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As one of my favorite David Wilcox songs goes, let's start at the the ending. So This is step by step, linear processing & it can include PPT, smart board, & other technologies when done that way. And “it’s all good” but it’s not DMAL, Not Web 2.0 ||
 * 3 min || Notes on hard copy of my reflections.

PRINT LITERACY || to DMAL || Playing with Pinnacle Studio 12 (Amazon says it is $39.) || DMAL into Web 2.0 || **http://vimeo.com/12896214** || Web 1.0 || __ Reflections on my TIW & Draft of My Professional Piece __
 * 4 min || Transition to DMAL: Notes & video || PRINT
 * 5 min || Production w/ DMAL.
 * 3 min || Showtime

Joseph McCaleb June 27, 2010 When I got home on Thursday, hours after completing the Teacher Inquiry Workshop on DMAL(fn1), my inbox already had an email from Bonnie with a single word in the subject line: “SO???" She could hardly wait to hear how the extension of our digital media project had fared. But I needed a night’s rest to continue absorbing my own reactions and then to read the letters. After tending the raspberry bushes in the early morning coolness and after a first reading of the letters, I thought I should ease her suspense. I dashed off a two-paragraph draft:

Justin seems to have caught the essence by telling me I was "pushing everybody off the cliff." Yes, I had noticed some apprehension in the room. But Justin’s fuller statement showed a positive spin on the tension: "__Thanks__ for pushing us off the cliff. We'll find our wings." From what I saw in the room and from reading the letters, I estimate about 2/3s emerged from the room still warm to hot about DMAL. The other third still values multi-modal composing and believes it’s good to learn about, but they seem cooler. The shakiness might relate to concerns about personal capacity to do the technology as well as irritation at the way my TIW was done. Some of the tension I was reading might reflect temporary, in-the-moment frustration. About an hour later when Cory gauged group interest in doing a digital piece as one of their publications, at least three-quarters of the persons raised their hands. Based on requests for additional attention to digital media projects, we also scheduled a Writing Group slot to provide individualized assistance, and we offered early morning coaching in the hour while persons are arriving.

Before I read Justin’s letter, I'd noted some emergent questions. First, remember that this TIW referenced Bonnie’s from two days earlier, and it built from the examples she gave: 1) Lisbet’s on Mexico, made with PhotoStory; 2) the Feeding the Raccoon story (Kevin’s?), also made with Photostory; 3) Joseph’s (of undetermined genre) titled “Rumi’s Doorway, Reins of Power, and DMAL” made on a PC with Pinnacle Studio 12; and 4) Bonnie’s documentary on Tuvia (“At the Edge of the Sea with T”), made in Mac’s FinalCut).

These examples effectively paved the way for us to see the relevance to classroom use and to motivate us to take the leap into production. Part 2 of Bonnie’s TIW with the prompt about a fork in the path led to each person having a potential script to be used in a multi-modal production. Other writing prompts from our morning pages and other TIWs had also generated potential DMAL materials (f n 2). I’d advised everyone to consider which draft they might want to develop and to consider bringing in images and/or artifacts, preferable in electronic format in their laptops.

The focus of my TIW emerged from the groundwork that Bonnie developed. Cory had transcribed the discussion during and following Bonnie’s reflections:
 * What is keeping us from creating digital stories in our classrooms? (“Digital stories” was later rephrased as “multi-modal compositions” as a term with more potential for infusing DMAL into the curriculum since DMAL is broader than narrative.)
 * No hands-on practice experiences for teachers. This was shorthand indicating a need for more opportunities for teachers to learn DMAL in doing it themselves.
 * How can I use digital stories to further the objectives my students are held accountable for?
 * How can I get the technology in the students’ hands?

These notes corresponded rather closely with the primary objectives for my TIW : 1) Maintain the motivation toward DMAL ; 2) Provide the teachers with guided hands-on experiences ; and 3) Increase knowledge about and “feel” for doing DMAL productively and caringly. The first two of these met with reasonable success. Although considerable frustration splashed over us, some more than others, almost everyone indicated intention to “soldier on” or even to “continue to play” with DMAL. The second objective also went well. Lisa’s account represents the feeling expressed in a number of letters: I enjoyed the hands on aspect tremendously of your TIW. It totally factored in to the idea of playing. Even though Rebecca and I were slow to get into it, eventually we got excited and began being creative. Lindsay reinforced the value and accomplishment of this second objective: “The most important thing is for us to get our hands dirty and work with these materials.” As for the third objective which is to increase //knowledge about// and //feel for// doing DMAL productively and caringly, hmmm. That will take some exploring.

Let’s begin with considering what keeps us from creating multi-modal compositions? What keeps us from anything? In general, I believe most people go after what they’re crazy about (fn 3). After Bonnie’s TIW, we were primed. DMAL looked exciting and fun, for us as well as for our children. We saw results and heard authentic voice in digital stories, even ones made by “difficult” students, such as language learners (Lisbet) and resistant learners (bored boys like Kevin). Related to motivation, Rebecca wrote: Today you gave us the chance to do what we all wanted to do after Bonnie’s workshop—actually play with the technology. Though the time was short, I think our appetites were whetted. People who had never worked with the technology began to get a feel for it, and those who have used it were able to help others and try new tricks.

In my TIW, after the overview of 16 power point slides explaining how to translate their draft “print” text by returning to “talk” and then moving into “telling” while the partner uses the Flip Cam, everybody went out the gate at a gallop. Cameras were soon whirring, everybody talking while scattered about the media center. Scripts were in active revision and recording (fn 4). So far, so good. My perception and the letters agree on that. Shana detailed the fit with Writing Project and with classroom application: . . . after our first reading/telling of our text, we both made changes to our writing before the second reading. This is a great connection to James’ revision ideas—when the kids have an authentic reason to listen to their voice and know it will be shared with others, they will want to make their voice stronger.

So what happened next? Despite the step-by-step directions on the powerpoint and in the live demonstration, some pairs didn’t get their video cuts up in Windows Movie Maker. It happens. ** In DMAL **, ** problem solving is the game **. The “learning” part of DMAL comes significantly from figuring out the “technical” elements, revising in concert with them, and working with the limitations and capacities of the equipment and of ourselves. For some persons “fooling around” with technology, as Leslie put it, stirs frustration up into the intolerable zone. Others, like Carla, “a tinkerer,” “prefer figuring it out as I go” instead of being led in the “all-together-now” model of direct or guided instruction.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to moving our teaching into DMAL is around our personal ability to problem solve with technology and the related ability to guide our learners into this work. Teaching our children how to work and to learn to enjoy it may be the most important goal for educators in this 21st Century. The recent book by Howard Gardner, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and William Damon points the way: //Good Work (fn 5).// DMAL offers us a resource in which we and our learners can access the “taste” of “wow!” in order to sustain us through disciplined action in which gratification is deferred rather than immediate. Remember the lesson of Baba Yaga: the trials of life devour a person when the “want-to” is too divorced from the “have-to.” Put another way: play and work must overlap. Note the centrality of play to DMAL in the “skills” identified by Jenkins (fn 6). Among college students and even younger teens, play has to be redeemed from the hell of Par-tay blind-drunk, etc. And work has be reclaimed from the “make-a-buck/screw-everybody-else.” My wife cautions me against these stark presentations but I fear the urgency of restoring “good work” requires something like a wake-up slap to educators and politicians who are consumed by more trivial high-stakes assessments. This big question around instilling “good work” leads us to explore ways of getting there. Can one way give ease of access for everyone? A number of suggestions related to this were offered in the letters. The suggestions about how this TIW might be improved are arranged roughly from items that were frequently recommended and that I feel good about to ones that need more consideration:


 * Roaming experts. Having assistants available to tend to the individual questions and technical problems sounds right-on to everybody. This might require a pre-session in which selected individuals are prepped. Although I hadn’t checked it out, I now know that we had such expertise in the room: Michelle A. has attended training with i-movies and Lindsay has taken a class on MovieMaker.

1) For example, visuals (video from Flip cams; photos; images of artifacts) can be assembled and made available at time of production. A common space like 4 Shared.com or the Ning might be used for access; or if internet access is not used, have pre-assembled flash drives or CDs or individual/group personal computers with files of images. 2) Perhaps mini-demos could be spread across several weeks. They might be available on an optional basis, as persons are drawn to them. Topics might include: screen capture (including time to install Jing), cutting video segments, using text over the visuals, making title and closing credits, adding music, and rendering the product with Vimeo. 3) Another design might follow the jigsaw model. We might sort everyone into three expert groups (one on DMAL, another on something like ESL, and a third on __?__). Then in the associated TIWs, the experts would provide coaching with two peers.
 * Re-organized structure: the format needs to accommodate more flexible timing.

? More or less observation of models. Bonnie had shown several digital compositions, but it still seems important to return to display and examine products. Justin commented on the importance of seeing a work-in-progress: I really enjoyed being able to see one of your pieces in process, especially since 2 days ago you shared it with us for the first time; minutes after writing it. Seeing this work in process gave me hope that I can figure it out and get something good done in the next couple of weeks.

? Separation of PC and Mac as well as use of school computers or personal computers. Do we want to work together as a whole cohort (and model how to do this with a full class) or separate (at least initially) according to PC/Mac?

? Use white/Promethean board. A partially constructed project could be further composed with the entire class participating in making decisions about images, text, transitions, etc. This might be particularly appropriate for representing class experiences (for example, a field trip or an analysis of archival materials or a class thank-you letter to a digital visitor). Students could drag images onto the appropriate track, push the button for screen capture, and so on.

? Level of production. Even if we had mini-sessions on both the less and the more sophisticated programs, I’m still struggling with whether it’s better __for us__ (not necessarily for your students) to begin with PhotoStory or with a mid-level (MovieMaker) or with an advanced (Pinnacle and FinalCut) production program. A crucial factor involves the dimension of what’s called Web 2.0 (to be discussed just below).

A metaphor for getting into digital media that’s somewhat similar but not quite as scary as Justin’s sky-diving came to mind. Some folks want to know the ocean by dipping their toes in; others need the total-body submersion, and a few take the Polar Bear Plunge. Whether off the cliff or into the ocean, it seems I favor the leap in. Perhaps my pushing relates to my conviction that the outcome can never be very different from the process—I think Pasternak said that in Dr. Zhivago.

I wonder if Web 2.0 (fn 7) can be known when 1.0 is the method. Several persons, especially those in the third that I sense as overwhelmed/discouraged learners, asked for a simple list of how-to steps. I wonder if the participatory culture of Web 2.0 with its multiplicity can be reached with a linear-print methodology. I’m reminded of the person who denounced the riding coach after falling off: “You should never let me get on a horse until I know how to ride.”

Tolerating the messiness and learning how to read a multiple-mediated array (in contrast with print technology) may be essential and even pre-requisite. I don’t think we want to “certify” persons in their own minds or in their instructional roles with learners as knowing DMAL when they do it within a print consciousness. Print-literacy is great and will not be abandoned; but if it is imposed on digital media, the opportunities of DMAL may be compromised.

I agree that a complex task needs to be broken into achievable and sequenced parts (without loss of the whole), but I’m concerned again about pushing DMAL into a print-literacy model. The production programs all have “help” tabs which usually open to a thorough set of steps and explanations. The designers have tutorials and demos connected with the programs. I favor having the “roaming experts” assist the learners in finding and using these more self-directed “help” screens as they increase confidence in the problem-solving that is inherent in DMAL. Sometimes the lack of the how-to list also opens the necessity for invention, for creative thinking, that comes to be felt as satisfying. DMAL, like “write-to-learn,” needs to provide access to discovery. Some models of teaching diminish the opportunity for discovery which often comes after pushing through disappointment and frustration. This is another aspect of good work.

Most of us, like Shelia’s comment made in Bonnie’s reflection, acknowledge the priority that we must give to doing DMAL ourselves before taking it to our children. While doing this, we might watch for when we are imposing the standards of print literacy inappropriately onto DMAL. Michelle K’s letter offered an important reflection related to this: I’ve generally been anti-digital because so often technology has been imposed on schools to teacher-proof learning. “If we just put the kids in front of this great computer program, they will learn to read.” But I’ve completely changed my mind. The digital activities that you and Bonnie are talking about do not replace the teacher. In fact, they require the teacher to be more skilled and able to integrate curriculum in new ways. I find it __very__ compelling.

Footnotes:

1. Digital Media and Learning is one phrase applied to this multi-modal work. I first saw the term in a “white paper” commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation with primary authorship by James Paul Gee: //New Digital Media and Learning as an Emerging Area// (MIT Press, 2010). Related works that further enrich the conceptual and disciplinary field of work that I have found particularly useful include David Buckingham’s //Media Education: Literacy, Learning, & Contemporary Culture// (Polity, 2003) as well as another MacArthur paper which Buckingham edited: //Youth, Identity, and Digital Media// (MIT Press, 2008). Also important are works by Henry Jenkins such as //Convergence Culture// (New York University Press, 2006) and a third MacArthur project which he led: .//Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century// (MacArthur Foundation, 2009; available as pdf through nwp.org).

2. DMAL increases TEXT options for multi-modes: visual, music, and multiplicity (like a “link” orientation).

3. This is where I want to “work” (merging play&work = GOOD WORK, p. 3). I don’t have time left for “classroom management” or “high stakes assessment,” but will commit to building GOOD WORK: Peace (Bonnie’s Tuvia video; Justice, Freedom . . .) Point of my attraction video (Rumi’s Doorway). Playing for Peace. 4. Although I may not have been aware of the source of inspiration for the talk to tell sequence in developing the script, I later connected this with the magnificent work of Vivian Paley. In her series of books (e..g., //Wally’s Story; The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter; Boys & Girls: Superheroes in the Doll Corner; Play is the Work of Children//), she shows how authentic voice and moral living emerge from the children’s play with blocks which becomes a story line told to the teacher and then gets acted out. These children under the careful direction of Paley demonstrate the fulfillment of William Stafford’s title on his writing text: //You Must Revise Your Life//. The teacher supports the children’s play as it takes representational form in which their previously unspoken anxieties and wonders move forward toward resolution or at least endurance. Neither Paley nor Stafford worked with DMAL, but their concepts and pedagogy are applicable.

//5. Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet//, Basic Books, 2001.

6. Henry Jenkins and others. //Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century//. MacArthur Foundation, 2009. Their Executive Summary (pp. 3-4) includes this: Educators must work together to ensure that every American young person has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant, can articulate their understanding of how media shapes perceptions, and has been socialized into the emerging ethical standards that should shape their practices as media makers and participants in online communities. A central goal of this report is to shift the focus of the conversation about the digital divide from questions of technological access to those of opportunities to participate and to develop the cultural competencies and social skills needed for full involvement. Schools as institutions have been slow to react to the emergence of this new participatory culture; the greatest opportunity for change is currently found in afterschool programs and informal learning communities. Schools and afterschool programs must devote more attention to fostering what we call the new media literacies: a set of cultural competencies and social skills that young people need in the new media landscape. Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression to community involvement. The new literacies almost all involve social skills developed through collaboration and networking. These skills build on the foundation of traditional literacy, research skills, technical skills, and critical analysis skills taught in the classroom. The new skills include: ** Play ** — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving details. ** Distributed Cognition ** — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities ** Collective Intelligence ** — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal ** Judgment ** — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources ** Transmedia Navigation ** — the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities ** Networking ** — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
 * Performance ** — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
 * Simulation ** — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
 * Appropriation ** — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
 * Multitasking ** — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient
 * Negotiation ** — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

7. Web 2.0 refers to a shift from spectator to participant. Henry Jenkins’ //Convergence Culture// elaborates the concept with chapters exploring exemplars including TV phenomena (e.g., Survival in which a web community works together, although never meeting in person, in order to figure out who will survive) and Harry Potter fan sites (where the mythical world is added to with compositions extending out of the books, movies, and games that the initial writer and producers make).