Module 3: Exploration of Other Media and/or Advertising
In Module 3, a minimum of one additional medium should be explored based
on student and teacher interests. This exploration should build on and reinforce
the basic understandings of media introduced in the first two modules. The issue
of advertising in the media might also be explored in this module. In addition,
complementary courses, in the practical applied arts, may provide students with
the opportunity to explore audio, video, and multimedia production.
Foundational Objectives
The foundational objectives are broad objectives that are to be developed throughout
a course. They cannot be achieved or met through a single lesson or activity.
Students, through a variety of developmental learning experiences, will gradually
grow toward the achievement of the following foundational objectives:
- Recognize and appreciate the role of mass media in communication, in contemporary
society, and in their personal lives
- Recognize the codes, forms, and conventions of the various mass media
- Recognize the ways in which the various mass media shape their messages,
and construct a sense of what the world is or how it works
- Analyze and evaluate the various mass media, including their sources, intents,
and underlying values
- Recognize the role and power of advertising in the mass media
- Extend and apply their speaking, listening, writing, reading, viewing,
and representing abilities
- Extend and apply their representing and viewing abilities by designing
and creating a media text
Specific Learning Objectives
Learning objectives are the specific, lesson-related objectives through which
the students achieve the foundational objectives. Specific learning objectives
are identified for each exploration.
Exploring Advertising
Buy! Buy! Buy! Stephen Leacock described advertising as the science of arresting
the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. Whether the medium
is television, radio, magazines, brochures, billboards, or T-shirts, advertising
plays an important role in our society and fuels other media.
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and
produce media texts (C)
- respond personally and critically to print, visual, and oral advertising
- explore connections between language use, theme, and meaning
- attempt to understand an author’s purpose and intentions
- speak to clarify and extend thinking
- recognize advertising claims and techniques
- examine advertising in various media for various techniques, appeals, and
claims
- read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts,
and graphs (N)
- trace the history of advertising as a force behind the mass media
- examine the impact of advertising on personal and social values and behaviours
- recognize how stereotypical views can lead to prejudicial attitudes and
discriminatory practices (PSVS)
- make and justify decisions (CCT)
- recognize ethical issues in advertising
- use a variety of resources to assist their learning (IL)
- produce a print and non-print advertisement for a product or service.
Suggested Topics
- Brand Preferences
- On-line Advertising
- Advertising Slogans
- Role of Advertising
- Influence and Appeal of Advertisements
- Techniques of Advertising
- Ethics of Advertising (included in Canadian Code of Advertising Standards)
- Costs of Advertising
- History of Advertising
- Public Relations and Advertising (e.g., press releases, info-mercials,
public service announcements)
- Images of Men and Women in Advertising
- Hidden and Subliminal Messages in Advertising
- Advertising Targets (audiences)
- Advertising Campaigns (e.g., tobacco, smoking, alcohol, lifestyle, nutrition)
- Portrayal of Diversity in Advertising
- Positive Kinds of Advertising
- Advertising and Politics
- Advertising Agencies
- Future Trends in Advertising
- Advertisements as Artistic Creations
Exploring Radio and the Recording Industry
Radio laid the ground work for television and remains the dominant aural mass
medium. Some analysts argue that teenagers spend more time listening to radio--largely
music--than they spend with any other medium. Radio depends heavily on the recording
industry and vice versa.
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and
produce media texts (C)
- speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
- listen to understand and learn
- listen critically and attentively
- respond personally and critically to radio and recordings
- write to express understanding
- analyze the conventions and forms of radio
- recognize the scope of radio programming and its influence on their lives
- make and justify decisions (CCT)
- recognize the close relationship between radio and the recording industry
- research the history of radio and related technology (e.g., records, audio
cassettes, CDs, digital tape) (TL)
- interpret and evaluate a radio production
- produce a radio program.
Suggested Topics
- Net-radio
- History of Radio
- Financing Radio
- Regulating Radio
- Radio Genres (including newscasts, commercials, sportscasts, talk shows,
radio magazines, radio dramas)
- History of Recording
- Recording Industry
- Top Pop
- Messages in Popular Music
- Public Radio
- Radio Commercials
- Radio Play
- Radio Documentary
- Radio and the News
- Yuppie Radio
- Growth of FM Radio
- Talk Radio
Exploring Print (Newspapers, Magazines, Mass-Market Paperbacks)
Print is the oldest form of mass media and is perhaps the most enduring. Several
contemporary print forms dominate our culture--newspapers, magazines, and mass-market
paperbacks (both fiction and nonfiction). Newspapers--from the giant national
publications to small community weeklies--inform, influence, and entertain the
public as well as provide a means of advertising. Magazines are extremely popular
in Canada and one of the fastest-growing mass media sectors. Although they may
not win important prizes or endure as literature, mass market paperbacks are
the most widely purchased books. They range from Harlequin romance novels to
Stephen King thrillers.
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and
produce media texts (C)
- write to express understanding
- read to find meaning and interpret
- speak to clarify and extend thinking
- listen to understand and learn
- respond personally and critically to print media
- recognize the role of newspapers, magazines, and mass market paperbacks
in their society
- analyze the conventions and forms of the newspaper, magazine, and mass
market paperback
- trace the history of newspapers, magazines, and mass market paperbacks
- pose questions and seek clarification (CCT)
- compare and evaluate the content of a variety of newspapers, magazines,
and mass market paperbacks
- read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts,
and graphs (N)
- explain the role of advertising in newspapers and magazines
- understand the importance of social responsibility and personal integrity
in the use of language and media (PSVS)
- prepare an article for a newspaper or magazine
- analyze the publishing industry and book marketing strategies.
Suggested Topics
- Role of Newspapers and Magazines
- History of the Press
- Forms and Conventions of Newspapers and Magazines
- Role of Opinion and Objectivity in Newspapers and Magazines
- Writing News and Editorials
- Ethics and the Press: Objective, Sensational, and New Journalism
- Freedom of the Press, Libel, and Right to Privacy
- Dailies, Weeklies, Supermarket Tabloids, Special Interests, and Alternative
Newspapers
- Wire Services
- Newspaper Business
- Magazine Preferences and Magazine Audiences
- Contemporary Magazine Editing
- Special Interest Magazines
- Muckrakers and Magazines
- Ownership
- Role of Books in Contemporary Society
- Paperback Phenomenon
- Publishing Process
- Mass Market Paperback Genres and Writers
- Formulation of Best Seller Lists
- Book Censorship
- Newspapers, Magazines, and Best Sellers as Reflections of Contemporary
Culture
- Ownership of the Book Publishing Industry
Exploring Film and Video
Film and video occupy an important place in contemporary popular culture and
continue to influence other media. Watching a movie is an absorbing experience.
The size of the screen and powerful audio continue to draw movie viewers. Whether
the movie is based on a book, a play, or an original idea, people will go to
see it in the theatre. Movies also provide much of the content for rental videos
and for television. The movie industry is big business, and video sales and
rentals continue to grow.
Before choosing this topic, teachers should check with the students and arts
education teacher(s) in their school to ensure that the film and video modules
in both courses can be taught in a complementary manner, without duplication.
A 50 hour film and video module is found in the Secondary Level arts education
curriculum (Saskatchewan Education, 1996). The arts education film and video
module (Module Four) is optional. It examines the role that the arts play in
how individuals see themselves and their societies. Students are asked to view,
respond to, and create film and video as art forms. They learn about the language
of cinema, film history, genres, and filmmaking styles. The English language
arts and arts education teachers may wish to collaborate in their planning.
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and
produce media texts (C)
- speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
- listen to understand and learn
- respond personally and critically to film and video
- describe the role film and video play in their lives
- realize that mass media enrich and broaden the experiences of life, including
one’s personal and social understanding and responsibilities (PSVS)
- explain the conventions and language of film and video
- trace the developments and stages in the history of film and video
- evaluate the effectiveness of a film or video
- attempt to understand a filmmaker’s purpose and intentions
- compare movie genres
- discuss the economic and cultural dimensions of film and video (TL)
- compare the television experience and the movie experience
- learn to access information from a variety of sources (IL)
- prepare a short film or video.
Suggested Topics
- Film and Society
- Purpose--to Create Art or to Make Money
- Language of Film
- Film History and Genres
- Documentaries
- Film Versus Video
- Making a Movie
- Kinds of Movies
- Film and Literature
- Reviewing a Film
- Economic and Cultural Dimensions of Film
- Hollywood and Hollywood North
- National Film Board of Canada
Exploring Photographs, Posters, and Billboards
Artists use images to express their inner emotions, commercial photographers
to sell products and ideas, photojournalists to illustrate the lives of those
in the news, and scientists to make an unseen world visible.
- Paul Lester (1995)
A photograph, a poster, or a billboard is sometimes worth a thousand words.
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- respond personally and critically to photographs, posters, and billboards
- learn to access information from a variety of sources (IL)
- speak to clarify and extend thinking
- recognize the underlying principles of mass media as they apply to photographs,
posters, and billboards
- examine the role of photography, posters, and billboards in contemporary
society
- explain the conventions of photography and visual advertising (C)
- trace the developments and history of photography, posters, and billboards
(TL)
- evaluate the effectiveness of photographs, posters, and billboards
- compare the use of visual images in various media (CCT)
- prepare a photograph, poster, or billboard display.
Suggested Topics
- Analysis of "The Migrant Mother" (Lester, 1995, p. 246)
- History of Photography
- Technology and Texts of Photography
- Technology and Texts of Billboards
- Posters: Propaganda for a New Age
- Right to Privacy
- Digitally Altered Photography
- Photographer as Artist
- Photographer as Social Documentarian
- Computer-based Photography
- Paparazzi—Intrusive Photographers
Exploring Emerging Communication Technologies
Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller,
you’re part of the road.
- Stewart Brand (1988)
Communication technologies have an impact on our lives. New technologies are
always being developed. On-line databases, electronic bulletin boards, the Internet,
videotex services, teletext, CD-ROM discs, faxed newspapers--all have an impact
on us. What communication technologies are currently emerging in our society?
How might each affect the way we live our lives?
Specific Learning Objectives
Students will:
- apply the underlying principles of media studies to emerging mass media
- discern the messages and impact of emerging mass media
- speak to express understanding
- attempt to understand an author’s/producer’s purpose and intentions
- identify the functions of and principles behind emerging technologies
- evaluate the reliability of information communicated through emerging media
(IL)
- learn to access information from a variety of sources (IL)
- evaluate new technologies (TL).
Suggested Topics
- Personal Media (e.g., CDs, VCRs, computers)
- Telecommunications Media (e.g., telephone, interactive television, personal
digital assistants, personal communication networks)
- Gatekeepers of Development
- Agendas of New Media
- Value Systems of New Media
- Technology of New Media
- Impact of New Media
- Ethical Issues in New Media
- ExpressVu
- Multimedia
- Neovideo
- Hypertext
- Videotex
- Virtual Reality
- Cyberspace
Media Studies 20
Sample Assessment and Evaluation Summary
Module 3: Exploration of Other Media and/or Advertising (30
hours/30 % of final mark)
Student:
Date:
| Area(s) Studied
| Topics Studied
| Student Products/Processes
| Student Marks
|
| Advertising
Radio and the Recording Industry
Print (Newspapers, Magazines, Mass Market Paperbacks)
Film and Video
Photography, Posters, and Billboards
Emerging Communication Technologies
Module 3
|
| Final Mark
| /30
|