Toolkit - Smart Media - with Fiona Grant

 

Smart Media with Fiona Grant 

A recorded toolkit from Oct 19. 

My brain is buzzing with the concepts and there are so many ideas to explore in the slides 

Focus on Year 1-3. 

Learn - students start by learning 'what is media'. This can happen through discussing images of people engaging in different types of media (using technology and tech free), sorting these images and noticing what is happening within these images. In doing this, students are 'tuning in' to the media that is around them. 

- Super tip - select images the kids connect to (e.g. murals from around town and DLOs from other kids' blogs). 

Students learn that people make images. 

Students discuss fake and real images.

As you view and evaluate images - you are constantly eliciting questions from students, helping them to think for themselves, encouraging their curiosity. 

Create 

Students can create their own 'fake' images by using sites such as explain everything cut out tool and remove.bg 

This is something I am really interested in - creating images. And earlier in the lockdown I had fun creating some similar images with my kids. 


I might build up to doing an activity like this with the students in class and create a shared book.

Share

As students share work online via blogs, they realise that they are the creators of media and all the media that they view has been made by someone. 

One of the toolkit participants shared about a 'Fire Safety' unit. In this unit she discussed 'search terms' and wrote some fire fighter search terms on the board. The Y2 students did an image search using ipads. This resulted in lots of discussion. She asked the kids questions such as, 'Would anyone stand that close to a real fire.' The kids had to use their prior knowledge of fire (heat) to understand the images. 

Reflection: 

Visual images are everywhere  - it's important that students realise that images are not always what they seem. 

We use visual images like emojis to communicate all the time. 

Young students don't automatically know that media is created by someone. 

We might not start out explaining to students they are learning about their 'cyber footprint' or that they are 'evaluating images' but they are taking in these concepts as they go. 

Action Steps: 

- Share relevant media with students to stimulate discussion (local murals, class blogs)

- Give students opportunities to create and share their own media 

Comments

  1. Michelle27 August 2020 at 18:09

    It's really inspiring reading all the great ideas people are getting from these toolkits. I think teachers forget to give airtime to static visual images even though we know how powerful they can be to prompt discussion and ideas. I can see some great opportunities to practice those Talk Moves through this, Simon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simon28 August 2020 at 15:09

    Thanks Michelle. Great idea to connect it to the Talk Moves.

    ReplyDelete

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