what is media and what's it doing to us?

class 2

EDEC 612

January 14, 2019

AGENDA

media theory

01

02

03

04

implications for education/discussion

break (by 7:00)

seminar prep time

questions before we get started?

media

assumptions

may be either

analog: continuous signal, record linearly usually by altering physical surface of medium

e.g., print media, records, tapes, paintings requiring canvases or other surface

digital: electronic media, information recorded by code and stored electronically.

e.g., USB keys, MP3s, MP4s, cloud-based media

media defined

media (sing. medium): channels, devices, or tools that store and/or transmit information

for example, visual literacies, cultural competences, ethics, critical thinking and competent content creation

in education...

see MediaSmarts for more details

looking at "digital media" means talking about:

critically engaging with mass media (media)

the personal and intellectual skills needed to engage in a digital society (digital)

for example, security, online relationships, collaboration, privacy, and safety

our definitions of media still largely let us assume that they are simply tools for us to use

media theorists debate this notion

two schools of though: technological determinism and technology as a catalyst for social invention

what is media doing to us?

technological determinism

01

an understanding of technology that views technology as determining social structures and cultural values

influential Canadian media scholars Marshall McLuhan and Harold Innis responsible for the idea "the medium is the message" (McLuhan, 1964):

• technology is a form of communication
• technological advancements mirror the body
• media is "hot" or "cold"
• media is difficult to fully understand until the emergence of a more dominant form

technological determinism

01

recently more mild conceptualizations have viewed it as "the technological shaping of society" (Dafoe, 2015, p. 1051)

Dafoe, A. (2015). On technological determinism: A typology, scope, conditions, and a mechanism. Science,                   Technology, and Human Values, 40(6), 1047-1076.

technology as a cultural form

02

perhaps unsurprisingly, critiques to determinist approaches question the place of human agency

if the medium is the message, then what is there left to say?

the medium may impact the message and presentation, but we also have to think about the broader social, political, and economic context

technology as a cultural form

02

influential thinker here is Raymond Williams who critiques some points of determinism

media, and their effects, must be tied to the contexts of their use (Williams, 1975, p. 10), it is a symptom of change not necessarily a cause

uses television as an example and writes that to understand technological developments, we must understand broader communicative contexts

emphasis on the idea that media never works by itself - there must be other forces at work as well

also points out that we often consume this media uncritically

we don't often think of the intent of the media

check our course to read some of his work

determinism and cultural form

03

although both approaches understand media's role in our lives differently, both agree on this:

digital media and technology do indeed have the power to alter us and our world

we can see this ideas in concerns about whether technology is changing our brains and practices (Carr)

and in ideas that we have the power to use technology in such a way that it helps make us wiser (Prensky)

digital wisdom is proposed as a conduit through which we take control by 

actively seeking out new technologies and critically evaluating them

finding ways to use new media to enhance our capabilities

implications for education

for how we think of media in our classrooms

we are increasingly exposed (overexposed?) to media and rarely question the media itself

based on definitions of media and theories about how it shapes our lives, as teachers we need to consider: 

• how students consume and make their way through thousands of images and messages they are exposed to
• view media not simply as a tool, but as a force that influences practices and curricula
• we must also understand that these forces are shaped by social and political agendas
• when we make use of certain media practices, we endorse particular political and social agendas through our choices

to figure out where we stand on these issues, it might be useful to ask questions about our own views on media:

• are we being "absorbed" by media or are we changing?
• how is new media going to change the nature of how I teach?

our own philosophies of media and learning

reckoning with how to use media in the classroom in an authentic way

drawing on the notion of digital wisdom, thinking about the purposes and learning theories digital media might enhance (philosophy vs practice)

having gone over some of the approaches to understanding technology and thinking about how it impacts teaching and learning, let's try to think about this practically.

at your tables, please discuss the following questions and make sure you elect someone to take a record of the conversation so we can all benefit when we come back together to share our ideas.

what we'll do is try to apply these ideas to the readings you prepared for today, so please think about the following:

discussion

questions to discuss

what would Carr's classroom look like?

what would Prensky's classroom look like?

how would each approach affect engagement?

how would they change the way information is consumed and 

what beliefs would you have to hold as an educator to implement each?