CAN YOU SPEAK YOU TUBE? DO YOU WANT TO?

Image Source: Own image made with Bitstrips at http://www.bitstripsforschools.com

My grandmother said it, my parents said it - hey, I even say it! 
" ...The most important skill you need in life is to read (and write of course)." 
However, I have just read an article by Marc Prensky (2010) that disturbingly (for me) suggests that reading and writing is not the main communicative tool in society and that it may even be replaced by other media, such as audio and video. He asserts that learning to read and learning to write is difficult and that despite our efforts as educators, not everyone is successful. The advantage of video and audio is that anyone can do it and it seems that increasingly, everyone is doing it. Prensky is primarily referring to the uptake of You Tube, as a short video medium, and how its phenomenal growth has impacted on the way that we communicate ideas and information around the world.

You Tube is my 'go-to' place for 'how tos' (That's how I learnt how to re-thread the cord on my new whipper snipper). It's always my first port of call for a video to add to a lesson on a new concept or for a snippet of something historical. It rescues me when I just can't quite remember what that tune sounded like and it provides me with a great space to upload videos of student work and give them access to them. 

When I interviewed Dude 11 (13 September 2014), I discovered that YouTube was the place where he chose to spend 30 minutes a day viewing popular clips, seeking information on how to play video games and generally learning about things that interest him. He prefers to do this to watching television. My daughter, aged 17, uses You Tube to listen freely to music and follow musical wannabes, who have used You Tube to gain fame and recognition (Well, hopefully). She also said that You Tube was a place where she could escape on her own and be entertained, amused and informed in short bursts of time, leaving behind the pressures of school work and friendship woes!

My daughter, Dude 11 and I are not alone in terms of our passion for You Tube. According to Alex Carloss (2014), the head of You Tube Originals, more than 1 billion viewers visit You Tube each month. Yes, that right, more than 1 billion every month! Additionally, the amount of time spent viewing each day increases by 50 percent each year. Why are we so drawn to You Tube? Rizzo (2008) cites the work of Tom Gunning who likens the popularity of You Tube to the attraction of the early cinema. Rizzo says it is exhibitionist, addresses the audience directly, it shocks, thrills, solicits attention, entertains and informs. The acts of display and the pleasure of the spectacle are highly effective. Rizzo points out that You Tube has the added appeal of being immediate, always available, viewable on many platforms and offering an extensive variety of material. The aim of uploading video is to attract attention and this becomes interactive for viewers who can post comments and respond through video posts as well. 

No doubt we are LOVING it! But is it the NEW way to communicate? Is it making reading and writing obsolete? I think there is a place for reading, writing AND 'you tubing' and we're not ready to substitute the basics just yet. However, Prensky (2010) suggests that the scale of You Tube is so great that we can't ignore it and that as an educational tool it has enormous benefits for imparting and creating information in more engaging and interactive ways for our students. The immediacy of content means that students are connected to information that is current and relevant. Prensky (2010) adds that to deny students access to You Tube at school would be denying them their future. Of course this provides a dilemma for educators as access to inappropriate content is a real concern. Teacher selection of content is paramount, especially for primary students. Providing  them with access to the videos without the need to search themselves, is one way to address this issue. 

Hang on a minute!
Perhaps I should have uploaded a video to You Tube for this post and embedded it here on this page!!

BUT FOR NOW …

I can't get my head around the notion of watching and listening to a story on a series of short video clips INSTEAD of curling up with a good book (Print version or e-reader). What an abhorrent thought!

References

Carloss, A. (2014) Investing in Creativity. You Tube Official Blog: http://youtube-global.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/investing-in-creativity.html

Dude 11. (2014) Meet Dude 11. Konnect to Kids Blog: http://konnecttokids.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/meet-dude-11.html

Prensky, M. (2010),"Why You Tube matters. Why it is so important, why we should all be using it, and why blocking it blocks our kids'
education", On the Horizon, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. 124 - 131

Rizzo, T. (2008), You Tube; the New Cinema of Attractions. Scan Journal (5) 1 Online at http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/print.php?journal_id=109&j_id=13

CAINe enABLEd a Maker Movement

School Community sharing in cardboard construction activity.
Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Everybody loves a sequel, right?
Well this post, CAINe enABLEd a Maker Movement is the sequel to the previous post, And I was Proud! - (In blogging terms, anyway!)
I highly recommend reading and viewing my previous post so that you can better understand this next discussion. 


Nirvan Mullick (2012) stumbled upon Caine's cardboard arcade, he spread the word via social media and made a movie of the process. What started out as Caine's solo world has spread and inspired others to create, make and invent for themselves. The benefits for Caine have been improvements in his work at school, increased confidence and  improvements to his stuttering problem. However above all he has been acknowledged as a real learner, inventor and creator.

Caine's story reveals the power of tapping into children's creativity. Ken Robinson (2012) states that the real challenge for education is to to tap into children's creativity and provide challenges for them because in this way their learning is more powerful and transformative. Martinez (2014) says that learning is most powerful when the learner is engaged in a constructionist activity that is relevant to them and is able to be shared with a real audience. The learner needs to be able to draw upon everything they know and the skills they have to create something new for rich and relevant learning to occur. The ethos of the maker movement enables transformative learning to occur. Martinez (2014) asserts that schools lose relevancy when they are disconnected to the world of their students.

When you watch the second movie below, showing the growth of Caine's arcade into a global movement of creativity and invention, you will see how the power of a small gesture can change a life. Out of Mullick's initiative the Imagination Foundation was born; to find, fund and foster creativity and entrepreneurship in children. From there it has spread to other schools around the world, where the power of imagination is harnessed. Watch!



So where to from here?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a couple of days ago that a colleague of mine from another school, was launching a Kids Matter day at her school with a cardboard building activity. In her email, Colleague X said (2014), "Kids are building stuff out of cardboard. I have never seen so much cardboard! (boxes)" After a few more email exchanges I realised that the cardboard activity WAS their participation in the Global Cardboard Challenge, set up by the Imagination Foundation. They had even called the activity "Caine's Arcade!"

Colleague X said (2014), "We heard about Caine's Arcade. He is a 9 year old boy who built a whole Games Arcade from boxes and other bits and pieces. We became like Caine. We planned and discussed and collaborated and constructed. We had ideas to share and problems to solve. By working as a team we were able to construct a great collection of unusual, interesting and fun games. Best of all was all the fun we had along the way. Out teachers did not hear any arguments. Everyone was pulling together". The students felt empowered because their ideas and skills were validated by other students and the school community. It had a positive effect on how the students felt about themselves as learners. Although a 'one-off' activity, the value of students actively creating and problem-solving together was evident and would impact on curriculum planning in the future (See the following photos).

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Is this just another fad?

Is this just another band wagon to jump upon? I sincerely hope not, but it will be if we let it. I think, as educators, that we need to approach a movement like this always asking ourselves 'how will this benefit the learners in my class?' and 'how does this pedagogy enhance learning?' It should not simply be a matter of letting the kids loose with boxes to go and make something or supplying software for them to freely create without purpose. Students will need guidelines and challenges and the curriculum still needs to be addressed! Martinez (2014) believes that when you combine the theory of how children learn best with the ideals of the maker classroom then you have the optimal environment for children to learn and be assets to themselves, their communities and then the world (Just look at Caine!). She adds that the challenge for us as teachers is to create an 'academically worthy process' for the making to occur within.

If you are still interested in the maker movement I have set up a MakerSpaces page on this blog where you can learn more and find resources to help you get started.


References

Colleague X, (2014) Interviewed on 13 October, 2014.

Imagination Foundation. (2012). Caine's Arcade 2: From a Movie to a Movement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul9c-4dX4Hk

Martinez, S. (2014). The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/maker-movement-shoulders-of-giants-sylvia-martinez

Mullick, N. (2012) Caine's Arcade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

AND I WAS PROUD!

Source: Image by Syazwi Shahif. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Accessed from http://syazwishahif.deviantart.com/art/Think-Outside-The-Box-164883807

It all started when a colleague of mine sent me a link to an article by Laura Fleming (2014), "Literacy in the Making: Showing how the maker movement has a place in all disciplines" saying that it was well worth a read because the article contains 'ideas for offering opportunities to students to develop literacy understandings by making things.' 

You're probably wondering 'what all started?' Well after reading Fleming's article, I began to look further into the ideas behind the concept of the maker movement and making to learn. Laura Fleming states that it is an approach to project based learning that encompasses experimenting, building and playing with different concepts. Her article more specifically looks at the idea of using literature as the springboard for students to create, imagine and build their own stories using a wide variety of media. The students are using a combination of traditional methods (print; illustration; cartooning) AND new technologies (film; online software to design comics and video games; web 2.0 tools; electronic equipment ) to shape narrative. 
Remember the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series? Fleming talks about using that style of narrative to engage students to create different 'episodes' whilst using a variety of digital and non-digital media. She recommends Black and White by David Macaulay as a good book to use with younger students as a stimulus for creativity. She also refers to the books Inanimate Alice by Kate Pullinger and Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman as worthwhile resources to use with older students. Fleming set up a space within her library with access to digital and non-digital creation tools to invite students to come and make and create.

The Maker Movement and Youth Popular Culture

Laura Fleming's article inspired me to delve a little more deeply into makerspaces and the maker movement. Eventually I came upon Caine's Arcade. The video that follows is inspiring. It reinforces the importance of making learning real and relevant for our students. It endorses the importance of strategically allowing our students to learn actively, follow their interests, tap into their creativity, problem solve and invent. I could see that the maker movement is one way that teachers could incorporate the interests of students, meaningfully into the classroom.
Make sure that you view all the way to the end because it is the last four words of this video that will provide the validation for connecting with students in this way . . . 

What a difference it made to Caine's life when someone took him seriously and engaged with him where his interests were. Even Caine, as a nine year old boy commented that these were real people, real life, really playing his games! When he first saw people lined up to play at his arcade he wondered whether it was real or if he was dreaming.
If we can be truly proud of our work and our achievements and receive the accolades and positive reinforcement from others, we have achieved success and fulfilment. 

Vicki Davis (2014), in her post on Edutopia.org, claims that classrooms that are following the maker movement emphasise making, inventing and creativity. It's not new to propose that we learn best by doing and making but with the advances in technology we are now experiencing a new wave of digital  and multimedia makers. Davis (2014) cites the work of Martinez and Stager when she describes what maker classrooms really look like:

Maker classrooms are active classrooms. In active classrooms one will find engaged students, often working on multiple projects simultaneously, and teachers unafraid of relinquishing their authoritarian role. The best way to activate your classroom is for your classroom to make something (2014).

What a wonderful way to embrace the connections between formal learning and youth popular culture!

If this interests you too, I'll be continuing this thread in the following post.


References

Davis, V. (2014) How the Maker Movement is Moving into Classrooms. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/maker-movement-moving-into-classrooms-vicki-davis

Fleming, L. (2014) Literacy in the Making: Showng how the maker movement has a place in all disciplines. Available online at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzBaUTEHJBk0bkNtWlE2SVhWR1U/edit

Mullick, N. (2012) Caine's Arcade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

YOUNG PEOPLE THESE DAYS!!

Screen shot of my Youth Popular Culture Pinterest Board

I feel so old using the blog title, "Young People These Days," but I just couldn't help myself! The task was to source things that interest young people and 'pin' them to a Pinterest board. This was more difficult than I imagined it being. The scope for 'youth' is so broad that I could (and probably will in the future) create different boards for different age levels. However for this first board about Youth Popular Culture I have tried to pin things of interest for both younger (Primary school) and older students (Secondary school). The sources that I used to determine what is interesting to students were:

• talking to students 
• looking at catalogues from bookstores, toy shops, department stores 
• television advertising

So select the Pinterest board below to be able to access the items pinned to it.

Follow Margot's board Youth Popular Culture on Pinterest.

What did I discover?

When I look back over the board a few things strike me as worth commenting on and upon reflection probably not all that surprising.

1. So much of what interests our young people is tied up with consumerism. The merchandising around movies and books for games, clothing, video games is enormous.
2. The formula for appeal to youth is similar across all ages. Take Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for example and see how they flood the market from all directions such as movies, comics, apps, board games, toys, books, video games and so on. It's no different for Game of Thrones for 'older 'young people.
3. The connection between movies and books is striking. The popularity of the book or books in a series is enhanced by the release of the movie (The advertising helps!!!). The popular books seem to also be the popular movie releases (Eg. If I Stay, Game of Thrones, Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters, Frozen, the Box Trolls). Just take a look in a bookshop and see what books they are promoting to see the connection between them and the movies on release! A couple of interesting sites around books that have been made into movies can be found at Kids Read and Ranker and they are also on my Pinterest board. 
4. Curiously some things have remained popular for a long time such as Harry Potter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, Lego and Roald Dahl. Whether their continued popularity has had more to do with movie releases and associated merchandising explosion than with the literature itself is a good point for debate! (I suspect the former!)

If my Pinterest board represents those things that are interesting to youth right now, then it is imperative that I know about them and include them in a structured and purposeful way in my literacy program. Michele Anstey, quite some time ago, said that literacies are changing all the time, due to technology, social diversity and globalisation and that this requires 'not only the mastery of communication, but an ability to critically analyse, deconstruct, and reconstruct a range of texts and other representational forms' (2002). Anstey is still relevant today and we need to be aware of what our students are doing and plan for the teaching of skills and knowledge that will take into account the things that are important in their world.

References

Anstey, Michele. (2002) It's not all black and white': Postmodern picture books and new literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Mar 2002, Vol. 45, Issue 6