Caterina Module 1- Recap

So when I first signed up with this course, I was not expecting to be this into it. So far, I have found all of the readings, videos, and assignments/ activities to be very interesting. I am on vacation in Puerto Rico right now and usually I would put homework off till the night time after we are done with activities. Instead, I have found myself bringing my kindle with me to read the textbook (which I downloaded on there because I figured it would be easier for vacation.) on our way to each activity. Also, I keep sneaking away to the lobby to access their wifi there to stay on top of my homework.

So far I have absolutely loved the textbook “Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture” by Karen Sternheimer. It has really opened up my eyes to a big problem we  are having with people blaming technology and different sources of media for the changes in children’s behavior. When in reality, these changes are occurring because our society and world is changing as the years go on. Everyone has a certain image they have when they think about the word “childhood”. However, there is no exact definition for childhood. There is no exact age when childhood begins and or ends. It is a constant argument people are having. Also, as the years pass by so do the things that impact children. An example Sternheimer uses is how her grandfather couldn’t go to school when he was a child, because he had to work in order to support his family. Once the economy turned around, his children were able to go to school, because it was necessary to have an education in order to succeed in the world. She says that her and her grandfathers childhoods are both very different because they had different experiences. I really found this interesting. I have always gone along with saying that technology is ruining children today. I mean my nephew is addicted to his Ipad and throws a tantrum every time we take it away. But, now that I think about it…I was probably the same way when someone took away a toy that was really popular when I was a child. Also, children’s childhoods can vary depending on what household they grow up in. If their parents are divorced, if they parents work a lot, or if there parents can hardly support their household. Children do not necessary vary because of the media they are exposed to, they vary depending on what they are exposed to.

I always categorized media literacy and media education as the same thing. I took a mass media class in highschool and they never really specified the difference. I really liked how Chris Worsnop described the definitions of both. To summarize it, he says that media education is a term used as a “a broad description of all that takes place in a media-oriented classroom” where as media literacy is “the expected outcome from work done in media education/ media study”. So pretty much, media literacy is the outcome from media education.  I also really liked the power point that really explained the principles involved with media education.   Like I said previously, the highschool I went to in Missouri, offered a mass media class as an elective. I never realized that it wasn’t offered in most schools. I learned this from the article “Jolls and Wilson”. The article says that even though media literacy is a part of the 21st century skills framework, “it is still not formally recognized in the Common Core Standards for Language Arts, nor is it typically included in teacher preparation programs”. I find this crazy! We should want the youth to be literate when it comes to media. They should know how to pick through different media and figure out the point and meaning really trying to be put across. They should be able to learn about all different forms of media. Or learn the different models shown in the power point that goes over what students must be taught to me media literate. For example, “must be taught to discriminate between high-low-quality media”, “question naturalness of media representations and identify hidden messages”, and be “active negotiators of the media with which they engage”. Like the article by “Gainer 2007” says, “we need to observe children as they engage with popular culture texts. In doing so, we are able to better understand how young people accept and resist messages of mass media…”. This shows that as adults we should recognize that media isn’t “ruining” children, instead we should recognize how it is helping them.

One more thing I also really liked in this module was the videos our professor posted regarding Hausman’s “Lies That We Live By”. I really liked these videos because I have been a victim of the “fine print” many times. I tried couponing, and when I went to CVS one time, I thought I was getting a really good deal. However, I did not read the small print that you could only use one coupon per transaction. I was very embarrassed, and ever since then I try to ALWAYS read the small print.

I am very excited to hear what all you guys found interesting during this module!