#5: Learning with Media: Then & Now
Summary: In the early 1940’s Professor Edgar Dale encouraged the public to read the newspaper in a critical manner. This was the beginning of the media literacy movement. In today’s vast media climate, Professor Dale’s theories of critically analyzing media are as vital as ever. Individuals have the ability to be informed and enhance their personal learning through purposeful and active engagement.
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Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to…
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decipher and analyze Edgar Dale’s theory of learning from media.
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experiment with Dale’s ‘Cone of Learning’ and analyze individual learning practices.
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connect historical practices of learning to methods of learning with new technology.
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reflect on their individual identities as a digital learners.
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create a media product that demonstrates how ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY) videos are utilized to enhance the learning of others.
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A) 10-15 Minute Overview
All media tells a story from a particular perspective. The way an author uses facts, details, quotes, images, and language reveals the point of view being expressed. According to Renee Hobbs, director of the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island, the media literacy movement can be traced back to the early 1940s, when books with titles such as How to Read a Newspaper were popular. In that work, Edgar Dale, a professor at Ohio State University, explained that newspapers were businesses supported by advertisers; that the reporting and editing process could introduce errors and leave out important information; and that headlines were, by necessity, incomplete and sometimes misleading attempts to capture the audience’s attention.
In Edgar Dale’s 1940’s work, How to Read a Newspaper, Dale describes four set of rules for reading a newspaper. Which include:
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Know your newspaper thoroughly. This includes knowing who the owners and top editors are, what they stand for and what other enterprises they are connected with which may create a conflict of interest.
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Be familiar with several papers. Study for yourself a variety of papers, especially those that you hear praised as “the best” or attacked as “the worst.” The more papers you are familiar with, the better your standards for comparing and evaluating.
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Check and compare news reports. Dale points out that it is dangerous to rely exclusively on one source of information, no matter how reputable. Supplement printed news with radio and visa versa.
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Know your own prejudices. Newspaper stories may or may not be accurate or fair, but the deciding factor is not whether they tell the reader what they want to hear. Try to maintain objectivity and do not accuse the paper of prejudice that may actually be your own.”
How many of these rules apply to different media content today? What would be different if you interchanged the word newspaper with other forms of news or websites?
B) 20-30 Minute Activity: Methods of Learning
How do you learn best? Dale’s work expanded to include a Cone of Learningdiagram which is still used today. Prior to showing the following graphic, explore the following questions and take an informal survey of how many students feel they learn and/or remember information best when they read, see and/or hear information.
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How do you best remember facts and information?
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When contemplating your individual study habits, does the diagram ring true? Why or why not?
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Activity/Experiment:
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Step 01. Divide the class into three groups; assign each group a letter (A,B,C). Group A will turn their chairs to face the back of the room so they are not able to see the projector screen at the front of the room. Group B will wait in the hallway, outside of the classroom, with the door shut.
Step 02. Group C will quietly watch the short YouTube video (1:20), after it ends, ask group C to write down as many of the items as they can remember in the next 20 seconds without talking or sharing notes, then turn their papers over so other cannot see their answers.
Step 03. Invite Group B back into the classroom, then replay the video, this time, ask Group B to clearly name each item aloud as it passes by on the screen. Afterwards, ask both groups A and B to write down as many of the items as they can remember in the next 20 seconds without talking or sharing notes.
Step 04. Compare the results of each group and discuss the following questions: How many items did Group A remember? Group B? Group C? Reflect back on Dale’s diagram, was Dale’s theory correct regarding what we hear, see and say? How does this theory relate to our relationship with the media we consume on a daily basis?
Video Source: Christopher Frost; YouTube Conveyor Belt Challenge 10/2015
C) 30-45 Minute Activity: Create a ‘How To’ Video to Enhance Learning
As the media climate continues to evolve, various methods of learning through digital technology evolves as well. Multimedia production is available for anyone with Internet access. This has led to a participatory culture where individuals share and contribute their knowledge with others. Consider the thousands of ‘how to’ videos that are available simply by entering those words into the YouTube search engine. People from all over the world are sharing their knowledge with the world. Expressing ideas strengthens individual skills and has the potential to create lifelong learners and communicators. For this activity, students will choose a partner and create a 1-minute ‘how to’ video. It can be ANYTHING: how to make a cake, paint a wall, brush your teeth, pack a suitcase, etc. Using Animoto or another online platform, or smart phone application and share it with the class by uploading it to YouTube or emailing it to the instructor. Here are a few examples:
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