Mest3 Internet Lessons 1-3

1. Unit 3 MEST3 Critical Perspectives
Lesson 1: What is so special about the Internet?
The Impact of New/Digital Media

2. MEST3 Critical Perspectives
Two pre-set topic areas...
Representations in the Media
Both areas examine media issues and debates, theory and wider contexts, and build on AS study (media concepts)
Each candidate will need to produce TWOindividual case studies
Exam...
Section A unseen stimulus materials (1hr15mins)
Section B one question from a choice of four (1 hour)
3. What is the internet?
Theinternetis a trulymulti-media experience: all forms
of information are found there including:
text documents
photographs
video
movies
videogames
audio recordings
computer programs
TASK (individual) ListTHREE sites for each media form
4. Penetration
In 2007, nearly 15 million households in the UK (61 per cent) were connected and 84% of them had abroadband connection(National Statistics 2007)
TASK (whole class) Establish what percentage of the class has a broadband connection
SuggestTHREE reasons why it is higher or lower than the figure quoted above
5. The Information Revolution
Theinternethas been called:
the most important medium of the twentieth century (Briggs and Burke2005, 244) and:
an application that will usher in The Information Age (Castells1996, 328)
TASK (small groups) Appraise these two quotations
Do you agree with Briggs and Burke?
What does Castells mean by the Information Age?
6. How much information?
TASK (pairs) Estimate:
How much information is in circulation on the internet (in gigabytes)
What proportion of the worlds population can now go online
The number of people who could access the internet in 1995
The number of people who can access the internet in today
7. Answers
The current amount of information in circulation on the internetis estimated at28 billion gigabytes)
A fifth of the worlds population can now go online. That figure that has risen worldwide from just25 million in 1995 to 1.4 billon today
8. The Gutenberg Revolution
550 years ago, the invention of theprinting pressbyJohannes Gutenbergmeant that the number of books in existence rose from a few thousand to 20 million in just 25 years
This led to the Reformation, the Renaissance and the scientific revolution in which centuries-old modes of thinking were radically questioned
TASK (small groups) Illustrate this revolution with THREE examples of how society and its beliefs changed in the 15th/16th centuries?
9. The Internet Revolution
What centuries-old modes of thinking are in the process of being changed by theinternet?
nature of information
communication
privacy
community
online safety
business
culture
copyright
TASK (small groups) Arrange these in order of significance: Where have traditional ideas been changed most? Examples?
10. Plenary
What is so special about the Internet?
List FIVE things you have learnt
Lesson 2: What is wrong with the internet?
12. Criticisms
Is the sheer amount of information available on theinternet a cause for concern not celebration?
Andrew Keenlikens web pages and blogs to the activity of a million monkeys typing nonsense in his bookThe Cult of the Amateur-How Todays Internet is Killing our Culture
TASK- SuggestTHREE other ways it could be argued that the internet might be killing our culture?
13. Criticisms: Pornography
One study of web searches found that approximately one in six queries to search engines were about sex in 1997, but by 2001 the figure had fallen to one in 12(Spink et al2002)
Tanya Byronin her review for the government on childrens use of theinternetand videogames(2008) reported that 57% of 9-19 year-olds had come into contact with pornographic material online, 38% in the form of apornographic pop-up advert
TASK (pairs) Hypothesise what the effects of this might be, for audiences and for society in general. In what ways could it be harmful?
14. Criticisms: The Accuracy of Online information
Unlike print media, the accuracy of much of the information published online is not subject to proof reading or editorial checking.This leads to many errors being published and sometimes incorrect information is deliberately posted in order to mislead or deceive
Even a website that is perceived as being trustworthy like Wikipediacan contain serious errors. For example in 2005,Wikipediaincorrectly stated that the journalistJohn Seigenthalerhad been involved in theassassination of the US president John F. Kennedyin 1963. And, in 2008, Gurvinder Sahota was listed on Kate Griffins page as her favourite student when, in actual fact, it was unlikely she even knew who he was
15. Some online sources
A report on BBC News Online
An article on Wikipedia
A film review in the comments section on IMDB
An academic paper available at a US University website
An online study published by OFCOM
TASK (pairs) Rank the above in terms of their likely accuracy.Justify your answer for each example.
16. Who do you trust?
A 2005 study bySonia LivingstoneandMagdalena Boberfound that the majority of students trusted online information as much as they trusted information in printed books
38% of UK pupils aged 9 to 19 never questioned the accuracy of online information and only 10% said they were skeptical of it
66% of 9 to 19 year olds who went online regularly had not been given any guidance about how to judge the accuracy of online information
TASK (whole class) Establish how the students in this class compare to these figures published
SuggestTHREE reasons why it is higher or lower than the national figures
17. Plenary
What is wrong with the internet?
Lesson 3: How does the internet change audiences?
19. Audience Research
Task (individual) - Estimate:
How much you have spent on books this year
How many books you have read this year
How many web pages you have read this year
How many Facebook profiles you have read this year
How much TV you watch each day
How long youre online for each day
How many hours of music you listen to each day
How long youre on your mobile phone every day
20. Research Teams
Task 4 teams (twos) one two questions each
Set up a research station
Send a researcher out into the field to gather data
Make sure you survey everyone in the class
Calculate the average figure for your research question
Interpret your findings propose THREE reasonsfor your results (in relation, for instance, to the development of technology, the changing nature of audiences, and the specific make-up of your sample)
21. Digital Ethnography
One way to study new media/internet audiences is to take anethnographicapproach.
Ethnographyis a method of research that studies people in social situations, usually by having the researcher observing them during regular extended periods of time.
In this way theethnographicapproach places primary importance on the context in which behaviour happens.
This means thatethnographerstend toreject experimental methodsthat attempt to lift human behaviour out of itssocial context.
22. Kansas State University Study
TASK (individual) - While watching the following video, note down the survey data in relation to the questions youve just answered about yourself
A Vision of Students Today
TASK (pairs) - Compare the class media consumption with those in America. Suggest reasons for similarities/differences
23. Homework
TASK (individual or pairs) By Wednesday 7th July
Set up a new individual blog called MEST3 Critical Perspectives
Post up the address in the comments section (of The internet: Everything you...) on Macguffin13before the deadline
On your blog, post up your written summary/response to: The internet: Everything you ever need to know
Create a ONE MINUTE video that consolidates your learning about the impact of new/digital media so far(you should use Premiere or Movie Maker);post it on YouTube (you may need to set up an account); and embed it into your blog
Include text (summarisingsome of the information youve learned + some new research); images (moving or still; shot yourself or found online); and an appropriate soundtrack
Answer the key questions - What is so special about the internet? What is wrong with the internet? How does the internet change audiences?
24. Plenary
How does the internet change audiences?

Documents

Mest3 Internet Lessons 1-3