Let's pinch ideas from other sixth form colleges

In the advent of the web 2.0 era us teachers believe that sharing is very important.  We know that lots of other Colleges look at the websites that we've created for you, and we also think it's important that you look at what other colleges are up to.  Have a look at this link to another Sixth Form College's MOA blog. 

Hugely important weblink!

This link will take you through to special advice about responding to a Media in the Online Age exam question.  The link is for Pete Fraser's blog.  Pete Fraser is the chief examiner for A Level Media Studies at OCR.  On his blog, he takes you through ways of approaching exam questions and how to apply case studies.  Please read it!

Previous Exam Questions

January 2011:
"The impact of the internet on the media is exaggerated".  Discuss

Evaluate the opportunities and the threats offered to media producers by the internet.

June 2010:
"For media audiences, the internet has changed everything".  Discuss

Explain the extent to which online media exist alongside older methods of distribution in 2010.

January 2010:
"The impact of the internet on the media is revolutionary".  Discuss

Discuss the extent to which the distribution and consumption of media have been transformed by the internet. 

Super injunctions and news

Twitter has run rings around the super-injunctions that leave newspapers unable to print details of the people involved.  Read this Guardian article about how social media is streets ahead of traditional media output in the world of the super-injunction.  Could be a really interesting case study for the exam http://gu.com/p/2p9dk  and http://gu.com/p/2p9ac 

Revision Prez for Media in the Online Age

mioa on Prezi

Exam tips

There are a few things that you must remember to do in your exam answer for Media in the Online Age:

• you must refer to more than one media- we have studied television and film, and so you must refer to both in your answer, but should also bring in other case studies that we've looked at;
• you must remember to refer to historical position of the media that you write about - this does not need to be in masses of detail, but you must reflect back on film and television before the web 2.0 era;
• you must future gaze - where do you see traditional media in the web 3.0 era?  will media become more fragmented?  more personalised? less 'controlled'?  You don't have to have definite answers, but you must make some acknowledgement about the future.
• lastly, and very importantly, you must refer to theory in your answer - at least 2 and ideally 3 'ideas' or theories that you've studied through the unit.

Without these 4 points it's unlikely your answer will reach top of level 3.  They are 4 easy points to remember and are not difficult to do.  Good luck!

Revision Session

Wednesday 15th June @ 10.00a, in room 333 - revision of Media in the Online Age.

The Prize

Fascinating article in The Observer this Sunday, which contains powerful evidence of the impact the Internet is having on film distribution In the US. Last year there was an eye-watering 20% fall in DVD sales, largely due to increased competition from streaming and downloads. This is the emerging market that Amazon and Tesco recently grabbed a big piece of in the UK, when they bought out Lovefilm and Blinkbox respectively.

The article also reveals that for the first time in over 20 years the proportion of US homes that own a TV has also fallen. OK we are talking about a tiny drop, from 99% to 97% but could this mark the beginning of the end for traditional TV?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/08/tv-sets-fall-america-naughton

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

According to last year's figures from the Office for National Statistics only 73% of UK households are connected to the internet. 1 in 4 UK homes are still not hooked up to the web. This puts the arguments about changing patterns of media distribution and consumption into context and also demands that any talk of a digital media revolution is at least tempered with consideration that a very large minority of audiences are not currently party.


Another set of figures in the report lend weight to Prensky's emphasis on the generational divide in his natives/immigrants/dinosaurs theory:

The chart shows that a far lower percentage of older sections of the population are using the internet and also that a sizeable proportion amongst that group have tried and decided, cheers no thanks.


Finally the report also gives some raw data on usage of online tv and radio. The trend here clearly shows that participation is widening, but also that the rate of growth appears to be slowing. This perhaps hints at as yet unreached sections of TV and radio audiences, who are either economically disenfranchised from the digital revolution or simply satisfied with traditional forms of distribution.

You can view the full report here and fish out a couple of stats to add weight to your own arguments about the impact of the internet on the media industries.

All watched over by machines of loving Grace

Adam Curtis's new series about how computers have not liberated us but distorted and simplified our view of the world around us. He argues that we THINK that the internet makes us feel connected and free, that it democratises society and allows us all to communicate and have a global reach, but actually it serves to reinforce existing heirarchies of power.  It starts on Monday May 23 at 9pm on BBC2. WATCH IT IN IPLAYER!!  This trailer is really cool.

Check out 'stitcher' - new iphone app

Stitcher.  Think about how you could apply the ideas of personalisation and web 2.0.