Media Meditation4: A Life of Convergence.

My morning routine involves waking up, getting a bowl of Special K, and watching/reading the news and its been this way since I was in 6th grade. My dad would always have two news papers already read and I would get to look through them. I would start with the front page and work my way to the sports, and not even read cartoons.

It has always been this way and been this simple. I love news papers but since going to boarding school I've had my routine changed. I went from print to screen and watched loads of videos that CNN posted on their website.

Now I'm in college and I constantly have multiple forms of technology at my fingertips. Now every morning I grab my IPad instead of news paper or computer and its the New York Times followed by CNN on my IPad. I love it because when I'm rushed in the morning I can keep reading while walking and in class with out having to worry about pages falling all over the place or ink on my hands when I'm eating.

Even in my first thirty minutes of being awake, my life is full of convergence. It is amazing how much things have changed in the past 11 years. Convergence on the digital high way was what use to be the important thing and the next 11 years looks much better.

Already e-readers, mobile phones/videos, internet, social networking, games, and computing have been able to become one device and all is connected through WiFi and/or 3G. If you have avoided the IPad for the past year, take a moment and see what it can really do.

The IPad is just as revolutionizing of a gadget as TV and a computer, because it combines the both. For almost two decades people have been a gadget where you can consume different types of media in that one piece of technology. Most television is already available online, there is a Kindle app and Ibook store, Itunes lets you have music, tv, movies, and the Internet. The IPad is the perfect shape and size for a convergence box! It is the size of a small TV or novel, viewrs dont have to squint to watch videos on the YouTube app. The IPad is the reality of a long lived fantasy of many gadget and media consumers.

The IPad does it all... As long as all you want to do is consume media...

Race To The Top is a FLOP

I chose to research Censored Story: #20 Obama's Charter School Policies Spread Segregation and Undermine Unions. What are President Obama's plans and views on education? Here is what he had to say at the State of The Union-

• The US cannot compete globally without an educated workforce; they tell us that America is falling behind in the economic global "race to the top".

• Obama’s Race to the Top contest has awarded only two states thus far, but has compelled nearly every state to alter its education code in anticipation of winning a piece of the several billion dollar federal aid package.- Before receiving the money it looks like schools need to spend...

• The Obama policy is also quite similar to Bush’s in its goals for the rapid expansion of charter school networks and nonprofit with for-profit providers to run them... "Race To The Top" is the rebranding name for "No Child Left Behind"-

• According to a survey conducted last fall by the school administrators’ association, nationally 6 percent of districts closed or consolidated schools for the 2009–10 school year, double the number from the 2008–09 school year. The ranks of public school closures are expected to grow to 11 percent for the 2010–11 school year

• Detroit opened twenty-nine fewer schools in fall 2009 and put many high schools under the control of private management groups "In Fight for Space, Educator Takes on Charter Chain"

• Charter schools are often accused of “cherry picking students” to build higher test scores, leaving low-income and difficult-to-teach students in inadequately funded public systems. One former high school teacher in the Latino community has hope.

• For states to be eligible for the $4.3 billion, they must show they are progressing toward meeting the four assurances. If they do not, then the states will not qualify for the funds and their political representatives will be forced to tell their constituencies that there are no monies for education and face the wrath of voters.

http://democracynow.org interviews Diane Ravitch, author of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education". Ravitch was Assistant Secretary of Education & Counselor to Education Secretary Lamar Alexander under President George H.W. Bush and appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board under President Clinton.

The interview starts about 2min and 10 seconds into the video-

Although Obama has said in the past that teachers should not be forced to spend the entire academic year preparing students to "fill in bubbles on standardized test" (Weinstein, 2009) it certainly seems that under the Obama administration programs like No Child Left Behind is here to stay...

Mid Semester Reflection

A review of the class for the first half of the semester:

1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

The one major concept that I've grasped for the first half of this semester is convergence and simplicity of creating media. In the past the power tools have always been in the main thing that I learn but this being my third year of using them it's more integrated and something I don't think about as much. Even in the past three years the ability of anyone to make multiple types of media has grown so much. With the increased popularity of flip cameras, online editing software, and smart phones it really comes down to anyone has the chance to have their work seen by the right people and with social media they can spread it around better. Even a 25 year old woman can make a movie by herself and make it look extremely well done and not have to be sponsored by a big corporation is amazing.


2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

I'm getting more and more fascinated with being involved with news on a consumer level. I'm discovering myself going out and looking for stories instead of waiting for one to come to me. My computer's home page is BBC and I spend a lot of time looking at news, especially this semester with Egypt, Libya and now Japan. This class has helped me be a better researcher and consumer of news media and to almost always question what is being reported and dig deeper to find a multi sided more rounded story and becoming a much more critical reader, watcher, and thinking of the news.


3. What’s one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I would have tried to spend more time focusing on the reading. The books that we've read were really enjoyable and educational, but it was still homework and a time frame it had to get done in. I would have planned my time better so I could spend more time really reading and thinking about the reading. I like having to write blog posts about them because it does make me think, but I just wish I had managed by time better so I could do more.


4. What’s one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I understand the reason you chose the videos you do. I love them and they are awesome and I'm glad I get to see them again, I defiantly notice this I hadn't in the past. However, I'm not sure how fair it is. I've seen the videos you show for the tool sets at least 10 times each and with my mind and eye for film I can remember a lot of detail about them. I would have been able to fill out a note card on all of them with out having to have seen them again. I'm not sure how fare that is to someone who has never seen them in a class with you. Maybe for students who havent taken a class with you keep it the same, students who this is their second make them do something different, and third even more different. Like limit the power tools they can use, because there are some that its easy to use as a copout like testimonial, ownership, and aesthetic shift.


5. Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our quizzes, the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our books (AMUSING, FEED, MEDIA/SOCIETY) as learning tools.

Like I've said before I love the power tools and quizzes and use of blogs because as a returning student I know what to expect, how to use it best, and how important they are. I love the books we've read this semester they dont just benefit me for my major but I think they are books that everyone should read. I enjoy blogging and I wish we used our personal blog for more than just four media meditations. I'm not sure what else you could find to use them but I would have liked that a lot. I'm not a huge talker in any of my classes but I love writing and talking on blogs and forums. Maybe the use of a wiki for a class where everyone whould have their own page or color to write in or something like that so we could easily view other's ideas and bring everything together in a way thats different than just commenting on chapter blog posts. Or have their be a requirement not to just get followers, but comment on peoples personal blogs.


Thanks for another great first half of the semester!

Media Meditation3: Viral Videos are Vying for Views

So far on vacation I've spent so many hours watching videos on Youtube and other places looking up videos. Even with out relaxing in front of my computer and clicking on video after video I get emailed or IMed some video...

What is it that makes a video go viral? Why are we so fascinated by them? Who makes them go viral?

There are so many viral videos yet somehow they keep popping up. Websites like Youtube are full of videos that are vying for views. The majority of videos and clips on Youtube dont get more than 50 views, but there are a handful that get 100,000 views. The first video I remember getting popular is the video with over 40,000,000 views, and thats just this user's upload-

Yes the man in the video looks hysterical but after seeing it once I didnt have the urge to play it again or send it to others. A lot of people did and I'm sure there are several reasons why such as:

• One of the major parts that made it popular is the limbic brain is attracted to the music thats in another language that sounds like silly voices.
• The movements and music create emotional transfer and you cant help but smile and feel goofy.
• The man in the video wasnt a celebrity or known before the video. He was just a plain folk and others can relate to him.

Two years ago a woman named Susan Boyle auditioned on Britain's Got Talent. She looked old, warn down, and seemed to be nervous. People were laughing at her until she started singing! Every version of this video on youtube has the embedding disabled. But of course, it was easy to find some where else-

Susan Boyle's Britain's Got Talent Audition @ Yahoo! Video

After seeing this woman over come her fears at perform amazingly, its hard not to want to show this to someone else.

• Everyone who watches this movie has their own individual meaning that comes after they watch it. For me I'm really proud of her and it makes me think of my mentee from DREAM who says all she wants to do is sing.
• In the video you can see the audience crying and everyone being so in awe with Susan. It makes the viewer feel warm and fuzzy the way the audition is edited and the way people react.
• The motivation and inspiration from this video is created by the strength she shows and the encouragement that the judges and hosts give her making the viewer feel empowered.

There are so many people who have become famous out of Youtube videos that everyone is trying to make the next big thing. Its becoming easier and easier for everyone to shoot, edit, and post so people decide Youtube fame is better than Hollywood fame. There are blogs and articles all over the web on how convergence helps make a viral video.

I'm not a fan of spending all day on youtube watching babies laugh at paper, bite fingers, or get knocked over by puppies... but it is very entertaining to sometimes do that. And congratulations to those who have made a success out of sharing a part of their life with the rest of the World Wide Web.