12 years ago
I Like Big Books!
Monday, September 26, 2011
What a great time I had searching for an online resource to showcase youth as producers on the Internet! I couldn't stop at one resource however, so welcome to the first of my reflections on how young people are encouraging each other to stay engaged with literature by producing videos and sharing them with the world via YouTube!
Dowell Middle School students from Texas, USA, have produced a highly entertaining video clip promoting the benefits of reading books to students. They introduce perceptions that kids have about large factual texts and why they might read them, then debunk any misconceptions by outlining a range of text types and why reading them is a great idea. They also include a range of student cultural “cliques”, including the school grid-iron team, who happily chant about how much they like to read! Their message to their peers is that knowledge brings power, and that you should read for at least one hour a day.
I love the fact that the school Principal is happy to share the way reading books helps him escape from reality and chase his dreams… you will need to watch the video to see what those are (and view right to the end, as the out-takes on his contribution are great)! They also encourage students to engage with real books in libraries rather than getting caught up with using electronic readers and ebooks! (An interesting viewpoint expressed from the digital generation!!).
I chose to utilise the Circuit of Culture (du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay & Negus, 1997) as a framework for reflecting on how the production and online sharing of video clips make up part of the cultural experiences of youth of today:
· Production – although this literally takes place “offline”, then intent is to create a final product that is to be shared with an audience beyond that of the school - a global audience
· Identity – Students and staff from throughout the school represented themselves with a shared identity – that of a community of readers who were reading for a noble range of purposes!
· Consumption – Since the upload of this resource in December, 2010, there have been over 60 000 views through YouTube, over 200 “Likes” and 72 comments posted – the majority of which appear (by their content) to be made by school students, so the producers appear to have reached the target audience of their peers!
· Regulation – The clip was uploaded under a standard YouTube licence by the school county, who have uploaded over 90 clips to YouTube. I was surprised to see that surnames were used for the students involved – one could only assume that appropriate consent schedules have been signed?
· Representation - a large percentage of the student population of the middle school were engaged in the production of this clip, as evidenced in the oval and library borrowing scenes, and the message was clearly aimed at the peers of these middle school students: it is cool to read no matter what you read, or who you are!
This blog entry was posted by Bronwyn White
This blog entry was posted by Bronwyn White
Resources
Dowell Middle School. (2010). I Like Big Books. Availability:
Retrieved September 21, 2011.
Du Gay, P., Hall, S., Janes, L., Mackay, H. & Negus, K. (1997). Doing cultural studies: the story of the sony walkman. London: Sage/The Open University.
What a creative group of students. I really enjoy how they are trying to promote print books and reading in the library. I agree that it is a very atypical viewpoint from the digital generation. The students even went as far as to discourage kindles and e-readers but as the digital age expands are electronic books going to become the norm?
I find it interesting that the way they chose to promote books is through digital means by making a youtube video. Of course using the Internet is the best way to reach a global audience. 30 years ago it would be very unlikely that teacher librarians in Australia would watch or even have access to a video made by students in Texas. But if we are going to embrace one form of technology like youtube should we really be so quick to discredit others?
From my personal experience with e-readers and ipads they are continually getting cheaper, faster, smaller, lighter, more convenient and when considering paper consumption, more environmentally friendly in some ways. Within a world of books one small electronic tablet can hold up to 10000 titles. Most e-books can be downloaded from the Internet for a fraction of the price of print materials and in some cases they are free.
I am definitely not saying e-books are superior to paper books. In fact I most definitely prefer print materials. Although as the digital age continues to grow and expand are they going to be around much longer? If we are open to the production new forms of digital media within the Internet we also have to be prepared to be open to new forms of print.
I continually wonder what will happen in the future as this digital age continues to grow and expand. As books are becoming available digitally, will the Internet turn into the only source of information that we will ever need?
Bronwyn, I too was surprised to see the students discouraging the use of e-readers and can’t help but wonder whether this was their personal opinion or influenced by the adults in and around their library. I find it very unfortunate that many people (including many teacher librarians) seem to boil this topic down to a book-vs-technology debate. Perhaps driven by the fear that books will become ‘extinct’, some teachers clutch tightly to the idea that physical books are somehow ‘superior’ to digital versions.
In my mind, a book is a book whether it be encapsulated in a physical bound copy or within a digital device. In my experience, many students are accessing my library’s OverDrive e-book collection and downloading books to their smart phones, tablets and laptops. I acknowledge that this initial rush may be attributed to ‘novelty’ value however each student that engages with a text and returns for more is having no less of a literature experience than one who checks a physical copy out of the library.
That being said, like Liana I myself would prefer to curl up in a corner and turn the pages of ‘the Hunger Games’ rather than read it on a screen. I do, however, think it is important to embrace literacy and literature in a way that allows young people to choose their preferred medium for themselves.