May

“It’s not about the tool” – a naïve myth.

“It’s not about the tool – it’s about the learning.” – a naïve myth.

I understand the intent of these kinds of statements. I believe they arise from the focusing on the skills required to use the tool rather than on the ‘subject-matter’ at hand.

However, it is dangerous, in my opinion, to say that it is not about the tools. It is more about the tools than many of us might regularly think.

I appreciate that Dean Shareski, @shareski , has written about this issue as well.

Sometimes, one feels very alone having these thoughts – and it is a risk putting them out there whenever the predominant culture – especially, forgive me, Twitter culture is cascading and retweeting these one-line ‘wisdoms’ such as the one that starts this post. (In fact, it is bizarre that Dean used almost the same language as I did in his post. “I understand…” and “It is dangerous”. I started this post without any previous conversation with Dean about this issue.)

There are two main points to be made here.

Media with which to think

Firstly, Salomon suggested that computers can be ‘cognitive partners’ – that they can be leveraged like ‘power tools for the mind’ in the same way that traditional power tools extend our physical capabilities.

The modification of this stance which fascinates me is not just the quantitative amplification of the ‘tool’, but the ‘qualitative’.

Computers are not mere tools but are media with which to think.

For many years I have suggested that computers are not mere tools but are media with which to think. They can provide mental models that are transferable within, and across, domains. In, Deep Understanding – the Issue of Transfer, I outline some practical suggestions of this. Again, Gavriel Salomon’s work on the ‘effects with’ versus the ‘effects of’ technology influenced me greatly.

‘Effects with’ are the changes that take place while one is engaged in intellectual partnership with peers or with a computer tool, as, for example, is the case with the changed quality of problem solving that takes place when individuals work together in a team. On the other hand, ‘effects of’ are those more lasting changes that take place as a consequence of the intellectual partnership, as when computer-enhanced collaboration teaches students to ask more exact and explicit questions even when not using that system.

Tools shape behaviours, cognition & societal structures

Secondly, tools shape behaviours. Tools shape cognition. Tools shape societal structures in both intended, and unintended, ways.

This is evidenced in many domains of life and is showing up in a lot of the literature in recent years – in fact, for centuries.

In The Drip Effects of Technology I described what Gavriel Salomon said regarding the first- and second-order effects of technologies – “it is quite likely that in the long run education will be affected by the unintended, drip-like effects of computing, particularly the Internet and computer mediated communication“. (Montreal, June 28, 2000)

CC Attribution ShareAlike via Wikipedia

Anthony Aguirre, in The Enemy of Insight, suggests that “information input from the Internet is simply too fast, leaving little mental space or time to process that information, fit it into existing schema, and think through the implications”. (From Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? Edited by John Brockman)

Max Tegmark says in The Cat is out of the Bag, “Important issues fade from focus fast, and while many of humanity’s challenges get more complicated, society’s ability to pay attention to complex arguments dwindles. Sound bites and attack ads work well when the world has attention deficit disorder.” (From Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? Edited by John Brockman)

In Blue dye plus water? Or blue water?, I briefly recounted Derrick de Kerckhove’s analysis of what happens to society when new media are invented. (I repeat here.) In The Skin of Culture he says, “The addition of a drop of blue dye to a glass of water results not in blue dye plus water, but in blue water: a new reality.” De Kerckhove indicates that McLuhan (his mentor) and others pointed out that “the inculcation of the habit of literacy results not in a pre-literate world plus readers, but in a literate world: a new world in which everything is seen through the eyes of literacy”.

When will we see that we have successfully integrated Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) into the lives of students? It seems to me that this will be achieved when we see them not simply using ICT as ‘tools’, but rather when we see students thinking differently as a result of their ubiquitous presence and facility. The invention of words, and subsequently the printing press, resulted in a new literacy because people now had words with which to think and to communicate. ‘Blue water’ with respect to ICT means that people must sufficiently appropriate these technologies in order that they become ‘media with which to think and to communicate’.

‘Gutenberg Parenthesis’ is history, but history repeats itself

So although we are outside of the “Gutenberg Parenthesis”, we are perhaps into another era where there are many parallels. Technologies are not simply tools.

Rethinking Learning (downes.ca)

Oct

When violence becomes entertaining…

Recapturing childhood and adolescence from the toxic influence of media

On October 15-16, 2010 the Ontario Teachers’ Federation sponsored a Media Violence Prevention Conference in Toronto, Canada. This event was also supported with funds from the Ontario Ministry of Education and gathered teachers, parents, trustees, administrators, police officers and others interested in the impact of violent media on children and adolescents.

My intention in this post is to provide the materials and connections to a broader audience.

SPEAKERS

Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman

Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman – Relationship Between Media Violence & Violent Crime

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman spent a day with us discussing his topic: Identifying the Problem: The Relationship Between Media Violence and Violent Crime. Dave is one of the world’s leading experts on interpersonal aggression and violence. He was a West Point Psychology Professor and an Army ranger. Lt. Colonel Grossman co-authored Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence.

His energetic presentation led the audience through the latest in brain scan research showing the relationships between media violence and aggressive behaviours. “Media violence makes violent brains: violent TV, movie, and video game exposure had an effect on normal kids that made their brain scans the same as children with documented, diagnosed Aggressive Behavior Disorder.”

Professor Craig Anderson - Research on Effects of Violent Media

Professor Craig Anderson, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and President of the International Society for Research on Aggression. Anderson’s 150+ publications span cognitive, developmental, social and personality psychology. His General Aggression Model and pioneering work on video-game violence leads to consultations with educators, government officials, child advocates, and news organizations worldwide. His 2007 book on Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents summarizes what has been learned from past studies on this important social issue.

There are many tremendous resources (text, video) on his site. Here is an article: FAQs on Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence.

A.R. & S/Sgt. Robyn MacEachern – on Internet Exploitation

A.R., a victim of Internet exploitation and S/Sgt. Robyn MacEachern; “S/Sgt. Robyn MacEachern has been a member of the Ontario Provincial Police since 1994. While working as the Youth Issues Coordinator in the Crime Prevention Section, Robyn was responsible for developing awareness and prevention programs relating to Cyber Risks in partnership with the OPP Electronic Crimes and Child Sexual Exploitation Sections. She is the author of a published children’s book, Cyberbullying: Deal With It and Ctrl Alt Delete It. Currently, Robyn is Staff Sergeant with the OPP Aboriginal Policing Bureau.”

Sexual Exploitation

“As a young woman, A.R. was victimized by an online predator who manipulated interactive media to victimize hundreds of young people in what many perceived to be a harmless virtual world. A.R. will describe her encounters relating to the investigative, court and victim services processes that followed the online exploitation. She will provide insight for those working with youth to raise awareness of the impacts of interactive media and the online world.” Adapted from OTF brochure

What a moving presentation she and A.R. did. The audience was in tears – not because of the artistry of their performance. No. But because of the nature of the personal story she presented to us.

Dr. Charles Tator – Brain & Spinal Cord Injury Specialist

Dr. Charles Tator, sports medicine specialist, and Ron Wicks, former NHL referee, discussing the promotion of violence in sports; “Dr. Tator is a professor of neurosurgery, at the University of Toronto, and a neurosurgeon at the Toronto Western Hospital. He performs research in the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of acute brain and spinal cord injuries, and the University of Toronto Press recently published his book on Catastrophic Injuries in Sports and Recreation, Causes and Prevention—a Canadian Study. He has received the Order of Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He founded ThinkFirst, Canada, a national brain and spinal cord injury foundation whose mission is to reduce the incidence of catastrophic injuries in Canada.” Adapted from OTF brochure

Action Agenda

Valerie Smith – Anti-Violence Activist

Valerie Smith, an anti-violence activist based in Toronto, shared some quite unbelievable statistics. She runs a site called The Free Radical. It is a wonderful library of information on media violence. She suggests that good place for Canadians to start their involvement is with the Action Agenda: A Strategic Blueprint for Reducing Exposure to Media Violence in Canada.

Panel Discussion

A panel discussion, facilitated by award-winning broadcast journalist Wendy Mesley, addressing the concerns of parents, students, activists, medical professionals, researchers, and law enforcement and education sectors; and

WORKSHOPS

A broad range of workshops (pdf) to meet the varied needs and interests of participants, which included teachers, administrators, trustees and parents.

Brenda Sherry and I presented a session called Questioning Media is CRITICAL. There are links to excellent practical resources on the site.

Description: Help students use critical thinking to deconstruct the media messages they view around them every day, from commercials and print ads to websites and music videos. using the Media literacy curriculum, this session will show you how to help students to: recognize the forms of a variety of media texts; recognize bias and stereotyping; read “between the lines”; recognize whose voice is being heard and whose is missing; question the connections between entertainment and self-image; and question the motives that lie behind media productions and how these factors influence content.

OTHER RESOURCES

S.M.A.R.T. – Student Media Awareness to Reduce Television S.M.A.R.T. is a 3rd or 4th grade classroom curriculum designed to motivate children to reduce their television watching and video game usage.
Warrior Science Group – A interesting site, to say the least, by Bruce Siddle and Dave Grossman
The Center for Successful Parenting – Much current research available
Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer by Phil Chalmers
Critical Media Literacy – Resources for JK-12 – Addressing Violence in the Media An Online CD with excellent resources tied to expectations in the Ontario Ministry of Education.

CREDITS

A big ‘thank you’ to Siria Szurkhan, Rita Chow and Louise Murray-Leung of OTF for all their work.

Grossman image – Flickr ILVets
Sexual Exploitation - Thomas Hawk

Nov

HIDDEN – a project that worked

I would like to share with you the story of Hidden – a project that was developed by a student in the 11th grade under the umbrella of Adobe Youth Voices and iEARN. This project then grew naturally into a bigger project as the result of a 10th grade student.

Let me start first by showing you the video – Hidden – by Robin.

PhotoShop – “Creating the images”

We had been learning about the artist, David Hockney, and had practised ‘squaring off’ some images in PhotoShop using the following tutorial:

Robin then saved various layers, and combinations of layers, as jpegs for inclusion into Adobe Premiere Elements.

Adobe Youth Voices and iEARN – “Student in charge”

Adobe Youth Voices is a global philanthropic initiative to empower youth. Svetlana Yakubovskaya from Minsk, Belarus and Juan_Domingo Martinez from Esquel, Argentina led a great online course with 20 or so other educators from around the globe. Then the students and I started our plans for the media projects. It was a challenge for us all to agree on a plan and we changed the plans as we moved through the process. Students finally decided to create their own media arts pieces out of their previous work in Media Arts class. All the results have been posted on the YMCA Academy YouTube channel.

Robin believes that art should not be hidden for only people with money to see. He sees graffiti as a form of art that is available to all.

I believe his work is so successful for several reasons. This project was his. He owned it. He created the idea. He had the passion. He had the motivation. He wrote the rap. He composed the music. He performed it. He struggled with the contradictions. He overcame the ambiguities. He was in charge and maintained focus and effort until completion.

Once posted to the Adobe and iEARN websites, Sasa Sirk from Slovenia contacted me. She is a teacher who is running a graffiti project called Listen to the Walls Talking – an iEARN project. She asked if Robin would be interested in collating some of the works of other graffiti artists from the project. He agreed.

Google Earth as a Multimedia Tool – “Now it gets interesting!”

However, Alex (10th grade) and Robin joined forces and decided to take some previous knowledge of Google Earth and produce a multimedia Google Earth tour of graffiti sites from the Listen to the Walls Talking project. Again, their idea…their initiative. Their passion. To see their results (a work in progress!), download this kmz file, double click it, and Google Earth will open up. Click on the various sites in the sidebar and then click on the placemark to see the artwork from that location. (Here’s how to do that.) In some cases, you will see ‘street view’ of that location as well. (See McDougall Lane in Toronto for an example.) Please be aware that this is a rough draft of an adventure in learning. We, by no stretch, understand the intricacies of Google Earth at this point.

But, as we often say here, “Just go for it! Take charge!”

PROJECT BASED LEARNING RESOURCES

11 Social Studies Resources to Try in 2011 (freetech4teachers.com)
Video: Yes, These Kids Are Google Earth Sky-Diving (crunchgear.com)