Week 7 Reflection

Aims and Objectives: This week I wanted to come up with a good draft for my poem for the MRP. I am not very artistic or creative so I knew that it would take me a while to come up with a good poem.  I also knew that I was going out of town over the weekend so I wanted to get at least one or two assignments done before I left so I would have a few left and could get all of the assignments done in time.

Declarative Knowledge: This week I learned some different forms of poetry.  I have not had a lot of experience with poetry so I was introduced to a few different kinds of poems.  One of the new forms was a found poem.  The poem I chose and had some previous experience with was an acrostic poem.  I also reflected on what we learned and discussed about copyrights.  This was enlightening to me because I think copyrights are confusing.  The newest thing I learned about this week was photo-visual literacy.  I did not have any previous knowledge of the concept and researched the topic to discover that it is basically the ability to use and understand images or photos.  Photo-visual literacy requires certain skills in order to be considered visually literate.

Procedural Knowledge: In order to create my poem for my 3rd genre, I had to creat it as a page in my weblog.  I then had to choose the word/words that I wanted to use and creatively think from the perspective of a mother with a child who will receive a cochlear implant.  I chose the words “cochlear implants” to be the starting letters of each line of my poem.  I then thought carefully and went back and completed each line to add meaning to my poem.  After completing my poem I then saved and published it as a page to my weblog.  Next, I reflected on our group discussion from 9/27/06. I went to the transcript of our discussion and read over it carefully.  I identified what my main contribution was, what questions our group came up with, how and if we answered the questions, and how I related what we learned to my own work. After reflecting on these areas, I posted my reflection to my weblog.  I then stopped by Mrs. McComas’s office and made an appointment with her to discuss my project.  Next, to find information on photo-visual litearcy since I did not know what it was, I conducted a search on the Internet.  After finding what it was, I also provided the links to where I found the information.  I then saved and published my reflection to my weblog and responded to my groupmates refections.

Conditional Knowledge: I am not very confident with writing poetry, but I tried very hard to come up with a good poem this week.  I hope I portrayed the feelings of a parent with a child who is deaf and must undergo major surgery.  I think poetry is a good way to express emotions and can be used effectively to display those feelings.  Reflecting on our discussion concerning copyrights helped me review what we learned and how we should apply it to our own research.  Copyrights are very important and should be taken very seriously.  This will be helpful when doing future research to be aware of the copyright policies.  Learning about photo-visual literacy was interesting because I already knew it existed, but I was not aware the process actually had a name.  Knowing that practice helps people become visually literate will help me as a student trying to understand concepts.  I also feel it will be important when working with and trying to teach people things in therapy.  Photos and images are commonly used so we should try and help people become more visually literate.

A7.4: Photo-visual Literacy

What [do you know/can you find out] about photo-visual literacy? 
I originally did not really know that much about photo-visual literacy. However, since we have previously learned about information literacy in this class, I had an idea of what photo-visual literacy consisted of.  After searching for more information on photo-visual literacy I found that it is basically the ability to use and understand images.  According to the International Visual Literacy Association visual literacy is developing the ability to look at an image while also using other sensory experiences to understand something.  Once these abilities are acquired, a person can interpret objects, symbols, and visible actions in order to communicate with others.  The author additionally mentions that it is hard to find an agreed upon definition of visual literacy because of the complexity of the subject. 
The Oakland Museum of California provides photo-visual literacy activities for students.  They also say that students become visually literate by visually encoding and visually decoding.  Thus, meaning that students express themselves through visual from and interpret/understand the meaning of visual forms.  Further information is provided about how our own personal experiences and opinions influence how we interpret photos.  I think it is interesting that each and every person will possibly interpret the same picture differently because of their own personal experiences.    

What are your reactions to the idea that there are certain skills?
After reading and learning more about photo-visual literacy, I agree that there are certain skills that a person must posses.  It is interesting to me that there are actually activities that can help someone improve their photo-visual literacy skills.  This demonstrates the fact that the more people practice, the more visually literate the person will become.  I am probably not the most visually literate person, but I feel like I know enough that I can walk myself through something given the context and trial and error.  I have had enough experience with it to understand photos and images.

How do you think this “new” literacy will change education/schooling?
I think that photo-visual literacy has and will continue to change education/schooling.  Thinking back to my early education, I don’t believe we started really using computers or different visual forms until much later compared to schools today.  From doing Energy Express, a summer reading program for children in K-3rd grade, I know that more emphasis is now put on using diagrams, charts, or other forms of visual information then when I was in school.  We were encouraged to provide some sort of visual activity such as drawing, making a Vin diagram, or other charts for almost every book or story that we read.  This was a way to tie all of the information that we discussed together for all the children.  I also have a good friend who is currently teaching 2nd grade, and she is always telling me about their art projects and different diagrams they use.  This reminds me of the survey we took near the beginning of this semester about what kind of learners we were.  I think having more practice in schools with photo-visual literacy will improve their skills and be an advantage to the students.

A7.3: Reflection on Discussion of 9/27/06

What was your primary contribution to the discussion?
My primary contribution to our discussion was how copyrights allow for legal action to occur if necessary.  There are several requirements for fair use, and if these are not followed then something can legally be done.  I also contributed by attempting to find the answers to our questions about public domain and the use of images.  Although I did not find the exact, whole answer to each question, I did find helpful information that gave us a start for answering the questions. 

What questions emerged from your group discussion?
One of the main questions our group discussed was whether each different organization has their own set of “rules” for their pictures or logos and what they can or can’t be used for. Additionally, how to find that information for each organization.

Another question our group came up with was how long are copyrights good for? And when does something become public domain?

Our group also wondered how you correctly cite a picture or image?

What questions were answered for you in your group discussion?
 We found information from the UT Crash Course in Copyright concerning students use of images and also information about public domain.  The site showed that anything published before 1978 does not become public domain until 70 years after the author’s death, or if corporate author 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation.  There are several other guidelines that are listed on this site that additionally explain public domain.  We also found that on this site it explains that students can use images for personal study, assignments, or requirements for classes.  However, I don’t believe this is the whole answer to the question so it is important to read the additional information about the subject and seek out the entire answer.

How will you apply what you learned in the readings and discussion to your own work?
During our discussion I learned several things in regard to copyrights.  I was not aware that once something is written, despite where, it is copyrighted.   Also, I did not really know about when copyrights “run out” and public domain.  Unlike before, I now see that I truly, and in a sense legally have rights for my own work.  No one can take my words or ideas and take credit for them as their own.  This also makes me realize that I have to be extremely careful when doing my research.  Remembering to cite ideas along with direct quotes is very important for the MRP.

In our group we also discussed the site turnitin.com where you turn papers into the website to basically see if you have plagarized. We discussed how it is controversial because teachers make you turn in your paper, despite whether you want to or not.  I thought this was very intersting in relation to what we read about copyrights.  I never would have really thought about the debate until our discussion.