The same as with the first IOA, Michelle and I did this one together. It was once again about Media & Culture, the specific focus this time being on Social Media. We got the idea to make a Vlog, of which we were both really pleased it was allowed. We taped our Interactive Oral the day before we had to show it in class. In fact, we had one night and no advanced editing program to get the job done. The result was only taken from 3 different takes, but it's slightly messy at best and vastly chaotic at worst. We did think about the fact that we were being really informal, but supposed that would be alright because of our chosen medium. In the end though, it would have been much better if we'd thought out the order of things a bit better beforehand, because as I said it was quite chaotic. Also, I talked too much, leaving little room for Michelle. Apart from that, the cooperation was as always great, we never seem to have to worry about that.
Pointers for next time:
- define audience and purpose first
- maybe speak a bit slower and more intelligible because the people listening, unlike you, have no idea what you're trying to say.
maandag 6 juni 2011
Growing Up Online – Personal Response
A while ago, we used a few lessons to watch a documentary called “Growing up Online”. It was a documentary about all of the horribly detrimental effects the internet has on a poor, helpless child’s emotional development. Right. Well, not really. The documentary was probably earnestly trying to inform us and give us different views about the effect the internet can have on teens.
The main problem with it was that, although clearly showing the dangers of the internet, the cases given were more often than not the exceptional ones. Like a teenage girl who acts all happy at school but spends her time at home cooped up in her room looking at pro-Anna sites. Believe me when I say that not every teenage girl does that.
There was also the girl, Jessica, who had an entirely different personality as some kind of self-made internet model called "Autumn Edows". She had been living that way for a few years before her parents started to suspect anything. Although it is true that the internet allows you to reinvent yourself, not every teen does so. Let alone in such a drastic way.
Or what about the story of a boy who got bullied at school. He'd come home and go on the internet, and he'd be bullied there, too. He started going to this suicide site ('Take this test to find out what for you personally is the best way to kill yourself'), and started chatting online with a 'friend' who allegedly also wanted to commit suicide. After a while, the boy had one last conversation with him, in which the 'friend' told him that it was just as well he was finally going to do it, for he was getting sick of the boy's whining. The boy did kill himself, and his father found this conversation. When he tried to talk to the 'friend', that boy said they'd never talked about such things. The man called, at the same time, that 'friend's mom, but she covered for her son.
This extensive tale really signifies two of the main ways in which children can do bad and irresponsible things on the internet, but it does certainly not mean any child would use the internet in such a way.
Then there is the other side of the spectrum: a mother who restricts her practically adult children from using social media and enforces this by putting the only computer in the house in a place she can see it. But really, that's not all that makes her really annoying to the typical teen, including the ones watching the documentary. Because with her, it doesn't stop at the internet. Apparently she has at one point in time felt the need to inform every parent of every student via e-mail that many children had gone to a certain party they weren't allowed to be at. She said she was surprised when a few of those parents told her to mind her own business. She was also surprised, but mostly saddened, when her son wouldn't speak to her because she'd ratted out all his friends to their parents. Unbelievable. Really, after a while it was starting to get funny: whenever you heard her voice every student would groan or mutter something under their breath.
It was an interesting view into the minds of people so concerned with the internet, but the examples it gave to illustrate it's point were a bit too 'out there' to make most people fear or be increasingly wary of the internet.
The main problem with it was that, although clearly showing the dangers of the internet, the cases given were more often than not the exceptional ones. Like a teenage girl who acts all happy at school but spends her time at home cooped up in her room looking at pro-Anna sites. Believe me when I say that not every teenage girl does that.
There was also the girl, Jessica, who had an entirely different personality as some kind of self-made internet model called "Autumn Edows". She had been living that way for a few years before her parents started to suspect anything. Although it is true that the internet allows you to reinvent yourself, not every teen does so. Let alone in such a drastic way.
Or what about the story of a boy who got bullied at school. He'd come home and go on the internet, and he'd be bullied there, too. He started going to this suicide site ('Take this test to find out what for you personally is the best way to kill yourself'), and started chatting online with a 'friend' who allegedly also wanted to commit suicide. After a while, the boy had one last conversation with him, in which the 'friend' told him that it was just as well he was finally going to do it, for he was getting sick of the boy's whining. The boy did kill himself, and his father found this conversation. When he tried to talk to the 'friend', that boy said they'd never talked about such things. The man called, at the same time, that 'friend's mom, but she covered for her son.
This extensive tale really signifies two of the main ways in which children can do bad and irresponsible things on the internet, but it does certainly not mean any child would use the internet in such a way.
Then there is the other side of the spectrum: a mother who restricts her practically adult children from using social media and enforces this by putting the only computer in the house in a place she can see it. But really, that's not all that makes her really annoying to the typical teen, including the ones watching the documentary. Because with her, it doesn't stop at the internet. Apparently she has at one point in time felt the need to inform every parent of every student via e-mail that many children had gone to a certain party they weren't allowed to be at. She said she was surprised when a few of those parents told her to mind her own business. She was also surprised, but mostly saddened, when her son wouldn't speak to her because she'd ratted out all his friends to their parents. Unbelievable. Really, after a while it was starting to get funny: whenever you heard her voice every student would groan or mutter something under their breath.
It was an interesting view into the minds of people so concerned with the internet, but the examples it gave to illustrate it's point were a bit too 'out there' to make most people fear or be increasingly wary of the internet.
Interactive Oral Activity 1 – Rationale
Michelle and I did our first IOA together. We’ve worked together before and expected there to be no problems with that, which did indeed turn out to be the case. The subject was to be Media & Culture, and we exploited that by doing a double interview about celebrity privacy – one with a celebrity, one with a paparazzo-photographer. We switched roles in-between the two interviews, so as to show more variety in attitude and such.
Overall I didn’t think it went all that badly. I read most of it though, or at least kept my eyes on the paper. It did make me sound somewhat coherent; a feat I quite probably would not have been able to pull off had I tried to do it correctly. Michelle, on the other hand, did really well. She looked at the class and looked the part, trying to accurately depict the interviewer or interviewee. She may not have been perfectly fluent but she, like me, feels a certain trepidation when supposed to speak in front of the class.
All in all, the preparation went perfectly. We cooperate really well and know each other’s strengths and faults and are mostly able to make a good product. The execution could be improved, particularly on my side. A good thing might be to use flashcards instead of a full text next time.
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