Artifact 3

Context: I participated in a media ethnography project in an Integrating Media and Technology into Teaching course at Appalachian State University, under the direction of Jeff Goodman. The media ethnography project focused on the influences of mass media on students and schools and was presented through a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

Impact: By participating in the media ethnography project, I collected, analyzed, and presented information on the influences of mass media on students and schools. From data collected at Bethel Elementary School in Sugar Grove, North Carolina, I was able to identify and better understand the power of television and magazine advertising on students. The ethnography project broadened my awareness of the influences that television shows, commercials, magazine advertisements, and video games have on students. Therefore, as a teacher, I can better assist my students in applying critical thinking and reasoning skills to evaluate media information, thus, encouraging them to become media literate citizens of society.

Alignment: The media literacy ethnography meets goals IVB, VB, and VID of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, as well as INTASC Standard VI. By taking digital images of students’ clothing, accessories, and school supplies, as well as by interviewing students about favorite televisions programs, video games, magazines, clothing brands, and foods, I demonstrated skills of data collection on student interests. By creating a PowerPoint presentation to relay information I gathered on Bethel Elementary School students to my classmates, I illustrated skills of communicating information to others (IVB). In addition, by analyzing the information I gathered on the influences of media on students, I demonstrated skills of reflecting on the use of technology in schools. By reflecting on the relationship of students and advertising, I learned that my role as a teacher includes helping students to think critically about media messages (VB). The media ethnography project also prompted me to consider safety and health issues as related to technology. For example, I learned that students’ physical, mental, and emotional well-beings are often strongly influenced and altered by messages they receive in advertising and media. For example, television commercials and magazine advertisements send messages to students about the most popular types of foods, music, television programs, movies, video games, and toys. Advertising also sends messages to students about acceptable body images, including tips on having the best hair, teeth, skin, and eyes. Thus, as a teacher, I understand the importance of helping students realize both positive and negative uses of the media, by sharing and discussing with them information similar to that gathered in the media ethnography project (VID). By creating a PowerPoint presentation on the influences of the media on students and schools, I acknowledged that the use of technology is an effective way of presenting and communicating information to others. During the PowerPoint presentation, I used inquiry techniques to engage my classmates in discussing issues of food and toy advertisements that target young students. Thus, I demonstrated that I value learning environments that are inquiry based and technologically enhanced (INTASC VI).