One of my SPP schools has the option of using “The Hunger Games”, the first book in a trilogy of the same name by Suzanne Collins for an in depth study of a novel in Year 9. I read it because of the obvious tie in with my selected topic of Reality TV for my substantial blog and became an instant fan! There is also a film version due in 2012 so I have taken the liberty of including the novel study in our TV and Film blog as the media converge.
It offers so much in being actively involved in participatory culture and in addressing at least two of Henry Jenkins’ concerns - the Transparency Problem and the Ethics Challenge. The Participation Gap could be lessened within the class cohort but there is a possibility of only a little influence on this among schools or among regions with my proposal. All the new skills from Play to Negotiation can be fostered and taught. Henry Jenkins’ Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture can be revisited here. Many other writings promote the advantages using new media in the classroom and one originating in Queensland, Microblogging as a Literacy Practice for Educational Communities can be accessed here.
The non-government school concerned has just implemented the 1:1 laptop program this year for Year 8 and 9. Office 2010 is installed on all these laptops and includes OneNote and all the organisational and interactive features of this product. Teachers and students are receiving instruction in its use on a rotational basis which should be completed by the end of 2011. The Learning Management System, Moodle, has been operational for approximately four years and students have 24/7 access. Teachers report that it is still common for students to present some work as a poster if other forms are not stipulated. Most of these students are those who have not chosen ICT as a subject in Year 9 and have only the basic computer skills learnt in Year 8 ICT classes. It would appear from collected teaching and assessment resources (access some here) that reading and writing were the main skills applied in the unit for “The Hunger Games”.
Our Lecture 11 notes and podcast concentrated on Innovative Pedagogies, Transforming Institutions and Mapping Future Directions and I have applied the advice given in this lecture to some options for the study of “The Hunger Games”. Word limitation for this writing prevents it from being in great detail but I hope there would be enough to tempt and titillate. For myself, I know I thoroughly enjoyed the amount of play in finding these resources and testing them. The learning curve was steep but the fun was limitless.
Innovative pedagogies
Connected pedagogies: The connection starts with a book that has popular appeal and is also soon to be a film. Allow play on the Google sites. Use this time to explain differences between sites. Look at layout of sites. Read the fan sites and the discussion sites. Generate discussion verbally and on discussion forums. Use the many reality shows on TV at any time or use recorded sessions to expose the machinations of the producers. Some shows will not be suitable for the Year 9 audience and this may have to be monitored in some way.
In the “play”, many examples of new media will be shown and this will enhance the reading of the story. Examples are listening to the unofficial score, test your survival strength in the Tribute Games (not easy ... and addictive!), play the Potter Games, a wonderful blend of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, listen to the lullaby sung at Rue’s death, and explore a fan site.
Creative pedagogies: The following are just some suggestions to involve new media while still applying the general capabilities of the National Curriculum and working within the original application of the school’s novel study unit. To keep within the framework of the existing work program, question sheets could still be done but within groups to another group via a blog on Moodle or through Wallwisher. There could be gifts as inserted images from “sponsors”. I liked this program which could be worth purchasing so that character summaries are done as Facebook pages. It could serve as a conduit to Facebook protocol discussions and more. New muttations could be created with PhotoShop for example. This could lead on to study of modern weapons and ethics. The diary assessment could be done as an oral through a vlog or voki or a series of captioned photos. Here is an example of a passage reading uploaded to YouTube. This could be applied to any of the speeches in the book and the music from the unofficial score used with it. Commercials and promotions can be included easily in this unit of work as well. Book trailers for the next two books in the series could be done. Wordle is always a lot of fun. Instructional presentations of some of the new media functions could be given by students. There are many instructional videos that students could use to assist including StudyVibe accessed through Brisbane City Council ibrary. Students (hopefully, all of them!) eager to read the following books in the trilogy can be shown the benefits of council library membership and how to download the next two books as audio books. Brisbane City and Redland Councils (closest councils to the school) do not have them on Overdrive as ebooks at this time but they are available and can be purchased for use on a Kindle. Use of Kindle can be demonstrated in the lesson. Borrowing of Kindles has been put on hold until procedures and legalities concerning Kindles are sorted. Other books in the genre can be promoted as in the brochure available in the SPP school library and linked earlier in this writing.
Critical pedagogies: Reality TV, Facebook, copyright, new media etiquette, privacy, ethics and multiliteracies would be just a few of the areas dealt with giving the students skills for lifelong learning.
There were some risks in choosing resources and when dealing with the Internet; the pop ups can be unexpectedly inappropriate at times. This will happen wherever the students are searching the Internet so dealing with it in the classroom could dilute any future problems. It is the type of subject that would need negotiation with administration and parents depending on the school system. The constantly changing nature of new media means that teachers may not always be ready for unexpected changes whereas the students may be, especially if it is part of their out of school culture. This also is part of the risk and sometimes the students may need to be the teachers.
Transforming institutions
The suggestions above all fit within expectations of the National Curriculum. The range of language and literacies I feel could only promote student confidence when faced with tests such as NAPLAN and QCS as well as the the uncertainties of the after school world. The ideas above can be used with one class with minimal equipment apart from the 1:1 laptop program. Not all ideas need to be used at first if there are barriers. Show positive and promising results then advertise to other teachers within the school, within regional networks and wider networks such as ETAQ and SLAQ or ASLA. I have spoken to some of the English teachers at my SPP school about some of these ideas and they were accepting that some could easily be incorporated. As Lecture 11 advised: “It is better to be successful at making one small change than unsuccessful at making one big change or many small changes.”
Mapping future directions
Stay informed, watch developments and stay in touch. If as teachers or teacher librarians we are more connected with our students as learners then the outcomes will be more satisfying and encouraging to be involved with innovative pedagogies.
Possible involvement of the teacher librarian:
(a)with administration and teachers
• initial approach to administration in collaboration with heads of English and ICT to present case for using tools not used before in the school or those that have bans in situ and establish protocols for their use
• parental notification and possible education
• lessons on how to use Web 2.00 tools if needed
• ongoing search for other reliable sites and work units connected to the topic
• provision of enough, and working, equipment for students to create media presentations
• recording of any television programs e.g. reality shows to augment lessons
• display work produced by students
• display to complement theme of the unit
(b) with students
• copyright explanation and confirmation
• acknowledgement of resources used including those from online
• dealing with inappropriate sites
• ethical and legal responsibilities
• media literacy lessons in collaboration with classroom teacher
• lessons on how to create Voki, blog, vlog, Wordle, Wallwisher and other tools used
• promotion of council libraries
• instruction on downloading ebooks and audio books
• provision of further reading linked to the topic
I can’t wait for the movie to arrive. It will bring with it even more opportunities for multimodal participation.
Posted by Cecily 24/10/2011
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