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Minds on

MINDS ON

“

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

~ Albert Einstein

Defining Success

One of the biggest misconceptions about learning is that it is supposed to be "easy," when in fact if it's easy, you have not really learned as much as if you had experienced some difficulty along the way. Many of the most successful people in the world have experienced setbacks, or seemingly insurmountable challenges, but have persevered to overcome their obstacles. 

Consider the founders of Instagram for example. They experienced difficulties, and in a very short time took feedback and adapted their product to become extremely successful. Click on the infographic to see a larger version.

This is an infographic with the title: How Instagram Started or How Two Guys Made an App in Eight Weeks by Anna Vital. It shows a curving linear path from start to finish with various icons and text showing the journey of how Instagram came to be. In order, the text states learned to code at night after work; built an HTML5 prototype called Burbn; gave it to friends to use; met investors at a party, showed them Burbn; took the jump and quit his job; got $500,000 in funding; found a co-founder; looked at what they had - an app that did everything from check-ins to photos; decided to focus on one thing: photos; prototyped a photo sharing app from scratch; built a pretty awful photo app; went back to the old version Burbn; made Burbn into an iPhone app, but it felt cluttered; threw out everything, only left photos; renamed it Instagram; launched on a Monday; became number one photo app.
by Funders and Founders

Now consider the metaphor that success is like an iceberg. Click on the infographic to see a larger version.

This is an image of an iceberg and the waterline from far away, with part of the iceberg above water with the word success over it. A lot of the iceberg is below the waterline. At the top is the title, The Iceberg Illusion. Above the waterline to the left of the iceberg is text stating: success is an iceberg and to the right of it is text that states, what people see - with an arrow pointing to the top of the iceberg. Below that and below the waterline is another arrow pointing to the submerged part of the iceberg that reads, what people don't see. Around the submerged part of the iceberg are small icons with the words: dedication, hard work, discipline, disappointment, sacrifice, failure and persistence.
by Sylvia Duckworth used under ShareAlike CC BY-SA

This is the Portfolio icon. Overcoming Challenges

In a written blog post, explain your thinking on the following:

  • What is your definition of success?
  • How do challenges make you feel?
  • What do you do to overcome or persevere when faced with challenges?
  • How do you feel about creating media texts?
    • Is this a new challenge for you or do you feel confident in your abilities? Explain your thinking.
    • How do you plan to incorporate your teacher's feedback into your media text?
Go To Portfolio
 
Action.

ACTION

There are two parts to this summative task: media analysis and media creation. You need to complete both tasks.
 

This is the dropbox icon. Media Analysis Summative

This is the tips icon. Tips

A course of action to complete this assignment has been suggested. Make sure you complete each step in the process in order to fully complete the assignment.

1. In the last lesson, you created a plan to tell a story on a topic of your choosing. Using that same topic, find three media texts (one audio, one photo and one video) that express the same (or similar) meaning as your text. 

2. For each of the media texts, apply a different side of the media triangle to analyze the text. You should answer at least three of the questions for each side. Use the graphic organizer below to collect your thinking.

MediaTriangleQuestions

Long Description

 

3. Using one of the texts you selected, complete the "Part B: Detecting Bias" table on the organizer, Media Analysis Graphic Organizer. Be sure to explain which text you are using for this analysis.

Submit Your Work

This is the dropbox icon. Media Creation Summative

In the last lesson, you created a plan for how you are going to tell your chosen story. Now it's time to take your series of photos.

This is the tips icon. Tips

There are multiple ways to take a series of photos. A cell phone camera or DSLR camera are preferred, but if this is not possible, photos from the web may be substituted. Note: if using photos from the web, please avoid clip art or any image that is unclear, and provide the link where you obtained them from.

Organize your series of photos into the order that most effectively communicates the meaning you want to share.

This is the tips icon. Tips

A program like iMovie or Adobe Spark is a good choice for organizing the photos. If those are unavailable, Google Presentations or Powerpoint may be used.

Then record your audio.

This is the tips icon. Tips

There are multiple ways to record audio. For example, you can use iMovie and create a voiceover or use a program like Audacity to record the voice, sound effects, music, et cetera.

Finally, put the series of photos and audio together into a video format.

This is the tips icon. Tips

If using iMovie or Adobe Spark (or a similar program), add the audio to the images. If using Google Presentations or Powerpoint, you will need to screencast your series of photos and audio using a program like Vidyard GoVideo.

When you are finished, use the Media Techniques and Conventions: Video, Photo and Audio handouts to analyze your finished product; ensure that your media text meets most of the criteria listed. 

This is the tips icon. Tips

Not all criteria will be met; this will depend on the message you communicated and the techniques and conventions you used. For example, you might not have a consistent setting in your finished text.
 

Submit Your Work
Consolidation

CONSOLIDATION

So, What Did You Learn?

In this lesson you completed the media analysis and creation summative assignments for this unit.

This is the Portfolio icon. Reflection #10

In a method of your choosing, share your reflections on what you learned in this lesson. Some ideas to consider are:

  • Which part of the summative did you find easier to complete - the analysis or creation?
    • Why do you feel this way?
  • Which part of the summative do you feel you learned more from?
    • Why do you feel this way?
  • How did having a plan and teacher feedback help you to complete the creation part?
    • Have you ever used such a detailed plan before in your learning?
    • How did it help or hinder you?
  • When you think about the skills you used to complete these summative tasks, what helped you? 
    • For example, how did your speaking skills help you add emotion to your audio?
    • When you were writing your story, how did your knowledge of stories (reading skills) help you to make sure your meaning was communicated effectively in your text?
  • What challenges did you face in completing the video? 
    • How did you overcome them?
  • What did you like best about your work on the organizer and on your media product?
    • Explain why you feel this way.
  • You will be completing another media project later in the course. What do you plan to do differently next time?
Go To Portfolio
 

Did I Remember To...

  Checklist Items
write a blog post about overcoming challenges?
complete the media analysis graphic organizer and submit it to my teacher?
complete all steps of the media creation summative task and submit the finished product to my teacher?
complete Reflection #10?
test text.