Media and Me
What Do You Know?
Throughout this curriculum, students will keep a daily journal about
their experiences with the media and technology. They will record what kinds of electronic devices they have, how often they use
electronic devices, how they spend their time on these devices, and if they
think their perspective has ever been shifted or affected by something they saw
or heard on social media. This can be completed using the "Pages" application on their iPads. By reflecting daily, the students will be able to see how much time they spend on social media each day versus other activities they complete. They will submit their journals to the teacher at the end of the unit, and receive credit or no credit based on if they completed at least twelve journal entries.
Taking a Closer Look!
"Today, we are going to compare how we perceive ourselves to how others perceive us. Take a minute and think about the kinds of applications or social media websites you use and post on (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) What kinds of things do you post? Why do you post those things? What do they say about you as a person?"
"Each of you is going to create "Wordle," based on what you think your various media profiles say about you. Using the "Word Salad" application, you are going to pick at least 15 describing words or phrases about you on social media and write them down. Then, after choosing a color scheme, you will have a wordle that looks like a piece of artwork, describing how you see yourself in your interactions with social media. Share your wordle with your neighbor. If your neighbor had to make a wordle for you, would they change or alter your wordle in any way? If so, how?"
"Each of you is going to create "Wordle," based on what you think your various media profiles say about you. Using the "Word Salad" application, you are going to pick at least 15 describing words or phrases about you on social media and write them down. Then, after choosing a color scheme, you will have a wordle that looks like a piece of artwork, describing how you see yourself in your interactions with social media. Share your wordle with your neighbor. If your neighbor had to make a wordle for you, would they change or alter your wordle in any way? If so, how?"
In a World. . .
"Now we are going to create a class wordle! Each one of you needs to pick one word to describe your social media presence, and write it down. Then, we will create one wordle using all of these words." Allow time for students to reflect and decide on one word, then proceed in making the wordle. "As a whole, how do you as a class perceive yourself on social media? Is there one word that appears more frequently? What do you think it says about your generation?" Using this class wordle students will create a poem that describes their relationship with social media. It will be anonymous, so the students don't have to worry abut judgement from their peers. Do they find social media empowering? Does it give them the opportunity to express themselves? Or are they more concerned with how their peers think of them and fitting in? Give the students time to work on their poem, then collect and share them. This is a nice reflection of the inner thoughts of the students, and how media really does influence their opinions and actions.