Reflections on Module 1 Readings

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After going over the readings for module1, I realized that all of them have the same meaning behind the text. One of the important messages behind this was that TV has as upside and a downside to it. The upside to it is that it can help the child learn more and new things, but it can also show them things that their parents do not want to know yet. Television can also increase the chance of the child to become obese or over weight. “There is no evidence that tv or tablets is bad for children over 2,” states Strauss. In this article, the author has a lot to say about the well off families. She mentions that it is more possible for”rich families” to have a real babysitter instead of electronic babysitter like the television. But television is not the only source of media that children will get their hands on.

The Gainer article opens up with the media of music. Most children listen to what is popular in their house. For instance, I grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Diana Ross, etc. I didn’t know what the songs were about but I sure knew every word to them. Like me, most kids just sing their favorite songs without analyzing the meaning behind them. This article highlights the complicated literacy arrangements that occur when children engage with popular culture texts. The importance on comprehending the value of learning about how children engage with everyday texts and helping them learn to think critically when engaging with them. Freire promoted a problem posing education. The line between “teacher” and “Student”  is blurred. This collaborative relationship provides opportunities for critical thinking in which both are learners who read the word and the world (freire & macedo 1987). Like music, every type of media can grab our attention and whether it be good or bad we need to teach our generation to analyze it and not just “go with the flow.”

Introduction

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Hello my name is Candice! I am really excited about this summer school class and getting to know everyone as best as possible. I have taken a few on-line classes in the past and really enjoyed the learning experience. I am definitely a night owl so on-line classes really work out for my schedule. I do not partake in all social media arenas like snap chat or twitter but I do like to keep myself up to date on what is going on in the world we live in. I don’t think there is a better time then right now to take this class with what is going on in politics, so interesting! I don’t know about you but these next five weeks are going to be very exciting, I love expressing myself through writing.

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HELLO

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Hello group 3!

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My name is Regina Hernandez and this is my second semester at CSUCI. I transferred from Santa Barbara City College Fall 16. I too will be graduating Spring 2017, if all goes well. I will be majoring in Psychology and minoring in Communications.  In the next five years, I see myself obtaining my BA then my MA in clinical psychology and hopefully working as a jr high counselor. Three things that define me are school, work, and family. I am the first in my family to attend college and to graduate from high school and hope to set an example to my sister.  Secondly, I am a workaholic! Currently, I work as a para educator for the Oxnard School district, a waitress for a senior living facility, and a assistant therapist for behavioral therapy. Thirdly, when I am too tired to go to class or want to call in sick at any job I stop and think about my family, they are my biggest support and inspiration that I have. I work three jobs and go to school full time so that in the future my little sister could follow my footsteps and so that my husband can be proud of my accomplishments. My biggest guilty pleasure is Netflix! When I find an hour or two in my schedule to my relax I love to watch Criminal Minds and Psych. I am looking forward to this class and to meeting you all!

Assigned Readings

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The readings that were assigned in module 1 had a lot of variety. It seemed as though each text had a different audience that it was directing their message to. There were readings that were for anyone who has an interest in media literacy, or is just starting to learn what media literacy is. There were articles that were directed more towards educators that were trying to introduce media literacy in the classroom, or parents who wanted to learn more about media literacy and apply the skills at home. All the articles were thought provoking and helped really lay out what media literacy is, the challenges faced by those who are trying to integrate it into the education system, and the ways the media literacy would help benefit our society.

The “What is Media Literacy” document was a helpful document that went over what media literacy was in a plethora of different ways, it was described with different examples of media literacy, the different types of media literacy, while also discussing how it relates to education and how it’s changed over time. This document included the writings of several different professionals in the field, and if you didn’t know what media literacy was before reading the document, it is now clear and if you did know what media literacy was this document helped solidify many key concepts; whereas the power points that were used were helpful in condensing the information that was stated in the text, and was a nice refresher to go over the important points. The “three models of media literacy” PowerPoint was an important tool to use when reading the documents as it defined each of the three perspectives and was nice to go back to when reading the different texts to see what perspective each writer was coming from.

One of the main differences between the articles, aside from the target audience was the perspectives from which they were writing. The three main perspectives that were discussed were the protectionist model, the ideological analysis model and lastly the constructive model. Each one is a way of seeing how to handle the media and its impact on individuals. Some of the text was difficult to determine what perspective was being represented however there were a few articles that were clear. For example, the article That it was Made by People Our Age is Better by Emilie Zaslow and Allison Butler, was leaning more towards the constructive perspective. “By privileging the voices of the youth participants in the Videocultures project, we found that these teens have a complete understanding of their own culture and of the larger world within which they live” (Butler and Zaslow 38). They acknowledge the fact that the students aren’t just passively being impacted by media but are aware that there are messages being advertised but they’re not blindly listening, however they are still able to enjoy the media and popular culture. They also discuss how the protectionist or ideological models have the ability to be elitist and focus on anti-media, which often results in a sort of censorship.

All the text was enormously helpful in the introduction to media literacy as whole; all the different types of text were helpful because if one is having a difficult time understanding one author’s definition of something they may be able to understand better coming from another author. The combination of all the readings really helped introduce me to media literacy, what it is and the ideas and research behind it.