Jon Voigt CI 5472 Blog

I wonder if someone will read these two articles in twenty years and laugh until they drop... Clearly we are making strides in technology every year, coming out with new gizmos and such, but looking further down the road is something we just can't do with accuracy. As for now, I can definitely see the validity in utilizing a CA for an online course or for something of that sort being that studies have shown that pedagogical agents can "increase motivation, perceptions of comfort, stimulate learning, and give a personal connection to learning (2).

Boys will be boys, so studying how women avatars are more likely to suffer abuse than male ones is a no-brainer to me. It would make an interesting debate, that is, on whether a teacher should have access to transcripts, but I suppose it totally depends on the circumstances.

I really think that the idea of having a "companion" throughout a lengthy course where an online portfolio is created is pretty cool. As the authors said, today we tend to "move towards learning with technology," rather than "from technology" (18). As for now, I really don't think that we have enough technology to provide pedagogical agents with enough content-based intelligence, but we'll look to the future and see!

Posted by Jon Voigt at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi everyone. Check out the link below to see my avatar. It's been a good time and good luck to you all!

http://www.gizmoz.com/file/material/1334953/icon/13630020.jpg?v=1246233067421

Posted by Jon Voigt at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Assignment One: Spoken Word

Especially after a unit on poetry far removed from our own time, I think it is important to occasionally thrust the students' perspectives into a more contemporary medium of poetic expression. Placing traditional poetry alongside rap, hip-hop, and spoken word would yield many opportunities to examine which elements of poetry have changed or stayed the same throughout time. While incorporating key concepts of poetry such as hyperbole, metaphor, and simile throughout the assignment, students will argue why they believe certain aspects of a spoken word artist's delivery and words are effective.

Clearly it is difficult to argue with the proposition that rap is just poetry set to beats, but I believe that analyzing spoken word would be much easier and constructive for this assignment's purpose.

1. Watch the following 4 videos together as a class.

Liza Garza- "My Everything" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcjGTkADLqI

Gemini- "What are you fighting for?"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7eZOXmORA0&NR=1

Taylor Mali- "What teachers make"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q&feature=related

Sarah Kay- "Hands" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuAbGJBvIVY&NR=1

2. Guide students through how to set up a blogspot account, and for each video, students will post a one-paragraph response.

3. Paragraph could include, but is not limited to, comments concerning the following themes derived from the clips:

Liza Garza's dramatic and heartbreaking performance includes themes of violence, community, motherhood, and gangs. Gemini's performance is confident and strong, and speaks to many of the same issues as Garza, but also includes themes of the ego, thug life, and death.

Sarah Kay's piece is peaceful and serene, and talks about fatherhood, accomplishments, altruism, and individuality.

The last piece by Taylor Mali all of you teachers out there will really like. It speaks volumes to the impact that teachers have on young people. Themes of respect, knowledge, and dedication can be found in this performance.

Assignment Two: History of Hip-Hop As Vehicle for Social Criticism

I looked on the website for our course's textbook, and found that kids today are "devoting approximately four and five hours a day listing to music and watching music videos" (Christenson & Roberts, 1998, p. 8).

Christenson, P., & Roberts, D. (1998). It's not only rock & roll: Popular music in the lives of adolescents. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

1. Students will watch the following two videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Y9-JlSRXw

A video compilation of the life of Tupac Shakur with the song "Changes."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVL4IAKA9Lc

A music video called "Harlem Streets" by Immortal Technique.

Key questions to consider:

What is the main societal injustice that the song depicts?
Who does the song suggest the culprits are?
Is there an optimistic or pessimistic message?
Does the artist provide solutions to the problems in society?

2. Student's will divide into groups of three, and then do research the history of hip-hop.

http://www.hiphop-directory.com/General_Hip_Hop_Sites/index.php

3. Using imovie, the groups will create a short 1-2 minute video clip. Submission can spoken word, rap, or simply read, with an option to add still images or video images.

4. Students can make their video about the history of hip-hop, take a stance on a current political debate, or respond to some type of injustice in their community or around the world.

5. Post the video to their blog.

6. Make comments (roughly 2-3 sentences) on every group's blog.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Daily Show usually picks on Fox News the most. TDS will of course pick up clips from other liberal sources such as MSNBC, but it is usually something that pokes fun at bad journalism, a stupid story that shouldn't even be covered, or anything else that can be "spun" into a bit of humor. But when Jon Stewart picks on some of the pundits on Fox News, it is usually an ideological parody, where liberalism and conservatism clash. The opportunities for various projects on the issue of "fake news" sources are seemingly endless.
Many people still don't take such a crass show seriously, but Stewart's target audience is of huge interest for many people - especially politicians - and is gaining a lot of attention lately. The show doesn't blatantly assume a liberal bias, but since most of its viewers are in a very liberal-leaning demographic, it can be safely assumed. When Bill O'Reilly had Jon Stewart onto his show a few years ago, he dug into Stewart, demanding an explanation for his lack of journalistic integrity (as if Bill O'Reilly has any), but Stewart curtly responded that "we come on after a show about puppets making crank calls." The format of Stewart's show allows him much opportunity for getting his own ideas across, even though I don't typically notice this because I tend to agree with Stewart.
In Kothe's article, she compares O'Reilly to Stewart:

"The "it's just a joke" argument that protects comedians such as Stewart (who has used this defense on numerous occasions) while simultaneously allowing them to voice unofficial criticism needs further investigation, particularly in relation to the mean-spirited use of comedy already deployed by official news people, such as Bill O'Reilly."

The idea that there are now fake news people is pretty awesome. It is true that sometimes when I have a lazy week I'll pick up an Onion or watch Stewart or Colbert and pick up a few sprinkles of "journalism."

#1

Though Stewart's writers are trained professionals, I think that high school students could employ programs such as imovie to gather some past blunders and absurd moments on major news channels, and then create a montage by clipping it exactly where they want to in order to deliver punch lines and put their own twist to the story. I'd carry this assignment out in the following fashion:

* Show a few critical strategies that the daily show employs to get a laugh out of his audience. Spend a little time discussing why certain zingers are actually funny by referencing the nature of the story as the official national media portrays it.

* Have students search for relevant clips online, but first have them choose from a list of items recently discussed in class, whether it be sexism, racism, or issues with gender.

* Create a working storyboard.

* Final clips should be between 3 and 5 minutes per group.
This would be great practice using different technologies, and the final project could even be posted on a blog or wiki. By looking into the sheer parody of news shows such as The Daily Show, students will look more critically into issues such as bias, corporate interest, and even get a few crash courses in history as they look into issues that the Daily Show has covered over the last ten years.

#2

As a literature teacher I'd love to somehow incorporate Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" into my class. Even though it is almost 200 years old, the whole essay uses devices that are used by The Daily Show today, such as constantly qualifying information with prestigious and authoritative sources ("our senior political analyst John Oliver reports..."). In "A Modest Proposal," Swift contends that he has heard all of these awful things from "A very knowing American of my acquaintence in London" or "So many good Protestants."

I would have students compose an essay that explains how irony and satire are effective means of criticizing an opposing viewpoint. I'd allow them to let the essay take its own course, but have them focus on John Stewart (or Colbert) and Swift as men who have an agenda, and have them explain exactly what that agenda is.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I watched 5 Eyewitness News at 4:30 PM on ABC tonight. The opening was the classic attention grabber, and quickly the viewer is shocked with very rapid clips showing the devastation of a tornado in Austin, Minnesota. Each clip was no longer than 3 or 4 seconds. Through a birds-eye view provided by helicopter, they show farm structures leveled to the ground and softball diamonds flattened. Eyewitness News even incorporated a video sent in by a parent at a little league baseball game who filmed a funnel cloud reaching down.

Very quickly the case of Denny Hecker followed. He will sue the company GMAC, claiming they had full financial control of his accounts. All of this done in the wake of a Hecker's home being invaded by state troopers. Since this is an on-going story, Eyewitness News assumes the viewer knows the rest of the story, but they provide no background information of the case. They only allot about a minute to a minute and a half for this story.

Next is another local item of interest because it involves the immediate danger of our community's children: a young girl was walking down the street when a man tried to lure her into his car with a $100 bill. Again, very brief, about a minute, maybe less.

The next story was interesting because it was about something I hate - road construction! They sent a reporter out in the field, specifically 9th and Marquette in downtown Minneapolis. They interview the owner of Hell's Kitchen, who claims his weekend revenues were down 30% since the construction started. Other businesses hurt are Manny's Steakhouse and a nearby hotel. There are about 5 or 6 interviews, so this segment was a bit longer, maybe 3 to 4 minutes.

I had a problem with the way in which this next story was presented. Automatically the anchor displays hatred and dismay at Governor Pawlenty's unallotment legislation. I am not necessarily a Pawlenty supporter, but everyone knows that anchors and reporters should present information in an unbiased manner, but not many do. Since the economy has taken a hit, Pawlenty wants to trim our budget, and live on 95% to 96% of what Minnesota survived on last year. But, to the dismay of most people, he made cuts that will harshly affect schools and many vital jobs. 2 to 3 minutes.

Supposed "breaking news" is next to once again capture the viewers attention. A civil trial for a woman accused of illegal downloading of intellectual property. Not a very interesting story and poorly covered, maybe a minute.

"Severe weather update coming right up"... cut to commercial.

Lipitor - America's Best Eyewear - Bankruptcy lawyers - Herbergers - ABC

Miniseries event "Impact"

And we're back with a quick look at the Nasdeq and Dow.

Live Weather info, quick cut to the story of a pilot dieing of what appears to be a heart attack; everyone was safe with the copilot landing the plane so, sad to say, no news there, thus a short, 30 second explaination.

A 2 to 3 minute story about the backlash of the elections in Iran, with protestors on the streets of Tehran.

Next, story of growing number of teens are cheating in class on cell phones. Stats say 23% of students say they text during class.

Back to live radar with the impending tornado watch, effective until 11pm.

7 day outlook.

A 4 to 5 minute segment about perennials you can grow in the shade... severely zoned out during this segment. Below the screen had a stream of info with websites and stuff about the weather.

Some commercials, then back once again, informing the Twin Cities community that there are still tickets for the Eric Clapton concert tonight at 8pm. Then some teasers that make people want to watch the 5pm news... the quickly more commercials.

There were some great teaching ideas in chapter 9, but I see an awesome opportunity for a bit of humor and also some critical instruction on news media analysis. I am a huge fan of the Onion, the Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, and I know young people are too. A project could be set up to use programs such as iMovie or whatever available movie making programs to create a mock news program that is closely based to the average local broadcast. I would suggest that the groups would look for flaws or things they did not like about the broadcast, then create a parody or simply their own twist on a story.

Some writing exercises could also be included, such as story-boarding and writing transcripts and articles (maybe in the style of the Onion?) Including social issues, like Heather Johnson of North St. Paul High did, which monitored racial bias in the news, could spice up the assignment and make the kids question the media. Another idea I would use is comparing MSNBC to Fox news - or some similar binary - and follow the same story, to see what they find in each side's arguments and biases.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the section entitled Families and Age Groups in chapter 5, Beach describes the change from the typical patriarchal family structure commonly portrayed in the media in the 1950s to the 1990s trend of a show with a “bungling and ineffectual” father, as portrayed in The Simpsons (52). Many TV shows since have employed a “Homeresque” father, and much comedy can of course result from such a dynamic, but even the more serious TV dramas often have a father that doesn’t have nearly as much clout as the family’s mother. This observation is of course a generalization given the many different TV shows out there; there are shows about single fathers, families with a crazy mother and a responsible dad, and so on – but the prevailing characteristic of parenting, as I tend to notice, is that women end up doing much more and better parenting than men.

The character Red from That 70s Show is insensitive, extremely degrading, conflict avoidant, and tries to stay out of his children’s lives as much as possible. It could be argued that Red is actually a very accurate representation of a typical 70s father, but today stands as yet another example of the media misrepresents reality – or, more interestingly, perpetuates the stereotype that fathers are inadequate parents.

http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2007_08_16_SP_CatholicCharities.pdf

I found a study in a sociology journal by Jacinta Bronte Tinkew, Ph.D. entitiled “The Importance of Fathers to Children and Familes” published in August of 2007. Dr. Bronte’s first statistic is that 97% of Americans believe that “fathers are just as important as mothers for the proper development of children.” With this incite, why do the vast majority of TV shows tend to portray fathers as infantile, uninformed, and distant?

A possible solution is that many plot lines are based on minor marital disputes. No one would watch a show where everything happens swimmingly and there is never any dispute or controversy in the family. Dr. Bronte’s study shows that positive mother-father relationships allow men to “identify more strongly with [the] father role and become more involved in parenting. If the mother and father are engaged in some sort of feud, this often allows the children to purposely veer from acceptable behavior, leaving the parents to try to reach common ground with each other and the situation.

The last interesting statistic I found on Dr. Bronte’s study was that as children age, fathers become less involved in “personal care, play, and companionship activities, but more involved in achievement-related and social activities.” We see this play out in TV shows when the father – who usually avoids things like helping with homework – will jump at the first opportunity to help their son or daughter build a pinewood derby car or make a sports team.

All in all I believe that people do not base their parenting styles off of TV shows, nor do they search for answers in programs such as Family Guy or American Dad, but the media ought to be very conscious of disseminating misrepresentations of any kind, whether they be connected to gender, sexuality, class, race, and the whole array of issues where the media should look to sometimes inform rather than merely entertain.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shot by shot analysis

Commercial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFsKeDAJPak

This is a commercial that I believe first appeared during the 2008 Superbowl. It is a funny commercial, but, as expected, there are tiny elements of suggestion embedded into the humorous situation, which were put there with the hopes of people buying Bridgestone tires.

Shot one – A close-up shot of an acorn falling onto a highway, which is deep in a pristine wilderness area.

Shot two – A close-up shot of a happy squirrel, who has just seen the luscious acorn fall onto the road.

Shot three – A telephoto lens technique is used. The camera shows the acorn in the middle of the road with the squirrel on the other side of the road. The viewer feels the first sense of danger because the squirrel runs at the camera and finds himself in the middle of the road.

Shot four – Another telephoto lens technique is employed, with a vehicle heading right towards the viewer and the squirrel, who is presently devouring the acorn.

Shot five – This shot begins with a medium shot of the squirrel, but quickly zooms into an extreme close-up of the squirrels horrified face. The squirrel is personified, and the comedic effect is great because his facial expressions and blood-curdling scream are very human.

Shot six – A long shot of a raccoon continuing the squirrel’s shrill scream.

Shot seven – A close-up of an owl continuing the raccoon’s scream.

Shot eight – A medium shot of a rabbit continuing the owl’s scream.

Shot nine - A long shot of a mouse standing on his hind legs continuing the rabbit’s scream.

Shot ten – A medium shot of a turtle continuing the mouse’s scream.

Shot eleven – A close-up of a deer continuing the turtle’s scream.

Shot twelve – A long shot of a praying mantis continuing the deer’s scream.

Shot thirteen - A hilarious long shot of three gophers continuing the praying mantis’ scream.
Shot fourteen – The human element of the commercial is interduced. A close up shot of a woman’s terrified face is shown, continuing the screams of all of the woodland animals. The woman is sitting in the passenger seat, and it is assumed that she is the wife of the driver. It is clear that she believes that a crash is about to occur.

Shot fifteen – Another close-up of the supposedly doomed squirrel’s face.

Shot sixteen – A close-up, wide-angle lens shot, with the screaming wife’s face in the foreground, and the calm, confident, macho husband in the background. His expression suggests “Honey, why are you freaking out? We have Bridgestone tires!”

Shot seventeen – A close-up of the driver’s hand cranking the steering wheel.

Shot eighteen– Close-up shot of those amazing Bridgestone tires responding coolly to the road.

Shot nineteen – A low-angle shot which shows the squirrel in the foreground, with the speeding car in the background avoiding the squirrel by mere inches.

Shot twenty – Another close-up shot of the tires turning with precision.

Shot twenty-one – A long range/establishing shot of the sports car speeding down the road, suggesting freedom, power, youth and style.

Shot twenty-two – A medium shot of the happy squirrel, still clutching his acorn.

Shot twenty-three – A long range/establishing shot of the squirrel in the foreground with the car speeding away in the distance. The element of danger is finally resolved, and the peace of the wilderness is restored.

Shot twenty-four – A still shot of the Bridgestone logo, which claims it is the official tire of the NFL.

The message of the commercial clearly isn’t “buy Bridgestone because you can avoid squirrels.” The message is that by buying Bridgestone tires you can avoid accidents, and since it is supposedly the official tire of the NFL – the epitome of machismo – it puts off a manly vibe, and is clearly directed at men more than women.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Film link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8

I will analyze a short sequence from the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. I would love to study this piece in the classroom because it is a perfect example of literature that can be fully appreciated by private reading, reading in class, or performed on stage and on film. The opportunity for various assignments and projects seems limitless because each character is complex and has positive and negative characteristics which composite an accurate portrayal of a human being.

The entire sequence, despite the fact that it is shot on black and white film, uses very low-key lighting for dramatic effect. The scene begins below Stella’s window with an extreme long/establishing shot that also serves as a tracking shot, for the camera slowly follows Stanley’s eyes from the alley up to Stella’s window. Stanley hollers Stella’s name repeatedly until she comes to the window, but, at the time, she wants nothing to do with him, and is extremely angry, pleading for him to quiet down because the cops will come. This particular scene in the sequence ends with Stella slamming the door, followed by a quick change to a close-up shot of Stanley, wet with rain, his shirt ripped, with an intense look of defeated anguish on his face. His hands are at his hips, and then slowly move to cover his face, and bellows out her name one last time.

Another immediate change of camera takes the viewer into Stella’s apartment. Her expression has changed from angry and upset to pensive and sympathetic. She says nothing, but the extreme close-up shot reveals her inner feelings. Stella then stands up with a look of determination. At this moment, the viewer doesn’t know her intentions, whether she will go back to him to finally tell him off for good or to reconcile with him with open arms. This effect is heightened because as Stella rises from the chair, her sister Blanche is introduced into the scene with her hands on her chest, revealing how shocked she is at Stanley’s behavior. Blanche tries to stop Stella from going outside again, but fails.

The next scene is a medium shot of Stella (from the waist up) at the top of the stairs. She casts a lusty, powerful look down at Stanley. This look could be interpreted, presently, as one of extreme hatred of or domination over Stanley. The camera gives the viewer a point of view shot looking down at Stanley through Stella’s eyes; he looks wretched, but the way the shot is set up, the viewer is forced to have sympathy for his position. Stella walks down the stairs – ever so slowly – in complete control over herself and Stanley. It is at this point that an ambivalent, mysterious, and sultry musical score starts up. The music heightens the romantic and manic characteristics of the couples’ strange relationship and is a great build-up to the final scene where, after falling to his knees, Stanley starts crying, only to have Blanche run her fingers through his hair to consol him. The lovers then embrace and kiss each other madly, and the sequence ends with Stanley carrying Stella away.

I love this sequence because very little dialogue is involved, forcing the viewer to pay close attention to the ways in which body language, camera angles, and facial expressions heighten the dramatic effect. In Beach’s chapter on film techniques, there is a section entitled “A Teaching Idea,” which offers some insight on how to actually motivate and prepare students to create their own short films. By creating their own short movies clips or mock-commercials, students can discover a deeper understanding of different film techniques. Reinartz’s teaching idea involves a considerable amount of group work, which starts with students bringing in their own favorite clips, then letting their classmates discuss the effectiveness of the clip itself. Then the notion of storyboarding is discussed, an approach that I believe is essential because of the degree of cooperation necessary in the group. By storyboarding, students have the opportunity to brainstorm and come up with creative ways of expression through film. But before jumping into the actual film aspect, I would use what Beach describes as visual literacy, which involves students analyzing still images. This would be a great way to delve into the different cultural codes of meaning.

An approach I would personally be bound to use in my classroom would be imitation of certain clips from films. I believe that the scene I used above from Streetcar could be readapted to the students’ taste, and teach them a lot about camera angles, lighting, music, and a whole array of other film techniques. I would allow the students to juxtapose certain elements of Streetcar, ie., changing a dramatic scene into a comedic one.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I will have to use my own high school experience as my example since I’ve only put in volunteer hours at Patrick Henry, and couldn’t honestly summarize the degree of media studies there. I currently have some family members enrolled in my old high school now, and have been in contact with some of the teachers, so I know that the curriculum hasn’t changed much. Test scores remain some of the best in the area at USC, but the percentage of students who go off to college could see some improvement. Below is my argument against “going back to the basics” and steering away from technology/media studies.

The Kaiser Foundation reports that young people are multitasking more than ever, using different media devices at the same time on an average of 6 hours and 21 minutes per day. A startling, perhaps even unbelievable statistic? The need for extensive progression in all sorts of media studies at USC can meet the needs and interests of students half-way, and allow the students to engage with their classmates in many different ways. New forms of literacies such as blogs can expose students to a larger community of opinions, helping students fully express themselves and formulate their personal identities.

Even in an English classroom, problem solving games and activities hosted on the web can help students who struggle with reading and writing, and sharpen the skills of gifted students. If a student struggles with traditional learning methods, but excels in areas such as technology and gaming, that individual can team up with his or her classmates to solve elaborate problems that spark genuine interest. Together, teachers and students can engage texts and experiences, and the dialogue that follows is a unique literacy in which teachers, students, parents and communities can be proud of.

We need to stop looking at media studies as an offshoot of a “normal” education. The 21st century poses new challenges, but also many exciting opportunities. We do our kids a great disservice if we yield to our ever-increasing glee at seeing high test scores.

Posted by Jon Voigt at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The chapter in Richard Beach’s book entitled “Goals for Media Literacy Instruction” is framed by an interesting complaint from a school board member in Eden Prairie. The board member raises an important issue – how to appropriately incorporate media in the classroom – but misses the mark completely by assuming that “showing movies” displays “a pretty low skill level” on the part of a teacher (2). Beach disputes such sentiments point by point throughout the chapter, and creates a dialogue between those who do not or cannot understand the importance of technology and media of all forms and those who are constantly adopting new methods of instruction in the classroom.

Another key motif in the chapter is the fact that students in their adolescent years must face many obstacles other than academics: students must discover their own place in the world, challenge the social and cultural norms constructed by the media, and by examining the economic and ideological forces behind many media outlets, realize how biased and dishonest the media can be. Beach argues that many of these goals are stifled by acts such as No Child Left Behind, which places more emphasis on testing and leaves media studies behind. I strongly agree with the example set forth by other countries like Britain, Australia, and Canada, which have embarked on giving media studies a central position in the curriculum.

One day while volunteering at Patrick Henry High School, I helped Mr. Pelini’s ninth-graders with a short writing assignment entitled “My Most Prized Possession.” Some of the students wrote about sentimental objects such as necklaces and rings, but I was surprised at how many of the students opted to write about various games and gizmos such as Ipods, laptops, video games, and even Tivo! The goal of the assignment was to have the students examine a single object and describe it to the finest detail. I’m not much of a gamer, but one young man wrote about the World War II game Call of Duty, which I’ll admit to playing on occasion. I told him how strange it is that the generation of our grandfathers actually fought in that war and did exactly the same kind of things portrayed in the game. He responded, though shyly, by telling me that many times while chatting with other players on the game’s online forum, that people often tell of their own grandfather’s experiences in Europe and the South Pacific. After I critiqued his writing and chatted him up a bit more, he had plenty of in-depth and, actually, profound things to say about his most prized possession; he didn’t merely relate basic facts about his topic (like many other students did), but gave an account that was deeply personal and wide in scope.

It should be obvious to teachers that students do better on assignments when the topic is something they enjoy. In terms of media studies, there are thousands of current events and controversies that can challenge students to look critically at things that directly affect the world. The most interesting part of the chapter is the section written by Mary Ballstrud entitled “Analyzing Media Coverage of Diseases and Epidemics.” She talks about how students prefer to distance themselves from uncomfortable topics such as AIDS in order to avoid giving out their personal opinions in front of their classmates. The remedy, for Ballstrud, is drama, ie, role-playing and skits.

My question is this: what other techniques could a teacher employ to approach tough issues such as those described above? And further, is it ethical to have students use anonymous avatars on a discussion blog to tackle controversial topics in the media?

Posted by Jon Voigt at 1:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)