The Story of the WA Mash

The Story of the WA Mash

Wednesday, July 1, 2009


The use of social media – from blogging to online social networking to creation of all kinds of digital material – is central to many teenagers’ lives.

Source: PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT “Teens and Social Media” December 19, 2007


Some 93% of teens use the internet, and more of them than ever are treating it as a venue for social interaction – a place where they can share creations, tell stories, and interact with others.

Source: PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT “Teens and Social Media” December 19, 2007


So how do we educate our students for success in the Web 2.0 world?


Old School Creative Writing

• Genre based instruction

• Anthology of work as primary text/resource

• Student work not published

• Blogging/Journaling

• Assessments were traditional, rubric based

• Mostly fiction, poetry etc.

• Workshop style with peer edit, peer review process

• In depth study of literary elements and terms as vehicle for creation


And then......



What do you want to communicate?


Who are you communicating that

message to?


How best do we communicate that message?


Can we harness the power of social media to provide students with a vehicle for exploring and creating original content?



What is the basis for thinking about the New Humanities?



Why should schools rethink they way they teach traditional humanities subjects?


http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/newmedialiteraciesMIT TechTV New Media Literacies


http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/newmedialiteracies

http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/newmedialiteracies

play

appropriation

judgement

negotiation

transmedia navigation

performance

visualization

multitasking

simulation

collective intelligence

distributed cognition


“Content Creators are online teens who have created or worked on a blog or webpage, shared original creative content, or remixed content they found online into a new creation.”


The questions asked respondents if they create or work on a blog; create or work on a personal webpage; create or work on a webpage for school, a friend, or an organization; share original content such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos online; or remix content found online into a new creation.


Content Creation


WHAT IS THE WA MASH?

The Worcester Academy Mashuphttp://wamash.com


http://wamash.com

http://wamash.com

Our Primary Publishing Tools

wamash.com

MashTube

MashPics

MicroMash

FacebookMash


The Birth of The WA Mash


WA Mash Visits from 9/2008 to 5/2009




Our Process Was Organic

• Sir Ken Robinson “Are Schools Killing Creativity?”

• KSU “Vision of Student Today”

• Modeled after Salon.com and Slate.com, Huffington Post

• We did not stick to any specific game plan or prescribed syllabus

• Did not use a traditional text book


Three Words to the World


YouTube Hits Since September 2008

1518


Video Essay on “Poverty”



“On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.”

President Barack Obama, June 4, 2009 Cairo, Egypt


antonioviva.comedsocialmedia.com


Education

The Story of the WA Mash