Clark and Kozma Media Debate

Clark's argument that media is simply a delivery device and that it does not influence student achievement was made in the mid 1980's. Kozma, on the other hand, argues that certain learning tasks can be accomplished with the help of media. Media includes technology, "spoken language, printed text, pictures, numbers, graphs, and musical scores." The concept and debate of changing media in learning has existed since the days of Socrates.

After reading about the debate, I am torn. If this debate was solely on technology, I could easily side with Clark. But when you consider technology is only a small piece of the puzzle and media includes texts, I have to agree with Kozma. Regardless of a teacher's skill, media has an integral role in the educational process in order to engage students, assess understanding, encourage collaboration, etc. I think that teachers and media make a complete picture of education. One without the other is inadequate and I think teachers would agree that it is a codependent relationship. Now I will say that media on its own or in the hands of an ill-equipped teacher is not as effective as it could be. Good teachers plus the right use of media equal success for students.

"In spite of various volleys back and forth by Clark, Kozma, and others there remains no
conclusive evidence that any one medium is more effective than any other. Clark still uses this to conclude that specific media choices are irrelevant to educational outcomes, while Kozma remains optimistic that effects will become noticeable and suggests we consider the effects based on the attributes of the medium rather than the specific medium itself." (Moffat, 2013) When it comes to solely looking at technology I agree with much of Clark's research and arguments. One of the most frustrating things I've seen in classrooms is the use of technology simply for the sake of technology. In my research on this debate, it seems that 21st century educational minds focus on the technology portion of this debate instead of the larger picture of all media, which was at the center of the original conversation. My role as a librarian would be greatly inhibited if I didn't have access to great technology and amazing literature. These media in particular allow me to teach my students how to successfully analyze information, navigate the internet, and develop a love of reading.


Sources:



"The Media Debate." The Media Debate. EduTech Wiki, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Becker, Katrin. (2010). "The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century." Academia.edu - Share Research. N.p., Retrieved from http://mtroyal.academia.edu/ on 16 Nov. 2016.

Moffat, Dave. (2013). "Clark and Kozma Debate Is It Still Relevant." Retrieved from https://dcmoffat71.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/clark-and-kozma-debate-is-it-still-relevant/ on 16 Nov. 2016.

Podcasts

My experience with podcasts includes one podcast that I made during an earlier grad school class where I discussed a pioneer in the world of library science and a couple where I had to interview students about library usage. Outside of school, my husband subscribes to a few sports related podcasts that I only listen to on long road trips so like comics, this is not a medium I have a lot of experience with.

My podcasts were all done through the website podbean.com and I have found the site to be very user friendly. It offers many features that go way beyond my needs including analysis tools, crowdfunding options, and iTunes support.

In my research on the use of podcasts in the classroom I came across some great websites with a variety of ideas on how to incorporate the media into an educational setting. This Scholastic article (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/9-podcasts-teachers-and-kids) features a list of podcasts that students can listen to in order to learn about topics such as animals, languages, books, science and poetry.

This We Are Teachers website http://www.weareteachers.com/10-podcasting-projects-teachers-should-try-in-the-classroom-2/  features projects for students and I chose one of these for my sample podcast. I love the idea of allowing students to create a podcast as a way to demonstrate understanding. If I needed to share information with students, especially information from the library, then I would either make a video or a screencast. I am having trouble imagining a scenario where students would benefit from listening to a podcast by me, but I like the idea of students using them to share information with each other. One of the ideas on this website is to have students create a reading radio. I recruited help from my son who is a reluctant reader and up until recently, had never been excited about a fiction book. Here is a book tease by my son for the book The Terrible Two.

Sources:
Macpherson, Erin. (2014, August 7). "10 Podcasting Projects Teachers Should Try in the Classroom -       WeAreTeachers." WeAreTeachers. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Richards, Emily. "9 Podcasts for Teachers and Kids | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers.                      Scholastic, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Comics

I will start off by saying that I am not much of a reader of comics so this task was a challenge for me. The students at my school are big fans of graphic novels so the idea of allowing students to create a comic is very appealing. On makebeliefscomix.com (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/How-to-Play/Educators/) the ideas for incorporating comics into the classroom is full of great ideas but are more of an ongoing project that students would need several days to complete. Students coming into the library would only have a limited amount of time to work on a task like this. It took me over an hour to complete mine! For library application purposes, it could be a project GT students complete for their yearly project. I also can imagine it being an activity that middle school students would enjoy doing as a technology library lesson. An understanding of story elements and summarization can be demonstrated through the creation of a comic strip.

My first attempt at a comic was on toondoo.com and I will say that I found it very easy to use. There are many options for customization and it was fun to play around with the characters, positions, emotions, backgrounds, etc. After doing a search in my school library today for books to put in a presidential election display, I ran across a book with a humorous title. I decided to include that book in my comic. (It may be hard to see, the book is called The Election Day Disaster)

Next I visited makebeliefcomix.com and appreciated the simple start up without the need for creating an account. After all the custom features on toondoo, I found the options available on makebeliefcomix.com to be a little disappointing. The lack of options could prove beneficial in a classroom environment because students wouldn't spend hours perusing all the features. There simply aren't that many options to look through. My feelings for the options however are summed up in the comic itself.

After several attempts to open Pixton, I finally was forced to give up. My computer's malware wouldn't allow me to open the site so I searched for another option and stumbled upon the delightful Storyboard That. The options available for customization are outstanding. I was able to start right away with no registration and it was incredibly simple to use. I can see this being a website I would recommend to teachers. Perhaps calling it a storyboard instead of a comic might open their eyes to the possibilities of teaching characters, setting, problem, solution, etc. Here's what I was able to produce in just about 10 minutes.

I was impressed with the ability to change everything. I was even able to adjust the lighting in the windows in the first library scene. There are hundreds of characters to choose from, I just selected the same one each time and changed the colors of her clothes, hair, skin, eyes, etc. to show the customization. Storyboard That was a fun find!

Comics would be a fun edition to makerspace. We have students who have ongoing physical projects, this could be ongoing as well, just online. I can foresee it would appeal to students who are incredibly creative, but might not be able to show it in conventional ways.