Introductions
Hi! I’m Mark, a current student at CSUN working to get my English teaching credential. Media technology, like blogging for instance, has the potential to engage students in literary works they might otherwise deem uninteresting or outdated. By using modern modalities to analyze literature, I think students can more deeply engage in analysis and discussion of literary works because the format is familiar. For example, some students may find essay structure to be unintuitive, and allowing them to create their work through different media platforms may result in a more engaging experience.
As a student myself, there was one experience with media technology I found to be extremely effective. In my high school AP Literature class, our final project after the AP exam was a relatively low stakes analysis and presentation of literary devices in a piece of media chosen by our group. The projects ranged from analysis of music albums, TV shows and movies, presented through forms like video essays, PowerPoints, and even games.
Looking back on it, I find the agency given to students to be the most engaging part of it all, especially being able to choose modern media to focus on. Instead of analyzing the classics we studied that school year, we got to focus on some of our favorite shows, and I think the application of course concepts came more naturally because of it. One reason I can think of might be the fact that we were looking back on a piece of media we were familiar with, instead of analyzing a new one from the ground up. This allowed us to focus on applying the course concepts while creating an outline for the presentation, as we could brush off many irrelevant details and specifics during a rewatch or a relisten.
All things said, I believe media technology has a place in education, especially in literature classes where course concepts can be applied across mediums (poetry to songs, novels to shows/movies, etc). It can be used to emphasize relevance, as students may not immediately see or understand why a classic work is important to themselves or their peers, but might more readily accept that a show or movie they know is equally as impactful. In a sense, it frames literary concepts in their world, allowing them to more easily draw connections to works studied earlier or later in the class.
Hello Mark, I found your first blog super inspiring because I noticed your passion throughout your post and how much fun you had as a student by having a teacher who knew how to integrate different forms of media into the lessons. I appreciate your perspective on incorporating media technology into literature classes! Your example of using modern media for analysis resonates with me. Giving students the agency to choose media they're familiar with is a great way to make abstract literary concepts more relatable and engaging. Your point about media familiarity helping students focus on course concepts is spot-on.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about how this approach might work with teaching essay structure more intuitively? For example, could creating video essays or blog posts help students learn to organize their ideas while still engaging with modern formats? This could help bridge the gap between traditional essay writing and more contemporary communication styles.
Overall, this approach highlights the relevance of literature and encourages creativity and deeper critical thinking. Thanks for sharing your experience. It's inspiring!
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteYour post highlights the amazing opportunities media technology gives students to demonstrate their understanding in creative ways. Students and teachers are no longer limited to essays or other assignments that require extensive writing to analyze works. While academic writing is an important skill to develop, there's no denying that some students might feel stifled by the traditional methods we use to assess learning. I remember a project my eleventh grade English teacher assigned in which we had to use TikTok to do a character analysis of the narrator in Poe's short story, "The Black Cat." Most of my classmates were very excited to use this platform because they were familiar with it. In turn, we were more engaged and produced quality work. I like the idea of giving students choices, as long as the learning objective(s) are met. Since media literacy is highly sought after in the workforce, it is a good idea to expose students to a variety of media that are relevant to them.