My First PSA

Last week in my Media class, we were given the opportunity to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video. The purpose of a PSA is to raise awareness on a certain issue (Warfield). We were asked to make a PSA about Lakehead and what we like about the school. We only had an hour and a half to film, but our group had so much fun with it. In the time we had, we ran and drove all around town to get footage for our video, and we even asked locals for their assistance. The great thing about this was that each of us had the chance to contribute and pitch ideas.

PSA’s in the Classroom

Creating a PSA in elementary school classrooms would be a great way for students to work together as a team and collaborate. Like it gave us, it gives students’ the opportunity to explore media and technology and be as creative as they want to get their message across. With this, students are also give a sense of empowerment and responsibility.

There are many different ways to make a PSA cross-curricular. Students have to write/ read a script or come up with ideas of what they want to say in their video. Making this a good way to incorporate language into this activity. As well, in order to successfully get a message across, students will need to look at persuasive writing skills to figure out what it is that makes people/the public buy into the message. There are various kinds of techniques that are used in this process that students can explore with their group. Students might also need to do research on the topic or issue. This is a fun activity that connects nicely with the language curriculum. It can also be tied to social studies. Students might look at issues and question how they are affecting our society and what kind of impact they have on the world around us. One website talked about how PSA’s can be a “voice for social change,”, this is very true because they have the power to inspire others and make a difference in people’s lives (Newburn, 2016). PSA’s make people think deeply about issues and see them in a new light. They also allow for  inquiry-based learning, by giving students the chance to be active learners and choose their own topic/issue that they are personally interested in. Many topics can also be connected to health and healthy living.

Educator, Rebecca Newburn, talks about the benefits of creating PSA’s with your students in the classroom. She explains the process and gives teachers helpful tips and suggestions for making them. One thing that I really liked about her article that I previously thought about, is the idea of allowing students the freedom to choose a topic of their choice that interests them. This gives them voice and choice. She also provides educators with a possible assessment tool for PSA’s.

This water consumption PSA video below is just one of the many ideas that students could choose to make their PSA on. There’s always extension activities, and for this PSA video in particular that I found, I thought about taking the students to a water festival to continue their learning on this issue. During the three years that I’ve worked at an elementary school in the Spring, the grade 3’s and 4’s have gone to the water festival. At this festival students got to participate in hands-on fun activities that give students the chance to reflect and think about the issue of water conservation and how it is affecting each of us individually. After the festival, students leave with the questions of what can they do to conserve water and reduce their environmental footprint.

Impact on Teaching

Society is constantly changing, and education is impacted by that. We’re living in the technological era or the digital age, where technology surrounds us everywhere we go. Even though I didn’t grow up with this amount of technology around me and in the classroom, I am adapting and changing with times and taking advantage of the technology out there to better my teaching. I am choosing to continue learning by incorporating media into my classroom. I don’t think banning technology is the answer. Many students are likely going to have cellphones and laptops, so educators should make the most of that to enhance and deepen learning.

An article posted on Edutopia written by John McCarthy, explains how to teach through blended learning, and highlights the importance of giving students the opportunity to explore technology and the online world. McCarthy mentioned that tech use in blended learning promotes critical thinking and collaboration. We talked a lot about using critical thinking skills when it comes to media literacy, in our media class. Incorporating technology gives students the chance to think critically and question things that exist in online . McCarthy also talks about how each student has different needs and technology, and social media can offer students differentiated instruction through the use of different learning tools online.

What are other kinds of media and technology that educators can introduce students to, that gives them the chance to work collaboratively, and can also be made cross-curricular?

References

2012. Student Made PSA on Water Consumption. [online video] available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Ve2vctL9c

McCarthy, J. (2018, September 24). Tech Integration in Blended Learning. Retrieved October 19, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/tech-integration-blended-learning

Newburn, R. (2017, March 09). Student PSAs Create Connections to Critical Issues. Retrieved October 19, 2018, from https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2016/12/08/student-psas-create-connections-to-critical-issues/

Warfield, A. (2015, October 22). What is a PSA? | Public Service Announcement Examples & Ideas. Retrieved October 19, 2018, from https://www.storyboardthat.com/articles/e/public-service-announcements

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash