Barbara A. Sasso
When I began to develop this unit with my academic team, we discussed issues that seemed most relevant to students. We wanted to encourage students to be able to assess and evaluate the information that they view, to consider how they present themselves on social media, to consider how their cell phones shape their lives and to consider how much of life they might be missing when they view everything from behind a screen. We also wanted them to see how this technology could be wonderfully beneficial to their learning. As it happened, our students taught us that they were already using their phones for educational purposes. Our larger goal was to encourage students to think about their interaction with technology, but we also used this unit to improve students' ability to analyze visual media, to comprehend and analyze nonfiction and fiction, and to write a variety of essays, including literary and rhetorical analysis and synthesis. Although the following unit is long (approximately three weeks) it can be broken down to smaller lessons. Teachers can choose from the following student activities:
Experiential
: Through participation in frequent class discussions on ideas presented throughout the unit, students will be able to incorporate some of their thoughts and personal observations from these discussions in their papers. Students will also be assigned free-writing exercises asking them to consider personal experiences and the effects of Internet technology on their lives. Students will conduct primary source interviews with people who grew up before cell phones and be expected to keep a journal including a reflective section of a "Day without a Cell Phone." (My Colorado student's essay on his experience was published in our school paper.
10
)
Content and Analysis
: Students will view short videos that illustrate discrete problems with Internet use. (These ironically enough, were found
on
the Internet.) They will practice looking closely to see more detail in images and through this, will develop rhetorical
and
literary analytical ability. Visual images will be used to support cognition of key ideas later presented in text. Noting what they see in visuals will improve reading comprehension as students gather text support. Students will develop analytical skills by commenting on quotations or ideas expressed in nonfiction articles, and will use these skills to boost literary analysis by citing stylistic literary tools to support themes in fiction. Students will develop
smart
smart phone use and improve their research skills by practicing research techniques with smart devices to cite sources.
Writing Objectives
: Students will improve their writing skills through informal reflective writing based on interviews and experiences. They will write a formal essay comparing and analyzing visual sources and text sources, a formal essay analyzing literary devices to convey theme in a fictional work, and provide a thoughtful caption for a meaningful visual image to share through a social media format. The final product for this unit is an original essay that synthesizes ideas and information from a variety of sources and personal experiences, which includes formal citations.
