What is the Place of Digital Media in our Lives?

Published on: Author: cxyz

WALT – WAre Learning To

…explore our digital lives and be aware that digital media is available 24/7 and is very social in nature. We will gain some basic vocabulary and knowledge for discussing the media landscape.

WILF – What I‘m Looking For…

… is a simile that you create about your digital life that reflects your understanding of the social and interactive nature of digital media and how it can affect you.

Digital Media is Part of our Culture

While digital media devices are all around us the media lives of all kids and families are not the same. Some kids are allowed to use more digital media than others, and some kids like these tools more than others.

This video touches on the different types of digital media that exist, the actions that people take with these technologies, and even specific programs and applications.

Watch the video
101_videoDigital Life 101This shows the 24/7, social nature of digital media — a change from the way people just ‘consumed’ media in the past. Now digital media allows involvement with the device (like playing interactive games) and communication with other people (like text or video chat).

Digital Definitions: Discover the meanings of some common words related to digital media. Search the internet to find a definition for each one and put it next to the word to compile a Digital Dictionary.
Download this Word document to record your definitions.

Your Use of Media
What digital media do you use? Think about a typical day. When you first get out of bed do you check to see if you have text messages? Do you watch TV or listen to MP3s in the morning? What do you do with digital media as you are going to school? During the school day, do you use digital media for work or for entertainment? What do you do with digital media after school or at night before bed? Do you use digital media for your homework, to socialise with others, or to gather information? Do you multitask by using two or more forms of digital media at the same time?

Keep a Media Log for One Day
A log is a written record of what happens over a period of time. We all have different media habits and different media lives, and this is okay because every student and every family is different. To help you develop a picture of your media life, complete a Media Log for one full day – from the time you get up to the time you put it all away for the night.

My Media Log

  1. Record your times in minutes
    Convert hours to minutes and minutes to hours.
  2. When the log is complete, multiply each activity’s total time by 7 to give an approximate weekly average in minutes.
  3. Next convert these total minutes to hours by dividing the total by 60 (because there are 60 minutes in 1 hour).
  4. Round your total hours up or down to the nearest whole number.
  5. Lastly, create a bar graph based on your individual data. (See p.4 of the Media Log.) Example completed bar graph.

Create a Simile for your Digital Life

A simile is when you say that something – a person or place, animal or thing – is like something else. A simile always uses the word as or like.

Examples:

  • as fit as a fiddle
  • as cool as a cucumber
  • as clean as a whistle
  • as snug as a bug in a rug
  • eat like a horse
  • run like the wind
  • like finding a needle in a haystack
  • like a wolf in sheep’s clothing

Develop your simile

  • Think about your life with media. Consider these questions:
  • Are digital media a small, medium, or big part of your life?
  • What kind of impact do digital media have on you (a little, some, a lot)?
  • What are your favourite and least-favourite things to do with digital media?
  • Do you connect with others or create things with digital media?

Examples:

Someone who does not use much media at all might say that her media life is like a dry desert because there is little life there.

Someone might say that their media life is like a cross country run because they are exhausted at the end of the day.

Someone might say my media life is like a bottle of glue. While it might come unstuck sometimes it keeps a strong bond between friends everywhere.

Now finish this statement:

My media life is like a _____________________
because _________________________________________

Present your simile

Use Keynote to put together a series of images and words that will convey the ideas of your simile.

See this example. (This is an internal link only.)

Extra Activity for Year 7

Infographics are a fun and quick way to learn about a topic without a ton of heavy reading.

Use Bitstrip Comics to create an Infographic for A Day in my Digital Life. See an example.


For the Teacher – Australian Curriculum

Year 5/6 English

Literature: Creating Literature

  • Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice
  • Include images to support the development of this literary text.

ICT Capabilities

Applying social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT

  • Identify the impacts of ICT in society
    • Explain the main uses of ICT at school, home and in the local community, and recognise its potential positive and negative impacts on their lives.
  • Recognise intellectual property
    • Identify the legal obligations regarding the ownership and use of digital products and apply some referencing conventions.

Creating with ICT

  • Generate ideas, plans and processes
    • use ICT effectively to record ideas,represent thinking and plan solutions.

Managing and Operating ICT

  • Use hardware and software
    • Safely operate, a range of devices to undertake specific tasks and use basic troubleshooting procedures to solve routine malfunctions

Includes ideas and resources provided by Common Sense Media