The Benefits of Online Communities

For my Web- Based Multimedia Design for Educators class, we have the opportunity to create a Multimedia Montage Project. I will design an interactive website where multimedia is being used to enhance communication, understanding, and learning. Masterman (2006) evoked the idea that "Students themselves rated the effectiveness of the online study skills materials more highly than reading a book or visiting a website, while many teachers involved in the study reported that the materials were 'very effective' at enhancing bother the learning experience and the achievement of outcomes" (as cited in Walker, Jameson, & Ryan, 2010, p. 215). Students and teachers benefit from online study materials rather than reading a book. I asked a student in my class and he agreed that he'd like to see more online study websites.

To aid my project, I have joined two online communities: Learning Math and Online Tools for Educators, both on Thinkfinity. I believe that the Learning Math community will provide me with adequate resources and ideas for incorporating math and technology. There are other math educators in this community, so I will gain from their thoughts and ideas and any successful experiences they have had in the classroom or online. I think that the Online Tools for Educators will help give me ideas of the different online tools I can use for my math students. Although not all of the members are math educators, they can provide feedback for the questions: What tools are beneficial for websites? Are there certain graphics or a graphics website teachers use? What motivates the students the most while working online at home?

I think my involvement in these communities will support the design of my project. I would like to see ideas and experiences from other educators. I want to incorporate some type of blog into my website, so I'd like to ask other educators how they incorporated them and if they were successful. I'd also like to throw my ideas out there and receive feedback from other teachers. If I find my project extremely successful and useful, I'd like to share it with others. Learning math will provide me with advice and experience from other math educators. Online tools for educators will provide me with effective tools that I can use in the classroom. My goal is to incorporate knowledge from both groups to form online tools for my math students. 


Reference: Walker, S., Jameson, J., & Ryan, M. (2010). Skills and strategies for e-learning in a participatory culture. In R. Sharpe, H. Beetham, & S. de Freitas (Eds.), Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: How Learners Are Shaping Their Own Experiences (pp. 212-224). Routledge: New York, NY.

"When I celebrate life, I celebrate with the best: Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka"

As I am thinking of ways to incorporate technology into my classroom as a future educator, I thought to myself- do students these days know how to think critically? Are they capable of making judgments? Do they understand the importance of exposing information on the Web? According to the 21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness: Resource and Policy Guide, we must expose and help create skills such as "thinking critically and making judgments about the barrage of information that comes their way everyday- on the Web, in the media, in homes, workplaces and everywhere else" (p. 10).  Thus, it is important to critically analyze messages in commercials, in the media, and on the web. I decided to analyze the Ciroc Vodka commercial featuring P. Diddy.

When I first saw this video, I thought to myself, "Wow, P. Diddy drinks Ciroc Vodka? I thought celebrities only drink Grey Goose". I knew Ciroc was a better vodka out there, but I didn't think celebrities drank it- I must try it now because it has to be good.

Clearly, this commercial was intended to get people (of age, of course) to drink and buy their vodka, and to also think of their vodka for celebratory events. P. Diddy offers his perspective about that vodka, stating, "When I celebrate life, I celebrate it with the best: Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka".   Everyone wants to live like a celebrity, so why not add a celeb into our commercial to show that our vodka is popular in the "life of a celebrity"? P. Diddy is a well-respected celebrity who is successful, listened to by many, seen at award shows and even has his own show, and he is also a producer. With that being said, he represents wealth, specifically, what a celebrity would choose to drink to "celebrate life".

This commercial represents class, sophistication, maturity, and elegance. I would imagine that this commercial is geared towards adults that are done living wildly in crazy clubs because if it was geared towards those who enjoy the "club scene", the commercial would show a club with drinking, dancing, loud music, etc. This atmosphere is calm, glamorous, and shows success and wealth by showing the gorgeous gowns, tuxedos, setting, glasses, and of course a celebrity. The only voice heard in this commercial is by a celebrity, but one can assume the others are related to P. Diddy and they must be wealthy and successful, too. They are all smiling, dancing, and having fun by drinking this vodka. This whole 30 second commercial is a representation of the American Dream: they are celebrating life, their success, wealth, beauty, and happiness.

From the perspective of a video producer, there are important design decisions used in creating this ad. For starters: the song. Frank Sinatra is an icon and "Come Fly with Me" is a very popular song. It was also carefully planned that the verse, "If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Bombay" was used because the commercial is obviously about booze. It's also a relaxing song, not an upbeat song that you would hear in a club. The atmosphere represents wealth- the elegance, glam, sophistication, mansion, etc. The commercial is also in plain black and white, which reminds me of Old Hollywood. P. Diddy is used because he is another icon, and he would influence people to drink Ciroc. When I first saw it, I had to think if I a) ever had Ciroc, b) if I thought it was classy vodka, and c) do celebrities really drink that? Clearly, using these design decisions have an influence on the way people view the product being presents, in this case: Ciroc.  

If anyone is wondering- reading this to see if Diddy made an impact on audiences watching this commercial: 

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