At last the new media message appears to be getting through :
Report : Friday January 4th 2008 Education Guardian by Anthea Lipsett,
“Pupils beginning media studies A-level courses in September could earn some of their marks by creating websites, podcasts or blogs, it has emerged.According to the new syllabus issued by the OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) exam board, traditional essays will no longer form part of coursework. Instead, pupils will be expected to submit some of their work in the form of podcasts – a series of audio or video files downloaded over the internet – or blogs – informal internet journals.”
Does this mean that at last the new media message is getting through to the curriculum developers, I for one certainly hope so, it will allow all of those pupils who have developed new media skills through Primary and Lower Secondary to apply them in a ‘real’ situation.
” OCR subject officer Paul Dodd said the revamped qualification would reflect significant media developments in recent years.
“We are providing a range of interesting project briefs to engage students and inspire them to produce creative projects through contemporary channels.
“This revised A-level has also been designed to appeal to the growing number of specialist media studies teachers employed by schools as a result of the subject’s popularity.”
The qualification’s chief examiner, Pete Fraser, media studies teacher at Long Road sixth-form college in Cambridge, said the changes represented an exciting step forward for the classroom.
“Feedback from students involved in pilot projects has been extremely positive, as they have greater pride in their work because of showcasing their research, planning and feedback online.”
I know also that there has been a focus group of teachers looking at the inclusion of new media into Modern Foreign Languages in England, this at least shows that the profession, and in particular new media practitioners are being brought into the process….. hopefully this kind of thinking will out weigh the negative thinking of my previous post.
