Goin' to the New Media Frontier and Context for Media Literacy Education

Dan Gillmor, in room 314 at the Cronkite School, revolutionizing the media viewpoints of 35 secondary journalism teachers.

Today was very powerful.  If my school's newspaper was not already online, I would be signing up for SNO or Wordpress right now.  Also, I am checking on my own children's domain names when I get home.

Dan Gillmor's presentation was both exciting and sobering.  The Internet is both known and unknown, which is totally different from the well-established conventions of print publication.  The other presentations today all confirmed much of what he had to say.  Branding matters.  High school is not too soon to work on it.  The adult world can forgive some of what happens prior to college, but all those research tools that Steve Doig showed us made me realize how true it is that our footprint gets left all over the Internet.

When I did a Google image search on myself, I found pictures not only of me, but also of Tracy Marcello and other institute participants, as well as two teachers at my school, some random miscellany connected to other areas of my life, my school paper, students from my school who I do not actually know, and a sailboat.  Make of the last item what you will.

Here is a resource for anyone who needs some rationale, support or evidence to support teaching journalism students responsible use of social media.  This report from the MacArthur Foundation might impress any administrators who are hesitant in allowing you to take your student media on Facebook, twitter, etc.

http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/NMLWhitePaper.pdf

Bonnie Katzive

Monarch High School

Louisville, CO