Media as Pedagogical Tool
I love to teach using media of all types. It is good to let the students know that especially in English and Humanities the written word, the book is not the be all, end all.
There are some pretty fantastic media based pedagogical tools and there has always been. One of the most amazing things that I have come across is this
It couples two of my favorite things, Philip Glass and Geometry.
How wonderful is that, the music, in true Glassian style, mimics the change in the circles, from segments, to tangents, to arcs. It also demonstrates colour and hue principles and inscribed geometric forms.
I remember this exact bit from Sesame Street, way back in 79, when I was pre-school age. Of course at this age I couldn't appreciate Philip Glass the way that I do now, but I know that the music helped me to remember what was going on the screen.
Media is an important tool, but it must also not overwhelm the pedagogical strategy. McLuhan's "the medium is the message" is definitely true, however one must make sure the message is understood through multiple types of media.
A word, a picture, a video, a song, they all can all have the same underlying theme, symbolism, etc. The key is to give students a strategy to access and assess these various media types. To be able to go beyond the surface, to see what is going on, the metaphor, symbolism, connotations, denotations, will make them stronger students in general. If one can watch a Simpsons episode that satirizes a corporate entity and see the links between that entity and personal identity, then my work is done.
Finding the links, knowing how things can build off of others is an important skill. It avoids the "lemming principle" (see previous post) and it is a skill that is applicable to any situation regardless of the discipline.
I am excited for the future of media and pedagogy. Personally I am planning to modify my work/lecture on The Hours to incorporate not just the movie, but the music, and more importantly the architecture of it all (the book, the movie, how the physical architecture mimics the metaphorical one).
Anything that allows students to question the world around them makes teaching a more enjoyable and rewarding one for all involved.
There are some pretty fantastic media based pedagogical tools and there has always been. One of the most amazing things that I have come across is this
It couples two of my favorite things, Philip Glass and Geometry.
How wonderful is that, the music, in true Glassian style, mimics the change in the circles, from segments, to tangents, to arcs. It also demonstrates colour and hue principles and inscribed geometric forms.
I remember this exact bit from Sesame Street, way back in 79, when I was pre-school age. Of course at this age I couldn't appreciate Philip Glass the way that I do now, but I know that the music helped me to remember what was going on the screen.
Media is an important tool, but it must also not overwhelm the pedagogical strategy. McLuhan's "the medium is the message" is definitely true, however one must make sure the message is understood through multiple types of media.
A word, a picture, a video, a song, they all can all have the same underlying theme, symbolism, etc. The key is to give students a strategy to access and assess these various media types. To be able to go beyond the surface, to see what is going on, the metaphor, symbolism, connotations, denotations, will make them stronger students in general. If one can watch a Simpsons episode that satirizes a corporate entity and see the links between that entity and personal identity, then my work is done.
Finding the links, knowing how things can build off of others is an important skill. It avoids the "lemming principle" (see previous post) and it is a skill that is applicable to any situation regardless of the discipline.
I am excited for the future of media and pedagogy. Personally I am planning to modify my work/lecture on The Hours to incorporate not just the movie, but the music, and more importantly the architecture of it all (the book, the movie, how the physical architecture mimics the metaphorical one).
Anything that allows students to question the world around them makes teaching a more enjoyable and rewarding one for all involved.
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