Week 11 Blogpost

Growing up, I attended a public government Australian high school where my cohort was the first to receive complimentary laptops as part of the Australian Federal Government’s ‘Digital Education Revolution’. The premise around such technological initiatives coincided with the explicit goal in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) to support the development of digital media skills given its capability to foster social interaction and cross-disciplinary thinking (MCEETYA, 2008).

Such engagement in the classroom was reflected through the introduction and implementation of educational social media websites such as Edmodo which according to Halverson (2013), amplifies learning both in and outside the classroom.

It became apparent in the following three years of my secondary education that the online educational network of Edmodo allowed myself and fellow students to collaborate and communicate with our teachers beyond the one hour usually allocated 3-4 times a week for English. Given the view of Boyd & Ellison (2007) the nature of social networking sites is supportive of pre-existing social relations (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 221) and therefore educational sites such as Edmodo are familiar and to a degree, comfortable with students in the context of their learning due to its nature as an online space exclusively for members of the participating class.

Due to this broader accessibility, the dynamics of the classroom changed whereby it reflected blended learning to a degree whereby it was an amalgamation of both face-to-face learning as well as online learning. I believe that the ‘inclusion of social media tools, a learner-centered focus, and variation in where and when learning occurs’ (Black, 2013, p. 82) reflects the increased engagement of my learning in the later half of my secondary education. Overall, as a high graduate, current university student and preservice teacher, I have come to see the integral role of technological and social networks in the enrichment of traditional educational methods of learning and teaching. The online world has numerous, invaluable resources to enrich the pedagogical practice of all teachers and with new research reinforcing the benefits of such contemporary global practices, I am excited to integrate and implement these strategies in the future.

References:

Boyd, D., & Ellison, N. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230.

Halverson, R. (2013, November 18). 6 2 Technology Inside versus Outside of Classrooms Rich Halverson [Video File]. Retrieved from

Ito, M., Gutierrez, K., Livingstone, S., Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Salen, K., Schor, J., Sefton-Green, J., Watkins, C. & Black, S. (2013). Connected learning: An agenda for research and design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA]. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, December 2008. Retrieved on October 13th, 2015 from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf

EDGU1002 Video

Mitchell Ha 430393677 EDGU1002 Video from Mitchell Ha on Vimeo.

Week 8 – Remixing

During this week’s tutorial, I was exposed to 2 apps – Mashbox and Groovemaker. What these two applications allowed me to explore was the process of musical mashup. The process involved choosing songs from various genres (I chose electronic EDM and hip hop tracks) and from the image above, adjusting elements such as bass, BPM, frequency and much more. Compared to last week’s gaming activity, I found that this mashup experience was much more intuitive despite not having a walk-through tutorial. The adjustments of these musical elements was quite interactive and the ‘response’ was immediate as I listened to my progress through my headphones. What this activity reinforced was that the remixing allowed users to feel ‘expanded and empowered when they can manipulate powerful tools in intricate ways that extent their area of effectiveness’ (Gee, 2007, p. 33).

References:

Gee, J. P. (2007). Good video games and good learning: Collected essays on video games, learning and literacy. New York: Peter Lang.

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2008). Remix: The Art and Craft of Endless Hybridization. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(1), 22-33.

This anime music video draws on the anime ‘Avatar- The Last Airbender’ and the song ‘This is War’ by 30 Seconds to Mars. The lyrics and intensity of the rock song reflects the general theme of the anime since it is all about national warfare amongst four tribal nations and the remixer has demonstrated an ability to highlight this sense of action in his/her remix.

This musical mashup of the 2015 American Hits ‘What do you mean’ by Justin Bieber and ‘One Last Time’ by Ariana Grande combined the beats, lyrics and melody of the two songs allowing both fans of the two artists to ‘unite’ and enjoy this ‘collaboration’. Through this mashup, the creative medium of music is explored whereby there is the intersecting of two songs to create a complimentary remix. What was interesting about this remix in particular was that it went ‘viral’ around social media and ultimately caught the attention of the artist herself who this week, at a US concert, performed a live version of this fan-made remix/collaboration. This therefore reinforces the impact and influence of remixes created by ordinary individuals. The performance can be seen below:

This Machinima remix allowed the composer to create an alternative narrative in response to the game Super Mario. It reflects the creative ability to interpret the original ‘plot’ of the game to reflect his own new story.

Week 7

The game developed in class dealt with the theme of a social utopia whereby students were to demonstrate the ability to respond to various social situations met in contemporary society. While it may not be entirely explicit to a specific subject area, what my group attempted to demonstrate was an engaging board game approach to the ideas of social values in contemporary society such as respect, online etiquette and acceptance of others views and lifestyle choices. Such ideas were playfully illustrated through the mission cards seen in the image below that under the label of punishment, deals with ideas of the implications of cyber bullying.

The Game of ‘Utopia’

The Punishment Card

In order for future avenues of learning to be explored in this game, such themes should be more curriculum oriented whereby ‘the learning of skill development of the game mechanics must align with desired learning outcomes’ (Educause, 2014) whereby the subject matter that would have otherwise been explored in a textbook could be more actively engaged with by students through the medium of creative gaming. Such pedagogical practices enable students to explore and enrich their own creativity through the combination of two or more concepts – in this case the teaching of social values through the medium of gaming. Such measures are beneficial but it must be noted that such game based pedagogies must be ‘creatively appropriate’ – a concept that is examined by Sawyer (2014) for both the student and the educational institution to ensure that it is ‘socially valuable in some way to some community’ (Sawyer, 2014, p. 9).

References:

Educause. (2014). 7 Things You Should Know About  Games and Learning. 2014(October). Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-games-and-learning

Sawyer, R. K. (2012). Explaining creativity: the science of human innovation (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1: Introduction.

Week 6

Documentary Series Trailer – Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta (2011)

For this week’s blog post concerning the significant role of new media such as film and television, I chose the SBS documentary series ‘Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta’ (2011). As a son of two Vietnamese refugees who grew up in Cabramatta during the mid 1990s, I was able to both personally and culturally resonate with the documentary series as it highlights the various experiences and instances of racial vilification that my family and families alike experienced. The ability for the film to provoke such an emotional response from me was fundamentally due to the use of ‘socially constructed symbols, texts and meanings’ (Bailey, 2011, p. 78) whereby the accumulation of old documented photographs, news reports and personal anecdotes from Vietnamese refugees from a variety of generations reflected the feelings of anxiety and racism that I experienced as a child growing up in Cabramatta. With the documentary reflecting on the period of social and cultural unrest, Vietnamese people did not have a voice due to language and cultural barriers and as a result was reinforced as a minority- subject to abuse and negligent/biased representation in the media. What the 2011 documentary allowed was the liberation of voices that were previously unheard, whereby it allowed a negotiation of cultural identity, challenging of stereotypes and the development of the understanding of differences (Bailey, 2011, p. 79). The medium of film as one that can be edited to include aural and visual elements further reinforces the power of those involved in its creation to express their deep emotional feelings about their lives and communities.

References:

Bailey, B. (2011). “When I make a film, it’s out of my head”: Expressing emotion and healing through digital filmmaking in the classroom. Digital Culture & Education, 3(2), 76-97.  Retrieved from http://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/uncategorized/dce1056_bailey_2011_html/

Week 3

Viral Videos

“Christ Pratt takes the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’”

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_iCIg2oCCs

Uploaded on user-generated content hosting sites like YouTube™, such zones of digital interactions allow ‘viral videos’ (such as the 2014 ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ phenomenon demonstrated above) easy to share across time and place. In regards to the development of new literacies, the creation and consumption of these ‘viral videos’ requires of users a ‘basic knowledge of standard software applications that can create a diverse range of meaningful artifacts’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2012, p. 51).

Meme

URL: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/279/249/c30.jpg

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy (March 2012)

Meme Variations:

The notion of new literacies being a diverse and multifaceted concept that extends itself to the practice of digital photographic manipulation is illustrated in the popular 2012 meme ‘Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’. Captured by photographer Will King, the generation of numerous memes by various individuals across the internet focusing on the ‘ridiculously photogenic’ subject under different humorous encoded captions reinforces ‘memes’ as a valid new literacy. It is this process of ‘generating, communicating and negotiating encoded meanings’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2012, p. 51) that includes memes as part of new literacies.

Tweeting

Tweets by cnnbrk

Through the social media platform of twitter, the three primary software practices of tweeting, retweeting and favouriting allow individuals to engage and directly communicate with others from around the world. In the case of the twitter account above belonging to the American news site CNN Breaking News, individuals possess the freedom to comment and provide their own personal response to national and global issues, sharing their views to an expansive audience. The communicative platform also demonstrates various features of new literacy such as the ability to embed visual images, video and audio that accompany the hyperlink to the article on their website- all accumulating to provide a range of new or more widely accessible resource possibilities for making meaning (Lankshear & Knobel, 2012, p. 51).

Wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends

Wikia.com (Variation of Wikipedia tailored for pop culture information)

http://friends.wikia.com/wiki/Friends_Wiki

Recognised as an open source project due to its reliance on global volunteers to write, edit and maintain its content, Wikipedia is a demonstration of a constantly evolving body of knowledge where anyone can contribute to a topic of their choice ranging from academia to pop culture as demonstrated in the above link. In regards to new literacies, the information found on Wikipedia is demonstrative of a ‘rhetoric of collaboration and community’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2012, p. 62) where ideas and information flourish.

References

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2012). ‘New’literacies: technologies and values. Teknokultura. Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales, 9(1), 45-71.

Retrieved from http://everydayliteracies.net/files/RemixTeknokulturaEnglish.pdf