7th Graders realize ” I Can Make A Difference in the World”

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision

Mr Amaral, a Global Concepts teacher,  is beginning his third year of bringing TEL.A.VISION to every 7th grader at Oakland Junior High. Here is what he had to say about TEL.A.VISION. “TEL.A.VISION makes my students think about themselves in the world. It helps them think about what they could be. It is an opportunity for them to take control of their lives and realize they can make a difference in the world.”

“I see past students in the hallways almost every day who tell me how cool the vision video assignment was and how they still watch it. One 9th grader told me she watched her video the other day and has decided not to be a lawyer but instead wants to become a teacher.”

Here are what some of Mr. Amaral’s students said in their blog posts:

“I learned I have the capability to do whatever I hope and dream for my life.”

“I was so proud of my telavision!! I encourage others to do this to, it is a great experience.”

“My mom and dad were very proud of me when I did my tel.a.vison project. My Mom’s eyes got a little teary.”

“This was our best homework assignment we did all year.”

“Now that I put it out there for everyone to see my goals and dreams there are more people who are believing me and cheering me on.”

And finally there was the girl who had not completed an assignment all year who completed her TEL.A.VISION. She wrote in her blog,”It’s about time that someone asked us what we think.“

Media Literacy and TEL.A.VISION

Posted on 04. Feb, 2009 by Steve Borsch in All Posts, Power of Vision, Social Media and Vision

TEL.A.VISIONAs TEL.A.VISION accelerates into classrooms across the country (and the world), much to our delight we find that educators have already blazed the trails upon which we’re walking, and have been working feverishly on unleashing student digital savvy by channeling it and ensuring that it augments curriculum, reinforces learning and engages young minds already participating online and with new tools.

Having recently joined the Classroom 2.0 network (over 17,000 members strong), I set about exploring other networks linked-to from within that social network. Poking around one, the Future of Education, I came across this post by Derek Baird about a new initiative at MIT:

Project New Media Literacies (NML), is a research initiative based within MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program, exploring how we might best equip young people with the social skills and cultural competencies required to become full participants in an emergent media landscape and raise public understanding about what it means to be literate in a globally interconnected, multicultural world.

The white paper Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (Jenkins et al., 2006) identifies the three core challenges: the participation gap, the transparency problem and the ethics challenge, and shares a provisionary list of skills needed for full engagement in today’s participatory culture. In the video below, members of the NML team share their thoughts and perspectives on the skills we call the New Media Literacies.

A video produced by the NML group is below.

What does media literacy have to do with TEL.A.VISION and our mission? One key aspect of teaching students about the power of vision, while they’re using our free web-based software to create their own, is that these students learn:

  • To think about what really matters to them…and no one else
  • To plan what their vision video will contain and decide on its elements
  • Storyboard it so they can communicate that vision in a powerful and yet succinct and focused way
  • To pull together disparate media — photos, music, transitions, text, effects — in order to tell their story and communicate their personal vision.

Our world is rapidly shifting from one that is linear and serial toward one requiring thinking in parallel and making associations.  As more of the world gets online and an increasing flood of information and data is digitized, created and available, having these sorts of media literacy skills will be an imperative when our students enter a working world where they’re always-on, always-connected, with access to all of it at-their-fingertips.

http://mit.a.ec.viddler.com/a780834f712ae5e063149892292cb5ce851d5139.flv

Grandmother Sees the Power of Vision

Posted on 19. Dec, 2008 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Vision Videos

grandma-grandsonI just got off the phone with Marty from San Francisco. She read about TEL.A.VISION in the Christian Science Monitor and wanted to know how she could use TEL.A.VISION  as a project to connect her 12 grandchildren. Here’s what she said, “I have Grandchildren up in the mountains and as far away as the Czech Republic and I’d like to use TEL.A.VISION  as a project to connect all of them, how do I do that? Is there a software I have to download?”

I first explained there is no software to download and no cost. In five minutes I took her to the site and suggested she sign up for one premium account and then send her email address and password to her grandchildren. Each grandchild can then go to the site and create their own TEL.A.VISION video to share with the family.

Her last words were, “Thank you so much, you have me singing with joy!” She also promised to send us an email to report on her Holiday project and we’ll let you know when it arrives.