Rethinking Technology in Schools: Chapter 4

The chapter, Technology Leadership, discussed how professional development associated with technology is achieved when one examines their own associations with it. There are three stages of technology professional development: personal, professional and pedagogical. The pedagogical stage is the ultimate goal because you learn to incorporate the benefits of technologies in the classroom to help the students learn, for instance, using a cell phone to take pictures on a field trip.

On my last stage, technology was apart of my teacher’s daily life and she integrated it within her classroom. All of the homework was written on the class website nightly for students to check had they forgot something or had questions. Parents could check to see what was happening each night for homework and write to the teacher if they too had question. Constant, convenient communication was added to the dynamic of the classroom.

February 2nd, 2009 - Talk Show's

Chapter 30 of Media Literacy is titled "Buying and Selling Culture" and primarily discusses how talk shows influence consumption of any given item. The first example that came to mind is Oprah's annual program called, "Oprah's favorite things", here Oprah promotes and advertises numerous items claiming they are her fav's and gives one to each audience member. I can't help but recall that last Christmas while stressing out over what to buy my father this program gave me a moment of clarity. Oprah suggested the 6-part DVD called, "Planet Earth", claiming it was the one of the best documentaries out there and well... she was right, this was the perfect gift.
I think the catch is that we look at talk show hosts as more "real people" and not actors. We tend to believe what they are telling us because their shows do not seem scripted and they talk to us on such a personal level. You know I never watch and think, "Oh Oprah, she's just like a sleazy saleswoman".

March 2nd, 2009 - Call Center's in India

In chapter 45 of Media Literacy the author argues that job advertisements in India for call center's are "means that acculturate Indian young adults to western culture, thus enticing them to join a profession where they can enjoy a western lifestyle" (p. 522). An estimated 90% of jobs advertised in India are for call centers. The chapter discussed how after reviewing the ads, common traits were noticed. For instance, the people in the ads are fashionably dressed in western attire, they use positive slogans and catchy titles to catch the eye, young college aged men and women are in the ads, and surprisingly there are rarely Indian's themselves in the ads. The ads give off a multi-ethnic community implying that the candidate will be working with all sorts of people from across the world. "Thus, the typical, potential call center agent is represented as an urban youth who is intelligent, outgoing, fashionable, fun-loving, and ready to be part of the larger youth community across the globe" (p.526)

After watching the movie Slumdog Millionaire and thinking about all the times I have called Visa or Mastercard's 1-800 number, I begin to compare the ads (in the Media Literacy book) to the reality. Every time i call a call center, it is true that the person on the other end speaks perfect English and sounds like a young person living in my neighborhood. Then i think of what i saw in Slumdog Millionaire; Indian's impersonating Americans while on the phone and once off, return to their crowded reality in the call center.

I suppose that these ads help support the famous "American Dream" fantasy. That if you work at a call center you are stepping in the western direction even while still living in India. The overall implications are that American jobs are more valuable than Indian ones.

Christopher Hitchens

An interesting debate between journalist Christopher Hitchens and former under secretary of communications for the United Nations.

March 9th - Girl Power

Reflection on chapter 34 of Media Literacy


This chapter was pretty interesting for me because i am a "spawn" of girl power. I grew up in the age where the Spice Girls were my heroes and for some reason my favorite movie was the First Wives Club. I went to an all girls school from grade 1 till 11 and made girlfriends that i look at like my sisters. I suppose you could say I am the result of this Girl Power phenomena. So it was interesting to read in chapter 34 that, "the rhetoric of girl power can be seen as the programming which constructs or draws in target audience (in this case, an audience of young girls) who, as commodities, are then sold to advertisers" (Media Literacy, Page. 397). What I trained to like girl power products? Is my identity really constructed by the Spice Girls, Beyonce, Sex and the City and other female empowered celebrities? Am i the result of careful planning by advertisers? I guess either way, it is not the worst thing to be brainwashed into, but i am now examining how much of an impact this is had on my life.

March 16th - suicide and the internet

Today in our lecture we discussed the Internet's influence on teenage suicide. I definately agree that the Internet has a great effect on everybody. If someone is depressed, angry, alone, etc... They can turn to the Internet and find sites that will introduce them to other people who feel the same way. Just as you can meet people of all types who reflect the same feelings as yours.
I think that alot of people like prosuicide sites because for once they have found a place that they belong andwhere they can continue to act live victims, continue the "poor me" talk, and no one is going to tell them to stop.
In regards with the website "suicidegirls" I think these girls are just using suicide to be sexy because their getting "hits" which they are finally getting attention ( which personally I believe is what all people are after- notice me).

Exploring Media: Little Rock Nine

In May of 1957 the U.S. Supreme Court declared that all segregated schools were deemed unconstitutional and ruled that schools should included both black and white students. This particular photo deals with a school in Little Rock, Arkansas which nine African American students enrolled and attended a white dominated school for the first time.

The African American lady in this photo is Elizabeth Eckford, who attempted to attend school on September 4th, 1957, along with 8 other African American peers. She was “stopped at the door by the Arkansans National Guard troops called up by Arkansas Goveror Orval Faubus” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Eckford). She and the eight others tried again without success to attend the school. Only until President Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to accompany the Little Rock Nine to school for protection did they manage to successfully attend class.

This photo presents an interesting dichotomy on social justice; on the one hand it depicts a black woman successfully attending a predominately white school for the first time. Yet on the other, we can see various forms of social injustice demonstrated by the scorn of the fellow white students in the background.