Counterfeit Communiqué

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud-loudly-when I was writing this post sitting in my favorite little java spot. Writing, people watching, drinking cup after cup of coffee, I noticed this little plastic, obviously an ID badge of some sort, hanging off of someone’s purse. I was distracted by this because the plastic coating on the badge was reflecting this God-awful light on my computer screen as it swung around in the café’s light. Craning my neck like a fool trying to read it from my chair as it spun around, the woman in ownership of this purse/badge turned around before I could actually read it. Who cared at that point; I immediately knew who she was and for whom she worked. It was Esme Murphy from WCCO. In my coffee shop? Okay it’s not mine, but the ass print in this chair from numerous sittings certainly is. Regardless…my first “celebrity” sighting?? Ha. Actually before I noticed Esme (we’re now on a first name basis although perhaps she doesn’t know), I saw Pam Borton, the coach for the U of M women’s basketball team, and her significant other. Clearly my local coffee shop is where all the important people hang. Obviously why go..right? No. And yes, Esme does look just as "extreme" in person. Startling actually. No offense Ms. Murphy..I get it..it's a news thing.

Anyhow, back on topic (riiight), I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony at seeing this woman, whose job is to relate the local and worldly news to the rest of us less informed-living under rocks people, while I’m thinking about how I hate the news and news people alike and much prefer “fake” news. I was half tempted to ask her what her thoughts were on news vs. fake news but alas, I didn’t really care enough to hear her p.o.v., and inevitably be force fed the notion that real news is honest and reliable and The Onion is an annihilation of such. Although she probably wouldn’t even go there and merely smile her Ch. 4 smile, being a bit of a nihilist-you could imagine my thoughts on this. I like onions-eating, cooking, newsworthy and the alike. Besides, talking to people before they’ve had their coffee is mean.

Whether or not TDS or TCR are recognized as legitimate..let me ask you…what the hell is legitimate anyhow? Isn’t this a personal preference? People are going to believe what they want to believe whether or not it is “truth.” Truth is subjective; it’s what you believe and after all, poorly lit. At least what someone has deemed as “fake” news offers another perspective. This should be what we’re after anyhow: perspective. The ability to think critically is the ability to take on or at least see another perspective. Are these shows funny? Yes, ridiculously so. Are they informative (as should “normal” news-whatever that is), yes they are. Plenty of people out there don’t watch the other news because it’s terrible and you have to watch what other people deem as newsworthy. It’s like the morning and evening version of daytime television with just as much hairspray, stupid names, makeup and drama- God help us all. However, I believe it’s still important to be informed, so at the very least, the “fake” news is still offering the same kind of news as WCCO but with more of what is missing: humor, wit, honesty, criticism and cynicism. Not to mention that THEY mention all of the things that “normal” news would never. People…read between the lines..read the things that aren’t written…they are left out simply because they are important! Shouldn’t we all be critical of news anyhow?



TDS and TCR aren’t necessarily “reporting” false news, they’re still discussing the same news goings-on, and still providing a medium for which young adults and adults alike can be informed-whether or not it’s “legit.” Imagine if we didn’t have such shows, either we’d have to rely on local news or none at all. Gross. I find it hard to believe that local news is any more informative, nonetheless in the “real” sense. “Fake” news may simply inspire a viewer or listener to further investigate what’s happening. Ta da! Mission accomplished. I have only ever searched for the remote to turn off WCCO (whatever, I prefer Kare 11 anyhow), and have never been inclined to further scrutinize an event.

We’re all news consumers whether or not we recognize or admit it. What’s more important to consider is whether or not the public can adequately make an informed decision. Are we smart enough to decipher what is true, what is false, what is worthwhile and what is bullshit? At least “fake” news offers an alternative to the norm, another platform on which to stand, and actually forces one to think about the previous. How nice. No single source of information should be the only source a person should have to work with. A satirical source of news is simply a subsequent source, and it doesn’t make me yell repugnant comments at the television-weather jokes or not. “Fake” news has the balls to question, analyze, and excoriate. I didn’t even have the balls to question Ms. Esme, even after she had sipped her coffee. What if we all believed what we were told? We'd all have blonde hair and blue eyes, have bangs and be wearing hot pants living underground in Montana still afraid of Y2K, and we'd all think George W. Bush is smart and well spoken. Or we could just watch TCR occasionally. I vote for the latter.

Babes In Toyland

Speaking of toys...

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20090306friday.html

Sonic Youth

Advertisements on buses? Wait. We already do that. City buses. This makes sense to me. Like everything else in America isn’t a moving billboard…except for those that are stationary I suppose. But school buses? Doesn’t anyone else see the cry for help here? Shouldn’t a school bus full of children off to school be advertisement enough? NO??? God help us all. Schools are so broke that they have to reach out to advertisers to buy space on a school bus (that’s funny enough) to help raise money to keep the damn buses running…and the controversy is whether or not the ads should be in black and white or color to be more lucrative…I’m sure there are segregation/racist jokes in there somewhere but I have more tact than that people…really. This is a sad day for education. This, in my opinion, is not pop culture meets education, it’s no money + the necessity of education = plain and simple desperation. But I guess, dance monkey dance, do what you have to do, because goodness knows that buying space on a school bus to advertise for God knows what makes more sense than to stop skirting the fucking issue at hand and provide the money where it WILL ALWAYS BE NEEDED, NECESSARY AND BEST SPENT! Alright. I’m done. Sorry. Okay one more…seriously then I’m done. Perhaps I should make a paper sign that says not “Kick me” but “Tastes Great, Less Filling” and stick it on my back as I walk around because I’m a broke ass teacher and student..would you give me money to support “the cause”? Oh..I’m advertising beer...not myself. Deal breaker?

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/issues/overview.html

My goodness. Why not just call it what it is: psychological tactics able to subvert an individual's control of his own thinking, behavior, emotions, or decisions. Wait. Let’s just insert ad here instead:



Dear White and Walker: I feel as though I’ve been having this conversation for the past 9 months. It haunts me. Kid culture is often scrutinized, deemed as illegitimate, etc. but honestly; it may be the secret to lasting educational success..if we ever give kids some credit. Instead of trying to stop this irrepressible force (remember Sisyphus?) let’s meet them half way. Let’s see…engaging students and making text more accessible/relevant by reading Poe’s The Raven only, or pairing the text with watching The Simpsons “The Raven” Treehouse of Horror, Season 2: Episode 7F04. Hmm…I hope I get this answer right.

We can either ignore, feign knowledge of, simply close our eyes and cover our ears to the fact that kids say shit, fuck, and damn, or we can bring in a copy of the latest and greatest rap song (oxy moron?) and dissect why an artist felt the usage of selected words to be effective or necessary, what they accomplish, how they convey meaning, intended audience, etc. Let’s tally shall we? Critical thinking…check. Validation of students and their culture…check. Textual analysis…check. New/critical literacy…check. Stepping/thinking outside the box/comfort zone for everyone..check. Making lessons relevant and connective to lives…check. Totally engaged/interested students…check. Coolest fucking teacher award…check. Awesome. Whooda thunk Tupac could have provided all of the above? Nah. These kids would rather read Faust.

Okay, okay. I didn’t stumble upon an English major, it wasn’t accidental, nor was my desire to become a secondary English teacher. I heart the cannon. It’s just that I am also a student (please don’t read to me from your PowerPoint), have been one for 20 years almost non-stop (please show me and do something new..I’m dying here), and I’m a realist. Noooo. I am. My favorite book is Moby Dick. When most people hear that they vomit a little bit in their mouths. It’s okay..I get it’s not for everyone. Different strokes for different folks I think it goes. I realize that not all of my students are gonna be like yay! 300 pages of whaling! even though there is so much more going on in that book than harpooning…I just get that there has to be more for some kids. I am willing to accept that not all students in my class are going to be English majors, and that some are going to downright detest it. I cannot brush this off as simple ignorance (or can I? ☺ No.) I have to reach out and pull those other kids in. I’m not saying down with the cannon and staple curricula..I’m sayin get with the times folks. Deal with it and be smart about it. Play some Tupac. Show some Simpsons. Please. I believe the money word is access. Cha ching.

This goes for toys too. Although I am an adult..I suppose…I still am very proud of my collection of marbles and bouncy balls. Yes, yes, thank you. They are divinely displayed in Mason jars around my house, and not one fellow adult who has entered my abode has not commented on their awesomeness. Old people still like toys. If old people still like toys, how do you think age appropriate, suggested age and recommended for ages aged people would respond to toy usage and the like in the classroom. Probably pretty well. What? We’re finger painting in art? We’re using building blocks in design? Magnetic poetry in literature? Sweet man…this sucks less. Well, then..that’s half the battle. Making it suck less. I think they call that engagement. That’s two money words. Maybe I won’t have to wear that paper sign after all.

Furthermore

I would like to use the creation of avatars with my students to get to know them better. For the reasons I explained in my previous post: avatars are a creation, extension, projection, and I'm sure a laundry list of other "ions" of oneself..one's identity. I think it would be extremely interesting to see how my students portray themselves, and how they would use their animated identities. Again, there is an anonymity to it. I'd like to explore this with my kids.

I have a fantastic colleague with whom I love to converse about my Somali students. We recently spoke about how many of these young people, ladies specifically, have a difficult time expressing themselves uniquely due to traditions, customs, and expectations. Avatars, and spaces such as Second Life, allow for more personal freedom without persecution. Yay! I would like to see how my students would recreate themselves and behave in such an environment. A little experiment if you will. I feel as though this would lead to a wildly lively conversation about identity alone, and student personal choice and the reasoning behind it. I would enjoy a good knowledge dropping on behalf of a bunch of middle schoolers. Seriously though, how better a way to teach kids than to also be taught by them? Education should be a reciprocal relationship. Educaré. Look it up.

How Posh

http://www.gizmoz.com/file/q/1254057/12474297.wmv

Above is my avatar. I cannot, for the life of me get the video to post. I’ve been trying to for two days now. I give. You win avatar Erin. I actually “wasted” a lot of time playing with this. This was rather time consuming, but fun. I’m not gonna lie. I probably would have played with it all night (I mean wasted my time ☺) if I hadn’t other things to do. How can a person not like the ability to manipulate themselves in anyway they like? Make themselves posh, if you will, a rockstar..anything one could want. One’s avatar could appear just like them, not at all, perhaps how one wished they looked, or how they desire to be seen. There’s ownership, yet anonymity if desired. Worthwhile? To be explored.

Avatars, CAs, CPAs, virtual characters, whosits and whatsits, etc. You still with me? Hmmm. This is new to me and I have mixed feelings. The bodiless caricature as a learning assistant? Now I’m sure at some point we’ve all wanted a TA that is less idiosyncratic and more inorganic, but how does that go? You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes…you get what you need.

According to Doering et al, the findings of their experiment on the effectiveness of virtual characters as learning assistants helping students complete tasks is rather inconclusive. Oh! Other than the fact that there is no consensus as to whether or not they improve learning and teaching. I’ll get into CA abuse later. Apparently student performance didn’t improve necessarily, nonetheless among the usage of different agents. However..and seriously this should be common sense…students that received help from an agent via text turned audio versus written format produced higher scores. Well, duh. Give a kid options, I bet they’ll do better. And remember that Gardner guy with the multiple intelligences? Again, provide various opportunities for learning to occur and…now here’s the money word…differentiate those opportunities and you’re bound to see some success.

You know, I agree, the disembodied head, unnatural facial expressions, the animation, cartoon like appearance of a virtual assistant is downright creepy, and may take away from the learning process for these reasons alone. Who doesn’t benefit from a one on one personal, and I mean person-al experience..not a computer. That’s not personal..that’s a computer. I can’t help but think of that “I’m here to help” agent that pops up somewhere online on some website full of stuff you don’t need to buy. Her name is Annie or something similar. She has dark hair cut into a bob, and does exactly that with her pixilated head supposedly waiting there patiently to help you and only you with your order. Do you suppose this is the same “woman” on the other end of the telephone that is strangely enough also there to help you but can never quite hear you correctly..532 5th street…”let me see if I’ve got this correct…532 6th street”…no I said 5th street! If you’d like to speak to a representative, say representative now. REPRESENTATIVE. If only you had originally chosen menu option number 6 (that’s speak to a representative).

Problem? Doering et al claims they design these CAs to appear intelligent while in reality they are not…great…like I don’t deal with enough bright bulbs during the day, why not add another crayon to the box? It’s exactly that people: artificial intelligence. But they don’t have the necessary content knowledge to help, and they provide limited support at that. But hey, we don’t have enough manpower to do all the things that need to be done, so we must go somewhere right, we must find a way to compensate. Hi, I’m Annie, how can I help you? Engaging? Sure, it’s strange. Strange is always engaging.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the abuse. Veletsianos et al talks about these poor, innocent virtual characters being abused by students. Welcome to education. Nah, I kid. Kind of. But seriously, did they not know this was going to happen? Of course kids are going to ask inappropriate questions just to see what Annie is going to say, and what kinds of things they can get away with saying. Like you’re not going to say shit you’re not supposed to say to “someone” when you know you can’t really get in trouble. Here’s the double-edged sword part: kids can discuss anything and everything at length. Again, there’s an anonymity to it all..so why not say what’s on your mind, explicatives and all. Also, when these CAs cannot help, people tend to get frustrated bringing out attitude and cynicism in all parties. It’s not a perfect system, but show me a system that is.

Practice makes perfect, so I’ve been told. So perhaps with more research (ugh) and further development, these virtual peoples can be of more use to everyone and can be used for their intended purpose: to help aid in learning and teaching. The technology needs to be smarter, not just better.