Chunkies

Good to see nearly all the blogs updated now. It is even better to see that the standard of Posting has improved.
No more cutting and pasting -no more cutting chunks of other peoples work.

Now that the Vauxhall has disappeared I have introduced an new section.
CHUNKIES- If your blog appears there then you are CHUNKING material not researching.

DW

p.s great easter egg- useful for media and film.

Worth Reading

This article written by Kira Cochrane taken from the Guardian Newspaper July 1st 2008 is definitley worth reading for a number of reasons.

In purely CRITICAL RESEARCH terms it gives you an insight into how you should be 'SOUNDING' when you write on your blog and in the exam.

It is not an extensive critical research article and you may well disagree with some of the content but it has many of the features that you need to have in your work.

DW
p.s another EASTER EGG contained in this post- it is particulary useful for those doing Crime and the media.

Research

Remember what we have said about 'overloading' your blogs. .

Do not just cut and paste great chunks of 'interesting' stuff from other sources.
Be selective.Summarise and paraphrase the article you have read-then add a link to it.- If you do need to cut and paste it is vital that you acknowledge the sources in your post.

This LINK HERE may prove very useful to you all.

P.S This post has Easter Egg.

DW

The topics & Examiners reports

Here is the full list of topics and if you click on the topic you can read links to what the examiners made of the responses to the questions in Jan 2008 .
(Get the full report by clicking here.)
Advertising.

Children and the media.

Community Radio.

Crime and the media.

Politics and the media.

Sport and the media.

Television Drama.

Women and film.

World Cinema.

DW

FRIDAY 6TH JUNE

Sorry I can not be with you in today's lesson.

Welcome back from Study Leave and welcome to A2!

We begin Critical Research this term.

Before next lesson (use today) you need to change the focus of your Blog.

It must be redesigned as your "CRITICAL RESEARCH" blog-Your address etc can stay the same but the title and focus must change.

Forgotten how to blog? Then click here

Have look at some year 13 Critical Research blogs .
CHLOE
MAZAMAL
ALEC

You also need to write an introduction to the topic CRITICAL RESEARCH on YOUR blog.

Good Luck.

Critical Research Tutorials

We will start tutorials as soon as we return in September. You will each be given a 10 minute slot to discuss the progress of your research. You must bring your production log with you, this is a hand written log of all your research methods, with the date you found them and commentary on their appropriateness within your field of study. Also, make sure your research is evaluated and in order, anyone not prepared will find it very difficult to keep up in the new term.

You should all now have a range of primary methods completed e.g surveys, interviews, textual analysis and vox pops. You should also be collating several secondary sources, do not rely wholly on the internet! Use articles, journals and academic texts to support your study, if you only use the internet you will struggle to reach the higher grades. Anyone wishing to hold focus groups must do so within the first two weeks of term!

We will book your tutorials during the first media lesson back.

Read the related link before you continue your research!

Critical research

Just a quick post to remind you that each post on this blog has a 'label' at the bottom of the post. This makes it easy for you to find only those posts that are relevant to you at this moment.

So if you click on the label (critical research) at the bottom of this post then you will be presented with only those posts that have that label. Clever innit.

P.s New critical research link will appear over the next few days in the critical links section.

DW
(If for some reason my wonderful instructions above confuse you,simply click on the title 'Critical research' to see what you should find.)

Lazy Hazy days of Summer?

The following is an extract from the letter that will be sent to the parents of year 13 media students.

"...in order for all students to be well prepared, research must be carried out during the summer break. This allows the department to allocate individual progress tutorials on their return in September and to monitor each student through the Media Studies blogspot.It is essential that all students carry out their research over the holidays so they do not encounter difficulties with workload and deadlines in the new term."

(Click on the title 'Lazy Hazy days of Summer?' to see some possible titles(from 2005)...BUT MAKE SURE THE TOPIC STILL EXISTS)

DW

Deadline Looming.

All final hypotheses due in Friday July 6th.

(Click on the title 'Deadlines Looming' to see how a good a regularly updated blog can be.)

DW

Big Decision.

As we have said in lessons both the 2734 unit topic and question need careful consideration in these early stages. You can use your bLoG to show the process you are going through in deciding the topic area and the specific title or area of research.

The previous post had a link to the exam paper. Please note that the questions remain the same for Jan 2008. Would you be able to answer these questions in relation to the topic you have decided to study?

Please click on the title 'Big Decision' for a link to the exam board description of 2734. (The info you need is on pages 48-52.)

DW

Student Blogs

We have started the A2 Critical research work. This year all those taking the exam are required to set up and maintain a blog. The blogs start today and will be updated over the next 7 months (Exam in JAN 2008).

You will find links to these blogs on the right hand side of the page.

I would remind those undertaking the critical research to spend at least two weeks deciding on the area and title. The Misbourne media has helpful material.

(Click on the title 'Student Blogs' for a link to the question paper from JAN 2007 for 2734 CRITICAL RESEARCH.)

DW
p.s Click on the label Critical research (just under this post) to view all posts about this topic.

yr 12 lessons/Monday 18th-Wed 20th

Sorry I can not be with you for lessons this week. I do want you to get on with the following while I am away. It will be crucial to the Critical research unit.
As part of your research you will have to set up and run your own blog with a link to our main media blog.

I do not expect you to get them set up yet but I do want you begin by making yourself familiar with the unit and with the kind of blog you will be doing. You will find yourself whisked to Misbourne media blog. Read it,make notes,follow links and more importantly check out the student blogs. These are what you will be doing!

So click on the title 'yr 12 lessons/Monday 18th-Wed 20th' for a link to info on both.

P.S The text books have some v useful extra information for you.

DW