I wanted to initially do an app that would help in the classroom, to help with revising for media studies A level, but after much thought and consideration I have decided to make the product entirely entertainment based, as this will be more fun and help me push this process forward further. Rather than be stuck. researching something that doesn’t please me and my vision thus causing creates stress, and lack of motivation to create something that is to my standard.
Research – blended learning
Blended learning
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/starter-tools/blended-learning
What is blended learning?
Blended approaches use multiple methods to deliver learning by combining face-to-face interactions with online activities.Where did blended learning come from?
Blended learning (sometimes referred to as hybrid learning) has a complex heritage that has evolved from the distance and open education movements and the development of online or e-learning. The earliest references to the term ‘blended learning’ are from the late 1990s and, since that time, definitions of its meaning have varied according to particular combinations of pedagogy and technologies (Friesen 2012). The detail of the ‘blend’ is context specific influenced by institutional culture, learner need and is often bounded by the digital capabilities of teachers. Blended approaches which include ‘flipped learning’ and ‘self-blended learning’ are gaining in popularity as educators grapple with the rising tide of digital technologies, the increasing sophistication of online courses (e.g. MOOCs) and increased student expectation of flexible and differentiated learning provision. Blending synchronous face-to- face learning with synchronous and/or asynchronous online components provides a powerful response to this challenge; and used innovatively, can build a valuable bridge from formalised education to informal learning spaces.How does blended learning work?
Blended learning combines face-to-face and online activities in a seamless and complementary flow of learning. For example, in the flipped classroom, online activity is introduced before a face-to-face class, in the form of reading materials and other artefacts. These resources provide a springboard for students to conduct further online research through personal learning networks (PLN) and digital curation activities. Subsequent classroom time is spent in small groups with the aim of deepening this learning through problem-based activities. This weaving together of different modes of delivery with a purposeful pedagogical underpinning is one example of a blended approach that combines synchronous and asynchronous elements. Other blends might be purely synchronous and take the form of a face-to-face class in which some learners join remotely via web conferencing tools. In short, there is a huge range of different blended approaches; the balance between online and face-to-face components, and the integration of other methods, depends on the needs of learners and the context within which the learning is implemented. The more innovative of these approaches increase student engagement by enabling learning, thinking and conversation across multiple spaces and over time.
How will this help my project?
Using techniques of blended learning in my project will help innovate the way that the student interacts with a tutor and vice versa. It will help inform me to get into the mind of a teacher as well as a student who would actively use this project. Ideas such as having an app that could be used to set homework or set up a classroom game which helps students understand concepts and find the ideas and key concepts that the tutor or teacher is trying to teach that seamlessly is implemented into the lesson plan.
Research
Just over a quarter (25.8%) of A Level students gained a A* or A grade in 2016.
The pass rate for the top grades follows a trend seen across this decade, with another drop on last year’s results to 25.8 per cent of students getting A or A* across all subjects.
Students have performed well in mathematics and foreign languages, while courses such as ICT and media studies have struggled to get their students achieving the top grades in 2016.
The worst performing A levels
The lowest pass rates in 2016 were seen in ICT and media, film and TV studies.
This has followed recent years, where these subjects have struggled to get their students to achieve the top A or A* grades.
One in 10 ICT students gained an A or A* in 2016 – down from 12 per cent in 2011. Some 8,700 students took the course this year, falling by 3,300 in five years,
2016 results : Media / film / TV Studies Number sat : 28140.
A*+ : 1.2%
A+ : 10.6%
C+: 80.4%
Mathematics Number sat 92163
A*+: 17.5%
A+: 41.8%
C+:80.2%
This shows that somewhere Media education is failing to produce the same amount of high passing grades that the likes of mathematics are producing. There is a missing link here that needs to be fixed. I think that this is highly down to people and other academics who teach a traditional path such as maths, sciences and English
Pushing through the notion that media film and tv studies are mickey mouse subjects that have no relevance to the world or a paid job. When the exact opposite is the case. A blog I found online that was published in 2014 states that ofqual the government office of qualifications and examinations regulations. Had mistakenly taken Film studies off of the list for examinations. He states in a letter to OFQUAL:
( http://failingtolearnbetter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/in-defence-of-media-and-film.html )
On an academic level, I would draw your attention to the already demanding nature of assessment: GCSE involves extended comparative writing which motivates many to improve their linguistic abilities; A level examinations are currently substantial essay-based examination papers. Both subjects include assessment of research skills, as well as analytical skills. These are the bedrock of the “traditional” curriculum we seem to be returning towards, so why would we withdraw subjects which reinforce such skills?
Second, there is a popular perception of Media and Film Studies as “soft” subjects, which I would disagree with fundamentally. The vast majority of my students will also tell you that Media and Film were far tougher courses than their “academic” counterparts. In part this is the fault of the mass media itself and its largely biased reporting of the subjects: The tabloids have no qualms about labelling our subjects as lesser subjects compared to the “traditional” subjects being pushed by the present government. The fact that the broadsheets put inverted commas around the word soft does not in any way absolve them of blame for reinforcing this perception, in my opinion. The message from the media is clear: Studying media or film is an easy option.
He later goes on to explain why he thinks media and film studies is a hard subject and how it is really an extension of English and how the two relate and how media and film takes in aspects of other more “academic” subjects.
However, I would argue that OFQUAL is equally to blame in this process for not countering this perception explicitly with evidence. I would contend that the level of demand at both GCSE and A level is very high: Students analyse film and media texts in exactly the same way as they do in English, except that they must take account of not only linguistic characteristics of texts, but also the way the layout, camera angles, editing and sound work in tandem with these linguistic features. This adds layers of meaning which are very subtle, additional to those studied in English, and indeed constitute an entire language of their own. And this only covers the textual analysis aspects of the courses. Film and Media Studies also require that students understand why texts are the way they are, by taking into account institutional, social, political, economic, historical and technological factors which may influence meaning and interpretations of texts. While this is a skill which is taught in English, I would argue that the up-to-date nature of film and media studies enquiries makes it much more challenging for students to interpret the influence of these contexts, as they are not doing so with the benefits of hindsight, or with the help of “expert voices” to guide them. Media and Film students learn a basic framework of analysis, but from there they are applying this to texts which are so new they are largely untouched by academic study. They have to apply their learning very subtly, often drawing in a range of material which benefits other subjects, such as History, English, Philosophy and Ethics, Sociology and Psychology.
Proposal
Name / Team member names: Matthew Welsh
Working title: Game
Blog URL: mattwelsh.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk
What is the intended idea / concept behind the proposed project?
Learning is fundamental to someone’s development and media literacy in the 21st century should be even more important. My proposed concept is a revision platform that could be tailored by the students and teachers to create a specific area of study that is needed to brush up on. It may go into a more platform gaming type area to create something that is more fun. Pokemon GO! Started the monumental push towards AR games and I feel that that could work quite well in the area of a game. Mixing a phone or tablet game with a augmented reality concept could be quite innovative in the world of revision.
Justify the idea / concept in terms of the needs for its existence (if purely for entertainment, state this and how the output will be innovative/original and creative):
When I was in sixth form I was always looking for different ways to revise because I could never revise for exams to save my life. And an app like this would have seriously improved my time revising and made it more fun. This is probably really quite vain and probably purely for entertainment. Gamification of learning is something that is highly needed in 2017, the way in which people are learning now is going towards this sort of game like platform. Using a platform like a game would make the revision process more fun and less like learning.
Describe the intended audience:
The intended audience would be 16-18 year olds primarily, they would want to be more active in their education and be interested in the education in and around media industry. They would be wanting to find other ways to revise the subject that isn’t just writing out facts over and over again that is more engaging and more suited to them as individuals.
How will this project extend your or your team’s creative and technical skills?
Creatively it will push my outside of my box to think about how to make an app that works and that is useable and cohesive. Making the app seem legitimate and useful is another area that will push me as the app could go so many different directions. I think it will push me to think about different platforms and screen sizes and what platforms it would be used most on.
Another creative push would be to create a seamless motion graphics proof of concept. Mixing with augmented reality. I would like to be able to mix two different areas that we have studied and making a product that looks and feels natural to users
Outline how the practical work will be carried out by you / the team (division of labour) and the time-scales involved for each task:
Research
Weeks 1-4
- Researching different ways to learn / how people learn
- Research how the audience learns and how that age range is better targeted.
- Research different app companies in which could be used
Production
5-9
- Create the basic branding and designs for the product that would be informed by what I found out in the previous weeks.
- Refine what designs I do have and start constructing the content in a way that is appropriate.
- Make a proof of concept motion graphic.
10-12
- Prototype testing by audience and possibly media studies tutors
- Get feedback
This is just a generalization of timeframe but could go other ways
What other work (by animators, designers, film-makers, writers, digital media producers, etc.) is relevant to your project? (This work may either be relevant for its conceptual or technical similarity):
There is a media studies app but the app is outdated and is quite bland and unappealing and the full version of the app is £2.99 or £1.59 on the windows app store http://appcrawlr.com/ios/revise-media-studies
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/p/revise-media-studies/9nblggh5mlcn
Blippar, the use of the tool to create a visual augmented reality companion
Super Mario
List any critical texts that are relevant to your conceptual intentions:
-Gamification in education
https://www.learning-theories.com/gamification-in-education.html
What Makes Things Fun to Learn? A Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games. 1982
Developments in Current Game-Based Learning Design and Deployment
Handbook of research on improving learning and motivation through education games : multidisciplinary approaches – 2011