Evernote 4 eva

Evernote is a fantastic tool for note taking.  Let me start again... Evernote is a fantastic tool for solving all of lifes problems.  Ya that feels better.

I have been an Evernote user since 20008, and I have always loved it.  At first I used it simply for jotting down notes on my Blackberry.  I then moved on to using the voice recording, photos, searching, folders, scanning documents, scanning business cards and automatically connecting with the contacts on Linkedin (pretty sweet I know).  However, about a year ago I purchased a Surface Pro 3 (now rockin the Surface Pro ) and I began using Micr0soft Onenote for various reasons, but mostly the touch screen and pen support.  While Onenote is fantastic for any document you may need pen support in, I slowly began to miss certain features of Evernote.  I attempted to supplement Onenote with various task management apps, reminder apps, business card scanner apps, voice recorder apps...then it hit me, WHY DONT I JUST USE EVERNOTE!

Long story short, there is not a perfect note taking app, however Evernote does lead the pack.  It is incredibly intuitive, handles task management and reminders like a pro, the built in scanner app is second to none, and its cross platforn any system you can throw at it.  The one thing (and it is indeed a big thing) is the lack of Surface Pen support.  I know use both note taking apps for various things.  Any time I know I will need to use my handy Surface Pen, I bust out Onenote, and using a handy IFTT recipe, that Onenote gets sent to my Evernote.

Go ahead and give Evernote a try if you havent yet.  It's pretty much a game changer.

TIPS

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/323014/35-tips-every-evernote-user-must-know

https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2015/02/02/10-evernote-power-tips-keep-productivity-track/

https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2015/04/22/8-tips-to-master-a-more-paperless-life-with-evernote/

Media Literacy Instruction for Media Production courses

Two of my courses at Fresno State are media centered. One of my courses is a discussion/lecture course where I teach the history of various media milestones as well as discuss whatever new media technology is up and coming, and the second course is a media production course where we go over photography, audio, video, and web design. In both of these classes media literacy is a big part of the curriculum. In the New Media Technology course we go over the theories of media literacy, and in the Media Production course we focus primarily on how Media is created and the skills to persuade audiences. In order to improve media literacy there are a few actions I am planning on incorporating into my courses. In my Media Production course I would like to set more strict rules on my video project. By limiting the project with various requirements it creates a need for more research on my students part into the media industry.

As an example, a video project may state:

This assignment involves shooting video and audio of an event that visualizes a theme and editing a video montage that tells the story with video, natural sound and music.

• Length: 45 seconds to 90 seconds
• Minimum 15 different video shots (likely much more.)
• Edited to a music track so that the shots go with the music.
• Includes at least one natural sound element (Sound occurring when you are shooting.)
• Export as a YouTube HD file
• Music must be Royalty Free (Download and follow Attribution Requirements)
• Must be uploaded to your own YouTube channel.
• Video must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Choose a theme before you start the project and visualize the theme with this video montage.

When students first see this assignment they think that 15 shots is too many, however if I require them to view commercials and track how many shots are in each commercial they will begin to understand that 15 shots is actually too few. By having my students choose and theme and visualize it throughout the video, it will also help them understand how media convey messages. I would also like to have them dissect the commercials and write down the message that each commercial is conveying.

Another project that I would like to implement would be a photography assignment in which students find and place these photos into 4 categories: Journalism, Fine Art, Commercial, Snapshot. After they categorize each of these I would also want them to dissect the story that each photo is telling.

The main learning objectives of these assignments:

Story

1. How well is the theme expressed? Is there a clear and engaging storyline? Does the beginning establish the setting, characters, subject and theme and engage the viewer? Does the body of the story provide details about the subject and keep the viewer's interest? Does the ending clearly resolve the story?

Impact and Creativity

2. How well do the photos engage the viewer? Do the photos have emotional impact? Is the first image sufficiently interesting to make the viewer want to see more?
3. Does the portrayal of the subject provide an unusual or unique insight into the theme?

Composition

4. How effectively are compositional techniques (rule-of-thirds, simplicity, lines, framing) used to draw the eye into the image and focus attention?

Technical Quality

5. Is the lighting and exposure appropriate for the subject of each photo? How effectively are they used to enhance the impact of the photos?
6. Have brightness, contrast, color balance and sharpness been controlled and adjusted to achieve the highest quality appearance of the photographs?

I believe that overall, these changes to my classes would increase the literacy of my students, teach them to explore the true meaning of media messages, and help them in creating meaningful media.

Traditional Literacy V. Media Literacy

In class I was asked to answer 2 questions before doing any research on the topic:

1. How has literacy been impacted by digital media?
2. How can media instruction be integrated into the curriculum?

My initial response was as such:

While the gut reaction response would be to say that the increase of tv shows, YouTube videos, and video games has decreased literacy, I believe that literacy has increased due to digital media. Perhaps the "sophisticated" forms of literacy of the past are diminishing, but these are being replaced with forms of literacy which are much more prevalent in our everyday lives. People may not sit down and pen letters much, however they are texting and Snapchatting, posting Facebook and Twitter updates, sending emails and Slack messages hundreds of times a day. As a child I was forced to sit down and spend time writing, my nieces now post 500 word comments on their friends YouTube videos! Traditional literacy is not dying due to digital media, it is evolving into something different. It is evolving to a place where in a college and business environments it is not abnormal to use emoji's and gif's to communicate, in fact many professional communication tools contribute to the use of these.

Using digital media is one thing, however it is incredibly important to understand how to create media. By tying in video, photography, and audio projects into curriculum, it enhances the learning experience of any subject. Why have students write a paper on Shakespeare when you can have them film a mini documentary about his life, or re-enact a scene from a show and edit it together with audio interviews from experts in the field?

After going through many articles and videos on the topic (see list below) I believe my initial answer stands up. According to a study published by Early Childhood Research Quarterly, adding multi-media rich content into childhood education does indeed have positive impact on learning ability (Penuel, 2012). According to the article, there must be an openness to media on part of the school leaders and teachers in order for a positive outcome to take effect. Educators must be open to media in order to fully embrace its benefits, or else it will only be used an analog substitute and have no long lasting benefits to learning or media literacy.

When integrating media literacy into education, we must focus on the psychological effects of the media and teach students how to dissect media in general. In Media Literacy, Edition 7, by W. James Potter, he says, "Taking control is what media literacy is all about. Becoming more media literate gives you a much clearer perspective to see the border between your real world and the world manufactured by the media."   Media literacy education is imperative for the new generation of students. While we are all influenced by media, the younger generations are being bombarded by a constant stream of media and are being influence at a much higher rate. Without the skillset to breakdown media messages we are inundated with, we can become trapped in what Andrea Quijada calls a revolving door of corporate manipulation (Quijada, 2013).

Quijada, A. (2013, Feb). Creating Critical Thinkers through media literacy [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE&feature=youtu.be

Penuel, W. R., Bates, L., Gallagher, L. P., Pasnik, S., Llorente, C., Townsend, E., … VanderBorght, M. (2012). Supplementing literacy instruction with a media-rich intervention: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(1), 115–127. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2011.07.002

Readings and writings:

Creating critical thinkers through media literacy: Andrea Quijada at TEDxABQED

Center for Media Literacy

Framework for 21st Century Skills- Media Literacy

National Association of Media Literacy Education NAMLE

The Media Literacy Project

The Myth of Digital Literacy

Media Literacy, Edition 7, W. James Potter, offers a rationale for the need to address, even accelerate, media literacy instruction.  Please read through this introduction, on Google Books, pages 1-12

Penuel, W. R., Bates, L., Gallagher, L. P., Pasnik, S., Llorente, C., Townsend, E., Hupert, N., et al. (2012). Supplementing literacy instruction with a media-rich intervention: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(1), 115-127.

thoughts on 28

27 was marred by both intense physical and emotional pain. Abandonment, hip reconstruction, shingles, jaw surgery, robbery, epidurals, etc.

And while 28 is beginning with forced actions, back surgery, and loss, I can't help but smile. 

27 will forever be a year of loss, but more importantly it was a year of growth. Growth in Faith, friendships, wisdom, patience, meekness, strength, courage. Through the Lords Grace, Mercy, and pure Love, blessings were born out of pain and loss. 

There are no words of gratitude big enough to thank those who have shown immense love and support this year. I thank you for your encouragement, your love, your openness, for listening ears and wise words, for meals when I was too weak to walk and hard drinks when I was too weary to talk. I thank you all for true friendship. 

If you are going through trouble know this: what you think is a hurricane is just the rustling of the wind. You will get through it, it may not be easy or painless, but you will get through it.

Thank you for the birthday wishes, I will do my best to honor them and wear a smile through this year.

Be Still, Trust, have Faith. 

Stick that needle to the groove and keep on singing.

Raise the sail on the Leader-ship (or another more clever title).

Semester has started up, and you know what that means! A blog post about leadership, obviously. I have been challenged to reflect on my definition of leadership and give some essential traits and characteristics that I believe are essential to a leader. Before I begin, let me give some back story to my definition may have been formed. I grew up in a family that ran a business. My mother and father began making chocolate in their kitchen and over the last 40 years, many losses, and much hard work and sacrifice, have grown this into a sizable business. Watching my father lead his crew and business most definitely wore off on me, and while in college I started my own media production business. While I have this business of mine, I only do 1 or 2 projects a year, and no longer employ anyone but myself. Having this business taught me a great amount about leadership. Being on a set with 30 actors, 10 crew, clients, and a business partner, forced me to take lead of highly stressful situations. These leadership skills eventually led me to becoming the Vice President of our family business, a position I never thought would come to fruition. If there is anything that forces someone to learn to lead, it is having the jobs and livelihood of 100 + employees and their families in your hands. I am not saying all of this to proclaim that I am a great leader, I am saying this to give some insight into the areas of a person that I now realize are expected of a great leader.

First and foremost a leader must have integrity. If you cannot trust someone to keep their word, or follow their own beliefs, then you cannot trust them to lead you or your team. A leader must also be a visionary, and be decisive to stay on track with the vision. Thinking outside of the box, or having a creative vision is what brings the people around you onto the same page and joins them in a mission. Nobody will fully follow someone who is simply leading them to the status quo, but they will follow someone who is leading them into new frontiers. A few key traits that are key to being a leader, yet many books or articles on leadership leave out are: passionate, servant, humble, and being a good listener. These may not seem like STRONG leadership qualities, but they indeed are. As a leader, it is often hard to remain humble and act like a servant, but the greatest leaders realize that without the team behind them, they have nothing. Dave Ramsey sums up the servanthood part very well in his book EntreLeadership, "I am serving my team by leading them, just like a parent serves their children by parenting them."

I can ramble on for days about this, but I will sum this up in the most simple way I can. When I think of Jesus, he was the perfect example of what a leader should be. He led his disciples, yet he also washed their feet. Leadership by example.