For teachable moments, the Melania Trump speech will be known as quite a doozy. And this week the work of Stephen Colbert for the Late Show has provided a laundry list of striking television images that have been second to none: from musical numbers to Hunger Games characters to James Bond silhouettes posing as the Trump RNC entrance to a riff on the infamous Melania speech, it has already been a treasure trove for media literacy. Regarding the issue of plagiarism that was raised by the speech in question, a website well known to many teachers for dealing with student cheating, TurnItIn, has offered their own brilliant and thorough take on this specific case: Understanding Plagiarism to Avoid Controversy. (To cite my source: the title of this post is a quote from Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman.)
Posts Tagged ‘media literacy’
“Ands” and “thes” and things like that
Posted in Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Media Literacy, tagged Hungry for Power Games, James Bond, media literacy, Melania Trump, Paul Manafort, Plagiarism, Stephen Colbert, TurnItIn on July 20, 2016| 1 Comment »
Media Literacy at the White House
Posted in Chapter 1, Social Studies, tagged Game of Thrones, Jimmy Fallon, media literacy, President Barack Obama, Social Studies, The Late Show, Voter Registration on June 28, 2016| 1 Comment »
Ready for some media literacy lessons? Well chosen uses of insert shots, energetic cuts, sound editing, and more — and shot at the White House? That’s not something that can be said too much in U.S. history, but President Obama’s tenure has been a game changer for media literate leadership. And yet again, so fun. So check out 5 Things That Are Harder Than Registering to Vote, Featuring President Obama.
(Okay, and here’s the “slow jam” Fallon appearance, which is more about performance than motion picture language, but those are some pretty sweet focus pulls.)
New Business and Business as Usual, Part 2
Posted in Chapter 5, Media Literacy, tagged Business, Douglas Rushkoff, media literacy, People Get Ready, Robert McChesney, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus on March 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »
It is certainly no coincidence that books on virtually the same topic by two of the leading contemporary writers on digital media and communications — Robert McChesney and Douglas Rushkoff — are released within a week of each other. People Get Ready, by Robert McChesney and John Nichols, and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, by Douglas Rushkoff, both address the effects of digital technologies and media on national and world economies and possible consequences for a wide range of issues related to work and human interaction. And how C3PO and R2D2 might not be your best pals after all. At least if you have to work to get by (and are not simply funded by the Jedi interstellar trust fund). You can also check out related earlier posts from mediateacher.net: New Business and Business as Usual, Media Business and Criminology, and VFX and the Art & Business of Moving Images.
Making a Media-savvy Learner
Posted in Chapter 6, tagged Laura Ricciardi, Making a Murderer, media literacy, Moira Demos, Netflix on December 31, 2015| 1 Comment »
Documentary filmmaking has long been at the forefront of the digital media revolution.
Making a Murderer, directed by Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi is and will be a powerful case study for many phenomena of our interconnected, media-immersed world.
Choose the course: Media Literacy and Digital Video Production; Criminal Justice; Sociology; Psychology; or many other fields of study or secondary school departments — this series can be used for ripe investigation in all of them.
Here are a bunch of interesting questions ready for inquiry.
Opening Days Again!
Posted in Chapter 1, Media Literacy, Resources, tagged Douglas Rushkoff, FrontLine, Generation Like, media literacy, PBS, PowerPoint, Tyler Oakley on August 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Perhaps school started for you recently or you are in the first days of a new school year — here’s a reminder that I have posted earlier pieces for starting off the year, including ones that feature links to media literacy coursework slideshows with linked videos, activities, and other useful resources.
Meanwhile, I was recently reviewing trending topics and reference points for new media, and I laughed when I saw the opening video to Tyler Oakley‘s YouTube page in which he gushes about the wonderful year he’s had and that PBS “did a documentary about me!” I guess it says it all about “Generation Like” that he declares it’s a documentary just about him when Douglas Rushkoff and the FrontLine producers create a new, insightful piece about “how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media — and exposes the game of cat-and-mouse that corporations are playing with these young consumers.” As Alissa Quart adds, “today, coolness is … like you have to be constantly selling yourself, showing yourself and marketing yourself… Instead of turning your back to the audience or wearing sunglasses at night, you’re taking off those sunglasses and you’re smiling into the camera. The currency now is one of constant approval and a constant hum of self-assertion…” Get it, Tyler?
