Heather Ross is back along with Dean Shareski, Rob Wall and Kyle Lichtenwald. They talk about digital safety and identity, digital residents and digital tourists. Unfortunately, Rick and I had to miss the conversation.
I am going to listen now … and you should too!
Enjoy.
One of the videos I showed last night during my Media Literacy presentation was the recent “David After Dentist” video. The scene is of a seven year old boy who just left the Dentist’s office and was still feeling the effects of sedation. I’ve posted the video to Twitter, and while most people report it to be quite funny, others were more critical of this scene being posted to Youtube for all to see. The original video (posted below) was posted January 30, 2009, and has already been viewed over 7 million times.
Boing Boing, a highly influential group blog, posted the video on September 3. At that time, there had already been a few remixes. Since the Boing Boing mention, the number of remixes has exploded. Two of my favourite are found below:
Remix:
Chad (Vader) After Dentist
There are dozens more!
How does this relate to media literacy? During his state of sedation, the boy asks “is this forever?” While the dad reassures him that it isn’t, in the (digital) media sense, it is forever. Whether the boy likes it or not, he is now an Internet star. The scene will likely follow him into classrooms, into careers, into relationships; it will forever be part of his identity. Whether he accepts his fame as mostly positive (see Gary Brolsma) or especially negative (see Ghyslain Raza) is yet to be seen. What is certain is that the distribution of this video, a piece of David’s identity, is no longer in anyone’s full control.
I find that one of the most useful features of Twitter is the resource sharing. With a well-established network of educators, it seems easy to solicit responses from educators who are willing to share favourite resources on various topics. Today, one of my undergraduate students Krystal (@tealek) inquired about digital story telling resources. I sent out a tweet, and many good people within my network sent back their responses. I have collected these below (sorry if I missed anyone):
– @pcwoessner sent me to David Jakes’ excellent Digital Storytelling resources.
– @CherylDoig offered Jason Ohler’s resources.
– @lloydcrew sent me to the Images4Education site, and a great article by Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine.
– @cheritoledo offered a link to the Center for Digital Storytelling.
– @clintlalonde sent me to his long list of Delicious bookmarks tagged as digitalstorytelling.
– @plowenthal linked to a techheds podcast on digital storytelling.
– @sammora sent me to the resources at Montclair Public schools and their digital authoring initiative.
– @MagistraM led me to Langwitches blog and the various resources offered there.
– @bcdtech offered her Diigo list/digital storytelling category.
– @jorech sent me his Wikispaces page with a long list of resources.
– @shyj offered her list of Delicious bookmarks tagged on the subject.
– @barbaram sent Krystal her wiki of resources on storytelling and other activities.
– MtnLaurel offered her Diigo collections of resources.
Again, sorry if I missed anyone or screwed up any of the links. Do let me know.
This is one of my favourite uses of Twitter. Through the generosity of educators, it can be easy to gather a substantial list of educator-recommended resources on topics like this. And, I’m happy that through this post, I can give back a little to my network.
I fondly remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books from my childhood. While I remember loving the concept, I would literally stick my fingers between the pages as to simultaneously navigate multiple paths made by previous decisions. Years later, I tried to figure out why I could not let go of any particular path. I realized that it was not that I was afraid of failing because of a poor decision, it was that I might miss something of value, something meaningful, along the way. This has been something I have thought about for a very long time as choice, and living with choices that have been made, is an essential part of the human experience. For a better understanding of this concept, I highly recommend Barry Schwartz’s TED Talk “Paradox of Choice” (or the book by the same name.
Anywho … these thoughts came to me when I discovered “Time Machine” today. This video is the first of a series by Chad, Matt, and Rob that brings the “Choose Your Own Adventures” concept to video format, and does so by making good use of Youtube’s annotation feature. This concept could inspire some very neat uses of digital storytelling with video. I know it will be only a matter of time before we see teachers and students bring this concept to life in the classroom.
So if you want to try it out, start here:
It is a very good thing I have multiple screens, I no longer have to use my fingers. :-)
Here is another interesting case for your digital internship discussions, one that shows that our legal systems are not always equipped to handle issues arising from emerging uses of technologies, especially by teens.
A 15-year-old Ohio girl was arrested on felony child pornography charges for allegedly sending nude cell phone pictures of herself to classmates. Authorities are considering charging some of the students who received the photos as well.
The unnamed student from Licking Valley High School in Newark, Ohio was arrested Friday after school officials discovered the materials and notified police. She spent the weekend in juvenile detention and entered a plea of “deny” on Monday, according to The NewarkAdvocate.com.
Charges include illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and possession of criminal tools. If convicted, the girl could be forced to register as a sexual offender for 20 years, but because of her age, the judge hearing the case has some flexibility in the matter, an official told the Advocate.
Full story here.
Beau Bergeron, a graphic designer, created this presentation which was then projected onto his shirt. This is a great example of a digital story, and demonstrates and points to important elements of design.
