Getting Started with Media Arts
Getting Started with Media Arts
In this video, presenter Diana will introduce you to Media Arts as a subject in the Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Find out more about the study of Media Arts and learn about the key concepts that underpin it. You will see how Media Arts can easily be taught in any classroom, regardless of your technical proficiency and with the resources and materials available to you at your school.
These resources will give you the confidence to teach Media Arts in your classroom. Give it a go! Don't be afraid to take some creative risks. Media Arts is an exciting art form that everyone can engage in. You don't need many resources to get started either.
Research on the arts and student learning such as The Song Room research projects and findings of international reports such as Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning indicate the value of the arts to assist students with:
self-esteem and self-expression
social interaction with peers and adults
cooperation and sharing
creative thinking and problem-solving skills
eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills
language and literacy
sensory awareness
concentration and perseverance
observation and ways of seeing
innovation and adaption for all learning areas.
Student engagement
One of the aims of education in the arts, as detailed in the Australian Curriculum, is to cultivate curiosity and creativity in students through making and responding to various art forms. Media Arts contains many opportunities to address this aim and foster one of the most important aspects of all teaching - student engagement.
In Media Arts, student-directed activities and inquiry-based learning help develop independence and self-motivation. Media Arts is able to engage students in interesting and unique ways because there are so many "real world" examples that can be used to support your teaching.
Students engage with the media every day and Media Arts helps develop students' ability to be more discerning about their interactions with media artworks. For example, ask students to analyse how they feel about a "newsworthy" famous person and they will have many opinions based not on real, first-hand experience but rather on what the media has presented to them. Once students understand this concept they can be more critical consumers in their everyday lives.
If students can see that what they are learning about is relevant to their own lives then they are more likely to feel motivated, engaged and inspired about learning.
Collaboration
In Media Arts there are many opportunities for students to use a collaborative approach to learning. For example, many practical media tasks require a team of people to produce good results - media artworks such as films or television shows aren't made by just one person. Students learn how to build positive and constructive relationships through this interaction to make podcasts, short films or documentaries. This relationship building contributes to students' sense of wellbeing at school - and learning is intimately tied to this.
Essential questions
Remember to ask yourself: "What do I really want my students to take away from this?" every time you plan your classes. Start with this essential question and work backwards to design your lessons.
Be guided by content descriptions and achievement standards in the Australian Curriculum: The Arts and make use of the key questions contained in the content description elaborations. Look to the achievement standards in each band to understand what specific media skills students should be working towards and scaffold Media Arts lessons to help build these skills gradually.
If working on a large media project such as the short film in Manipulating Digital Media: Genre-nators you might find that identifying the essential questions early in the process will help manage the expectations of students and allow them to see where all their hard work is leading.
Useful teaching strategies
See, think, mean
The "See, think, mean" method can be a great way to introduce analytical skills to students. It scaffolds the analytical process by breaking it into parts. You can use this method when looking for meaning in any type of media artwork. It encourages students to start thinking beyond what they can simply see, and to question how all the visual elements combine to create meaning for the audience. You can use this method when examining a photo in a newspaper, a print advertisement, the front cover of a magazine, a still frame from a film or a film poster advertisement.
Have students work individually, in pairs, or in a larger group with a simple table divided into three columns:
See: Students list what they see in the media artwork. For example, a student may write "red". Listing all the things that students "see" first, before moving onto the other columns, can be especially good for students with lower literacy skills.
Think: Encourage students to write what they think about the things they see. For example, when they see the colour red they might think about love or blood, depending on the context. Encourage them to make this assessment by looking at all the visual elements as parts of a whole.
Mean: Students start to make connections between what they see and what they think about it, to try and analyse what it all means or represents. Depending on the context of the artwork, this column will often provide interesting answers and help students to see how they can learn to analyse media artworks for deeper meaning.
Demonstrating this method with a few examples first can help students work independently on developing their analytical skills. This is a good method for breaking down the task into manageable parts and older students can use the "Mean" column to start writing full sentences and paragraphs.
Jigsaw learning and reporting
When viewing media artworks, particularly audiovisual sequences, give each student a specific production element to look for. For example, one student can look for camera angles, another for dialogue, and another for sound effects. This makes the task of viewing more manageable for students because they have clear instructions on what to examine, whereas viewing "the whole" can be overwhelming.
This is an efficient way of developing media arts knowledge and gives everyone a responsibility. It is also a cooperative learning technique where each student's input is important for the completion of the task and the full understanding of the clip. Students can report back to the class and the answers can be collated to gain a big-picture understanding of the media artwork.
View audiovisual material differently
Often it is hard for students to absorb, let alone understand and analyse, all the visual and aural information being shown in an advertisement, music video, film or television show. Try to vary the viewing experience to help students take in all the information presented to them:
Watch with the sound muted - this will help students analyse visual elements first. Or conversely, listen to the audio alone before watching the visuals to help students understand the complex relationship between sound and vision.
Pause often, allowing students time to write or complete tasks as you go. Do a complete viewing first and then repeat viewings if time permits. Students often find it difficult to make notes or fill out worksheets while they are watching sequences.
Give students a fun task not normally associated with "watching a film" to help them see how the production elements have been used in a sequence. For example, students can yell out "cut", or clap their hands, every time the vision changes to a new shot. This helps them see how editing has been used. Often sequences with a lot of action will use more "cuts" and students can see how the fast-paced editing helps to increase the suspense for the audience.
Compare similar types of clips or sequences across different time periods. This can be a great launching pad for discussions about the relationship between society's values and artworks that reflect these values. For example, watch a well-known brand's advertisement from the present day and compare it with one from 30 years ago. It is useful for students to understand how media conventions have endured or changed over time.
Focus on the process
Media Arts can achieve great student learning because there is a strong emphasis on the production "process" and the importance of planning in the making of a "whole" media artwork. This also allows you to teach both theoretical and practical skills and knowledge. Having a balance between the two can help create well-rounded students.
Encourage students to see the connection between what they may see as "simply theory" and more practical media-making by referring to the process as a whole and by constantly referring to essential questions that may be guiding your teaching.
Planning
All teachers, regardless of technical availability or proficiency, can help students understand their increasingly media-saturated world. When planning to teach Media Arts, the focus isn't on the technology but on the students' understanding of the concepts behind the creation of any media product.
In your planning stages, ask yourself the following:
How can I make Media Arts the centre of my curriculum? Think about planning your curriculum priorities and subject areas around Media Arts, rather than the Media Arts component being added on. You could use a media artwork about almost any topic to facilitate learning about not only the subject matter, but how the film has been constructed to convey its meaning and inform audiences.
What media technologies do you and your students already have access to? Students' mobile phones can be an easy solution for still photography.
Does every student need access to equipment? Many media-making processes are collaborative in nature and therefore not every student needs, for example, access to a digital camera - they can take turns and share secure digital (SD) cards.
Do the students need to see the entire production process through? If so, plan out the number of lessons you think you will need by breaking the process down into pre-production, production and post-production time. Practical classes often take longer than anticipated so allow enough time for this.
Preparation
There are a few things you can do to prepare yourself to teach Media Arts effectively.
Make a list of all your equipment before students start using it, and check it again after they have finished. Get the students involved in this process so they can take responsibility for the items they borrow.
If students are doing practical tasks that require them to go outside the classroom - this is particularly pertinent for older year levels - make sure you outline your expectations about using equipment in other areas of the school. It is a good idea to also warn your colleagues about your plans.
Preview any material that you intend to use in your classes. Not only is it helpful for you to analyse it yourself first, but it is important to assess its suitability for your particular cohort of students. Check the material to ensure it is suitable for the age group.
Organisation
Along with planning, Media Arts requires some preparation for the best results:
For a practical skills-based class, make sure all the equipment is accessible and ready to go before students enter the space. This includes managing any technology that might need charging or getting the correct accessories such as SD cards and tripods.
Allow enough time for packing up at the end of each lesson. So you don't go over time into other classes, start the pack-up early and make sure students are aware that it is their responsibility to ensure everything is accounted for.
Make sure that you allow five to ten minutes at the end of each class for students to reflect critically on what went well in the class and what they learned. If you begin each lesson with a learning objective you can assess how well it was met at the end.
Low-tech ideas
Don't be discouraged if you don't have access to the latest equipment:
Break a task down into simple analogue forms, like hand-drawing storyboards instead of using photos or an iPad app. This can just as effectively teach the importance of shot selection and framing when planning a film.
Show students examples of everyday media such as newspapers and magazines and discuss the visual structure or selection of photos to encourage critical thinking.
Equipment purchase
If you are looking to buy some new equipment, here are some things to keep in mind:
What media technologies do you and the students already have?
Can the students change the settings? Cheaper media equipment is often locked to auto features. This is adequate for some tasks but the ability to change the focus or aperture on manual settings can provide more creative options.
Do you have a safe place to store your equipment?
Is the equipment compatible with what you already have? For instance, if you buy a video camera, make sure your computers can import the camera's footage and the editing program can recognise it.
Technological compatibility
Ensure that all equipment you obtain is compatible with equipment you already have. For example, if you buy a video camera make sure your existing computers can import the camera's video via appropriate cables or slots for SD cards. There are many different types of digital formats so you want any editing program to be able to recognise the footage you use.
Equipment storage and access
It is also important to consider how you will store expensive or bulky equipment. In addition, put a plan in place for student access to equipment, both inside and outside school hours. This may require a release form and signature from parents or guardians to protect you and the school's new equipment from loss or damage.
Tips and tricks
Look to your everyday surroundings for inspiration and remember that someone has produced every piece of media content with a specific purpose in mind. Media Arts encourages us to be critical consumers of what we see and hear in the media.
Use examples that you find interesting as a springboard for analysis.
Scaffold your students' learning by breaking down tasks into sequential parts where skills learned in one area help propel student learning in the next.
Start your classes by asking key learning questions. Refer to the Viewpoints questions in the Australian Curriculum: The Arts for guidance. These can be helpful for students to realise what is framing the delivery of the class. At the end of the class you can then ask the key question again as a critical reflection task.
Be flexible with your time frame. Allowing time and space for practical tasks to develop is important for the creative process. Some students may need longer for some activities so allowing more time to edit, for example, may produce a more polished film and better learning outcomes.
Search the DVD extras of popular films for behind-the-scenes production resources for you and your students. Extras can include animation storyboards, visual effects information and explanations of the ways costuming reflects characterisation.
Links to general capabilities
Resources on ARTS:LIVE help students develop the general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum. The educational value statements will guide you and the Teacher Notes contain more specific guidance on how the resources relate to specific general capabilities.
In Media Arts there are many opportunities for students to engage with the general capabilities as they learn to become critical consumers and makers of media content.
Examples from ARTS:LIVE
Media Techniques: Design a Magazine Cover encourages students to evaluate and analyse magazine front covers for meaning. They then take this knowledge and apply critical and creative thinking to make their own magazine front covers.
Story Starters: Create a Photostory asks students to think about ideas and concepts in their own and each others' artworks. As students make and present their photostories to the class, and respond to the artwork of their classmates, they build personal and social capability.
Media Techniques: Shocko Doco gives students practice in establishing and building positive relationships by making responsible creative decisions and working effectively in teams. In their teams they create and communicate information and ideas about documentary filmmaking through appropriate technologies such as video editing software. Students are also encouraged to develop ethical understanding by making decisions about how to represent issues and people in the media.
Links to cross-curriculum priorities
There are three cross-curriculum priorities:
Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Sustainability
The Australian Curriculum stresses the importance of the three cross-curriculum priorities in a globalised world. It embeds cross-curriculum priorities in all learning areas and encourages explicit teaching of them whenever the opportunity arises. Emphasis on these priorities throughout the curriculum enables students to acquire understanding, knowledge and skills about the world around them and helps them become more active global citizens of the 21st century.
There are plenty of opportunities in Media Arts to address cross-curriculum priorities in your teaching. As many activities involve responding to media artworks, you can choose artworks that explore themes related to the three cross-curriculum priorities. Or students can make their own media products that speak to these priorities.
Examples from ARTS:LIVE
Performance and Digital Media: Drama and Photography can be used to investigate issues concerning Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia. As students explore how stories are told through performance skills and still images, there are opportunities to explore past, present and future issues in the region. This would also enable you to teach across learning areas by linking to History.
Story Starters: Create a Photostory can be used to explore a specific topic that fulfills a cross-curriculum priority. For instance, students could explore concepts of identity within an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures context to create their own stories and stories of others through photos. Their photostories would require students to engage with the priority's organising ideas of Country/Place, Culture and People.
Media Techniques: Shocko Doco can be used to help students create a documentary about a local, national or global environmental issue. Students can analyse and create representations of Sustainability in patterns of living, and in doing so engage with the ways issues surrounding sustainability are constructed in both positive and negative ways in the Australian media.
Audience: the people who consume media artworks.
Codes and conventions: in media, codes refer to certain signs that create meaning for the audience, eg the size or placement of an image in a magazine, or the use of warm lighting in a romance film. The conventions are how these codes are commonly used.
Constructed: how something is deliberately put together to create a particular meaning.
Consumers: people who buy or engage with a particular product.
Edit: to cut and arrange material that has been recorded to make a finished media artwork.
Genre: a way of categorising media artworks that share similar characteristics and styles. For example, horror and romance are genres or 'types' of film.
Pre-production: the planning stages of making a film, such as writing the story or script, or drawing pictures on a storyboard.
Production: in the medium of film this refers to 'shooting' - the actual photo-taking process.
Production elements: the various technical elements used by filmmakers in the process of making a film. They can include camera elements, sound elements, editing, mise en scène, lighting and acting. These elements are manipulated by filmmakers for a particular purpose that may relate to how they want story elements to be represented or how they want the audience to respond.
Post-production: in the medium of film this refers to the editing of a media product's footage, in order to make it ready for an audience.
Story elements: the various elements used by filmmakers in the process of constructing a film to tell a story. Important story elements are the use of characters to help tell the story, and the setting of a scene. Audience members may have certain expectations about what to expect from a narrative based on where it is set. For example, a dark, cold, isolated house brings with it a set of narrative expectations based on the rules of genre.
Target audience: a specific group of people that a media artwork or product is aimed or marketed towards.
Produced by the Song Room with A.T.O.M. and the Australian Government Department of Education
Talent in video: Diana Nguyen
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), http://www.acara.edu.au
Australian Curriculum: The Arts, Foundation to Year 10, http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/introduction
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), http://www.aitsl.edu.au