Mariana Ochs
Co-author of the Media Literacy Guide
Technology integration specialist, Google Innovator & Trainer
Formerly: art director specialising in editorial & news design
mariana@modesign.com | Twitter @mariochs
LinkedIn | Portfolio | My SIDL2020 Tier 2 page
Media literacy in action: Scaling up media literacy in Brazil, NAMLE2021
Ask me about...
Design thinking, typography, visual storytelling, large-scale media literacy PD, creating a portfolio, remote beaches, salsa dancing
Essential question exploration
The challenges:
Critical creativity – the ability to access, curate and synthesize information to produce an original narrative – is at the core of inquiry-based learning, an active pedagogy that has many parallels in the journalistic process and develops the skills that are key to learning in school and beyond.
Yet few teachers outside of Media Arts feel confident to lead a classroom of researchers, editors, designers, image-makers and video producers.
Think about a time when you led a media production project:
did you experience any roadblocks?
did you have any frustration regarding the process or the outcomes?
How can we best prepare educators to become creative collaborators and support investigation and media design in the classroom?
References:
All Schools Should be Art Schools – An excerpt from Think Like An Artist by Will Gompertz
Intention: critical creativity in the classroom by Amy Burvall & Dan Ryder
Create to Learn by Renee Hobbs
Read the World: Rethinking Literacy for Empathy and Action in a Digital Age by Kristin Ziemke & Katie Muhtaris
Everyone can create.
How would you like to experience critical creativity from a student’s perspective?
Essential questions:
What kind of media creation framework might support educators who have no background in journalism, design or production?
How might we create a safe space to let educators practice critical creativity?
How might we run an online creativity lab - so that educators can play and experiment with inquiry and visual storytelling, and collaborate with each other as they experience a story design journey from a student’s perspective?
How can we model media design projects and help educators shift from instructors to collaborators in their classrooms?
Meet the Story Design Lab.
The project: Story Design Lab
What it is:
Story Design Lab is an 8-hour journey in which participants meet in a lab format and work hands-on to explore visual storytelling tools and strategies, as well as classroom practices.
During this time, each one will have the opportunity to experience an inquiry / story design project from the point of view of the student. Acting as journalists, art directors and editors, we will explore topics, frame our stories, sketch ideas, decide on narrative formats and create our media artifacts, all the while discussing best practices for the classroom and noting attention points along the way.
Desired outcomes:
Educators develop their own creativity strategies and therefore are able to do the same for their students
Educators explore new narrative formats and tools
Educators experience the entire journey from idea exploration to story design and execution, and therefore are apt to scaffold inquiry and creative development, noting best practices and attention points
Educators go from instructors to collaborators in media design projects.
Action Plan:
Action step 1 Create a pitch and outline lab program.
Action step 2 Get feedback from faculty & participants.
Action step 3 Present Visual Storytelling workshop at Unconference.
Action step 4 Send out survey form.
Action step 4 Look for institutional partnership.
In “Ask a story how it wants to be told” we explore visual storytelling tips and best practices so we can lead a classroom of creators.
Designing a media creation project: open or structured?
Are you interested? Please fill out this form.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Troy Hicks, Paul Tomizawa, Yonty Friesem for generous feedback; to Charlie Coiro, Julie Coiro and Renee Hobbs for priceless growth opportunities; and to my Tier 2 dyad and professional partner in crime Daniela Machado.