Discussion #4

"They think advertisements are trying to make them do something immediately.They're wrong." (Hollis, 2001) I chose this quote, because a great many of my students say this often. They are covered in brands from head to toe, and still say that advertising doesn't affect them! Ha! The short terms effects of advertising are small if at all, but the long term influences advertisements have are great. We are so influenced by our surroundings that we often do not notice that we are being influenced, the same with advertisement. So much so, that a major highlight of the Super Bowl is the advertisements! In the long run, we are so affected by them that I'm certain that many of our beliefs, action, and opinions are a construct of those very same advertisements that we may abhor and influences deny.

The URL to one of my favorite "good" advertisements: Best Ad Ever

I liked this advertisement, because we see a mouse seemingly being lured into a trap, the screen blacks-out and we hear the trap being sprung. We all know what has happened...then we see the mouse, seemingly about to die. But, they tricked us! This funny commercial sticks with me and if I see that brand I will buy it and try it, because of the humor and because I like strong cheeses.

References:

Hollis, N. (2001, August 31). Why good advertisement works (even when you think it doesn't. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/why-good-advertising-works-even-when-you-think-it-doesnt/244252/

Best ad ever - winner of 2010 best tv advertisement award [Web]. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tCtM8UEQv8


Reading Question Responses:

What reasons for teaching media literacy resonates with you? Why?
We need to teach reading literacy, because it is all around us, even at a very young age. Young children are more susceptible to advertisements, because they can take everything told to them as a truth and will not question the author's motives. We need to teach our students that everything we see on and learn from TV, magazines, the Internet, etc. are not always true and in the best interest of us. Many people are out to manipulate us, take our hard earned money, or make us believe we need something more or different to fit in to society or be above others. Our students need to know who designs the ads, what the influences of ads are, how they affect us, and why advertisements are so powerful.

Why is teaching media production important for teaching media literacy? What are the challenges?
This activity helped us understand that corporations are not the only ones who can create media. All people can create media and by creating the media we can better understand the methods behind the "media mogul monsters." We were told to create an interesting and catchy cover, so we had to apply our experiences with the media and apply them to catch the eyes and minds of our fantasy readers. The creation of the magazine cover allowed me to show off a portion of my own culture I identify with. The challenge lies in identifying the audience and designing the media to illicit a desirable response from the audience. 

How did the deconstruction and creation of a magazine cover address the 4 key concepts of media literacy programs? Give specific examples.
 All media helps show and explain culture, and at times the media also is used as a tool to change and shape a culture throughout time. The media also communicates values/morals/political views. All three are intertwined in our lives and media helps share those views to others. One might see that I am a proponent of real marriage outlined by God from seeing that I included a picture of my wife and I on our wedding day. I also included two pictures of me having fun with nudity, vulgar sexuality, alcohol/drugs, etc. Now, I'm certain that the viewer of the magazine cover can derive different meanings from my media creation than another; i.e., two people can view the same media in possibly coming from different contexts or cultures and form differing opinions and interpretations of the magazine. 

Explore the Common Core Standards and find three standards that media literacy would help you address in your content area or interest.

• CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.A.1 Understand statistics as a process for making inferences about population parameters based on a random sample from that population.
• CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.B.3 Recognize the purposes of and differences among sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies; explain how randomization relates to each
• CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.B.4 Use data from a sample survey to estimate a population mean or proportion; develop a margin of error through the use of simulation models for random sampling.
• All three of the above standards were taken from the following reference:
• Common core high school statistics. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/HSS/IC