. Connect with Joseph via Twitter: @RomanoJ & @Classpace, via LinkedIn: http://goo.gl/hfEHy and at www.josephromano.ca