Using Media to Build Engagement

Using Media to Build Engagement

So, the transmedia and digital literacy units I am working through with the seniors will be here in about two weeks.

I am using a page from the "Why so Serious" campaign used for the Dark Knight movie (and I am sure others have done this as well). They revealed Heath Ledger as the Joker pixel by pixel.

I used this free website to make a motivational poster bighugelabs.com/motivator.php and saved the poster as an image file (JPG format).

I then used this resource www.blockposters.com/ which chopped it up and let me save it as a PDF.

Both ridiculously easy to use.

I have a bulletin board in the front of the room. I cleared it today. Tomorrow I will pin up the pieces one by one and saying nothing else. Then by the start of the unit, they will have something to build on (And I have a hook for the unit). Plus, starting this way gives a different feel than just standing up and starting a lecture.

The nice thing is, one of the pieces of the final project can be the students creating a similar visual/experience. So I not only build interest, but I am demonstrating a possible transmedia/crossmedia technique – aka practicing what I preach.

my example

Reading and Online text

I made my way to this article www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.htm -
Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?

This is a question that people debate back and forth and seem to settle on their own opinion regardless of what others say.

A phrase I like from the article, "engagement with text" is important in a transmedia experience. By design, many transmedia experiences are short, multimedia experiences with a core one or two sources that contain a bulk of the content. As pointed out in the article, many find the "core" source to not be of interest, thus gravitating toward the interactive, smaller, "chunks". But the user is engaged.

I have also seen books that add a crossmedia experience to entice, support, continue and so on a reader. It is important to note those last words I used; enticing a user to continue the story vs supporting the existing story vs adding new elements are all very different mindsets, expectation levels and thus should have different delivery strategies.

Reading is a dividing line in many educational settings and I am certain it will continue to be one with transmedia and crossmedia structures.

What do you think?

Treme (nola) and Transmedia and newspapers

Caught this article about index/nonfiction as story - niemanstoryboard.us/2010/04/13/from-treme-to-the-911-commission-report-index-as-story/

which led me to the show's web site - www.hbo.com/treme/index.html

and to this article - www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/hbos_treme_explained_do_you_kn.html (which has a place readers can share comments - more interaction)

What I like about this

First, as a general awesome link between a fiction and non-fiction source - cool!!!!

Second, it is a way for newspapers to find a place to jump back into places where they seem to be dying.

Third, what a great way to teach culture, geography, social studies and such

I do not have HBO so still waiting to see Treme (I am looking to see if it is online yet...) - but I can see from the official site there are some transmedial elements and potential for even more - how many people might start to really look into this time period and place (I already have as I write some stories that take place in Nola and from general time period).

This is an example of how I think transmedia can be used in education!!!!!!!

Online publishing

Been playing with different publishing tools and such - tumbled on issuu.com/

Anyone had experience with this? Other suggestions? Looking for places to put this curriculum once it is created as I want to share.

Examples of Transmedia Projects

I'm working on the intro presentation for the high school students for the Transmedia project - I want to have a slideshow running as they come in with examples of transmedia projects. What transmedia projects (besides star Wars and The Matrix) should be included?

Also - if people know of examples that were more of a different venue than an entertainment project (Like World without Oil - a very cool thing)

Suggestions???????

Is this type of program a good thing and what is needed

I would love to be able to do this for my students - but it would mean making sure first the curriculum was in place to really use this step - but, i that possible - can education handle this? I so want to think yes and be able to have this "freedom" - so any grants out there that could help do this?

mashable.com/2010/03/30/ipad-for-students/