New Media: The Elephant in the Classroom We Shouldn't Fear

The phrase new media is becoming increasingly common.  Administrators, teachers, parents, and society all want our young people to be new media capable.  And they should, as it is a current demand; it is our reality.  Technology is a major part of our world, and if we want our young people to be able to thrive in our world and continue to make changes that better our nation, they should be new media literate.

Because new media is so, well, new (and broad!), it can be quite intimidating.  I say, embrace the unknown; the world is at our fingertips (literally with the internet), and we are therefore capable of learning virtually anything.  Therefore, teachers should embrace new media - research it, learn it, explore it, share it.

New media offers another realm to our students that may just help them learn better than they would with traditional print.  It essentially allows for differentiation, because it enables students to work within a new medium for which they can prove mastery.  Some students really struggle with print; therefore, new media can be the gateway that allows those students to view material differently and create, analyze, or synthesize more effectively.  Imagine this: picture collages or picture videos; podcast or screen cast productions; webpage design; nationwide discussions; blogging; Glogster.  Those are just a few opportunities that new media can provide for our students.

Sure, we have students who love putting pen to paper or holding a book, and that's OK, but what if we could get those same students to love using those same skills but in a different way by using new media?  I think those students may take their learning to a whole new level. Not all students may love using new media.  But the fact of the matter is we need to expose our students to various forms of new media, and allow them to practice and create so that they gain experience.  As students gain experience with new media, they will get more comfortable with that form of media and may even learn to appreciate it, if they don't already.  Ultimately, teachers need to strike a balance between print and new media; both forms provide different opportunities for our students and both are equally important.

Since it's clear new media needs to be an integral part of the classroom like print has been all these years, how do we assess it?  It's vastly different than print, because it has abstract pictures or hyperlinks or new forms of organization, to name a few.  This medium, like print, can be viewed as a work of art.  For example, take a look at this Glogster:



It incorporates text, images, video, color schemes, etc.  How should a teacher assess that?  I imagine another student's Glogster on the Bubonic Plague in the class looks very different than the one pictured.  Doesn't that make assessing the Glogster kind of tricky?  Well, I'd like us to think about an analytical essay or a personal memoir that our students may write.  Doesn't each look different from one another, too?  And aren't those as equally challenging to assess, much like this Glogster?  The fact of the matter here is assessing is tricky business, no matter what you are assessing.

With that said, I'd like to borrow the idea from Madeleine Sorapure that when assessing new media, we must consider some of the same elements we would use when assessing print texts (Between Modes: Assessing Student New Media Compositions).  There needs to be a merge between what we would expect of our students when they write a print text and what we expect of our students in the new medium of media literacy.  There is no magic way to assess new media, and it greatly depends on the medium they are creating.  This link provides basic elements for teachers to consider when assessing new media; I find it to be a good starting place.  I think it should be shared with students, too.  Both teachers and students can use it to start a discussion about the form of new media they will be creating.  Furthermore, it's important to juxtapose that criteria with many examples so that discussion can take place for what makes each effective/ineffective.  That kind of discussion will show students that each decision, like color scheme and layout, is purposeful.  Teachers may even want students to write out a rationale that explains each decision on the form of new media they created.  In doing so, students will make sure there is purpose behind every decision, and it will help you assess their work because it might help clarify.  Eventually, as both you and your students get comfortable assessing and creating new media, the rationales may no longer be necessary.