Advertising and Propaganda

What are they really trying to sell us?

Intro to the 7 main types of propaganda:

Are We Asking the Right Questions?

Are our minds wired for technology?

What Students are Facing Today

The following is a video created in 2007 in a KSU anthropology class. Watch it and then add to the conversation about it.



What resonated with you?
What fears do you have about your educational future?
What hopes do you have?

How have things changed since this video was made?

Drumroll Please....

Monday, January 31: Alphabet Soup

Ah, the last day of a long month. We made it. In class we said goodbye to January with a lesson on the sound of poetry.

We talked about how the sound of the word "stone" was actually more round and more smooth than the sound of the word "rock" even though the meanings are virtually interchangeable.

We then looked at the alphabet and divided it into the following categories:

I. Vowels
A E I O U (Y)

II. Consonants (all of those other letters)
Consonants are made up of two main categories
A. Mutes (letters you can't really say without a vowel added)
They create an abrupt end and can sound powerful or harsh
B P K C G T Q D

B. Semivowels (F H J L M N R S V W X Y Z)
Semivowels are themselves divided into two groups:
1. Liquids (as they make smooth flowing sound)
L M N R (with M and N being more "nasal" sounding)

2. Aspirates (as they make airy, breathy sounds)
V W Y Z (and I think H should be added as well)

Team Designation for Spring Project

Hey, I Know This Guy!

Check out my hubby's claim to fame: His recent appearance on the Today Show.

Top Three Wiki Links

Post your group's top three links in this form and be ready to discuss why you liked them.

By George, I Think They've Got IT!

It's Christmas break here in ATL - a glorious and much needed time to rest, relax, and recharge. I have successfully finished grades and I even took a full day off of the computer to do the whole holiday hoopla thing with the family. Now, in the blissfully quiet mornings when my coffee and I can be together in peace, I am able to do a little dreaming and planning for next semester.

I am on the prowl for other schools out there doing what I'm wanting to do - or what I think I want to do. There are several resources hailing the philosophy of 21st Century Literacy (a new term I ran across yesterday for what it is this class is trying to be) but I am struggling to find examples of what that actually looks like. Until now. I saw this video from Coral Reef High School and I can't stop smiling. Finally, a point of view from the students themselves as to what the possibilities are for a new kind of learning:

Check it out.

Food for Thought

Viral Videos - Guest Blogger - Phoebe Thiraveja

What’s that new video everyone’s been talking about? You’ve seen people in class watching them, and they’re telling you that you HAVE to watch it. People have posted it on your facebook wall or sent you links to it. When you clicked it, there were already hundreds of thousands (and sometimes millions) of views. What makes these YouTube videos so popular? Is it its entertainment value with something weird like unusual talents? Is it because it’s really funny or relatable? Or is it the hottest new song with an awesome music video? Whatever its significance, its addictive to watch and instantly “viral”.
Marketing companies have seen the appeal in this, and have made it their source of promotion. Some PR companies like The Commotion Group specialize in viral video marketing. They take the product of their clients, and try to make a viral video with it. If the video does not reach at least 100,00 views, they won’t charge for it. The co-founder of The Commotion Group, Dan Ackerman Greenberg, gave tips for making a video viral. First off, content is not necessarily king. It’s great if your video has excellent content, that’s what will bring people back to watch it; but if you want to get it “out there” first it’s good to “keep it short, design for remixing, don’t make an outright ad, make it shocking, and use fake headlines.” Secondly, you need to get your blog on the “Most Viewed” page. That’s particularly difficult if you just post a video, and let it sit on the Internet gradually collecting views. You need to advertise. Advertising is becoming less of a challenge in the modern world with help from social networking sites. You today have countless resources; by posting your YouTube video to your facebook or twitter page, linking it on your blog, or sending out e-mail lists or just showing it to your friends in person. Lastly, make what the viewers see before they click, interesting. You need a catchy title; something that will bait people into wondering what your video is about. Also, put up an tempting thumbnail. If your title doesn’t cut it, the picture just might.
Let me leave you with this thought. How do you personally hear about viral videos? What sort of ideas do you have we could use for promotions and advertising? (i.e. Events at school or products at school)The idea of viral YouTube videos has caught the attention Saturday Night Live. Watch the video below as they make fun of all of its “viral” aspects.
SNL-I Didn't Ask for This


Source:
Secrets for Viral Videos

Linking Your Blog to Social Media - Guest Blogger - Taylor Tucker

Taylor Tucker


Connecting your blog to social medias
To get your blog noticed, it helps to connect it with facebook, twitter, and other social medias. It is always a good idea to have your blog connected with services like these, because of the popularity and huge member database. Comment Integration is the main purpose why everyone does this. Its so visitors can easily put a comment on your blog using their facebook or even their twitter. Visitors will no longer have to use many different accounts; this way they can use one account to link to many others. Some services that allow for this to happen are, WP Facebook Connect (Word Press), Intense Debate, the one that we use, Blogger, and Disquis. These are all services that help you to connect your blog to other social medias very easily. There are other ways you can do this but these are strongly recommended.
Connecting your blog to facebook isn’t just for teens either. This is also very common I the business world. Many companies or self owned business do this so they can be noticed more than they are. Other reasons for using this is because its simplicity, Pro-effect, meaning this leaves your blog looking “professional”. This is not only telling people how to connect your blog to facebook, but also its introducing people to facebook and twitter who have yet to discover it yet. There are many different social medias out there and connecting them all together makes them even better.

Getting Your Blog Noticed: Guest Blogger - Katie Hayes

Blogs have become increasingly more popular over the last few years. Blogging has been the greatest break through in popular journalism in the past few years as well. I myself have never had a blog until this year. When I first created one I had no idea what to write or how to manage a blog.
Since I have done research for this project on how to get your blog noticed, I have learned some many new things on how to write a blog and how it works. The book that I used for my research was, “ The Huffington Post: a complete guide to blogging.” This book had many great ideas and useful tools on blogging.
The first thing I came across in this book was what to write about. There are three main things one should keep in mine when you are writing on your blogs. First, write about what you love. You need to “Blog your Passion” and figure out what you really love. Second, you need to be specific enough to create a community. You need to have a good idea of who will be following and reading your blog. And third, you need to choose something broad enough to sustain your interest. If your write things worth reading and you are consistent about posting, overtime your readership will evolve and expand with you.
I then learned how to make a blog memorable. There are five main ways to make it more memorable than others. First, to be “sticky”, a message has to relate directly. Next is, a message is more memorable if it makes the reader react emotionally. Third, memorable messages often include an element of surprise. The next way to make your blog memorable is to steer clear of confusion because it then causes distraction. The final way is to blog often on topics you are interested in. I really like these five tips because they are short and easy to incorporate into your own blog.
Serious bloggers ask themselves two very important questions: Who is visiting my blog and how can I attract more visitors. The best way to attract visitors is to create a convincing content. There are three ways you can go about this. The first being, write on top of the news. If big news breaks out people will be interested in finding posts about this topic. The second way is to offer facts, not just opinions. A blogger should get facts, quotes, or statistics to support their opinion. The third way to create a convincing content is to give something a new spin. Specific opinions have most likely been repeated so much that they have become a cultural wallpaper.
The last thing I read about getting your blog noticed were the tools. When you create persuasive content, other activities will increase the chance that other people see. Some tools that would help with this would be to alert your own networks, optimize your search engines, comment on interesting posts on other people’s blogs. A major key thing you need to keep in mind when writing is moderation.
I really think that blogs are a great source of technology. I believe that it will be a great use for businesses and major companies. However, to have a successful blog I believe that you will need these tips to get your blog noticed and memorable.


Happy Blogging Everyone!

Guest Blogger - Lindsey Shirley

Facebook has swept through and changed the social networking world like a wave washing over the seashore. It has washed up on everyone from the bored student in class trying to talk to friends, to the overactive status positing adult trying to reconnect with high school friends, to the grandmother in Massachusetts trying to keep in contact with her grandkids down south. Attention to all current facebook users: a new kind of wave has just swept up on shore. Facebook is now going beyond the social networkers and is spreading to new group of people: businesses and non-profit causes. Facebook is now being called a “highly effective business tool” and it is even being said that asking for followers on Facebook is taking the place of running commercials on television. The features that attracted millions of people to the fun aspect of facebook are now being used to attract customers to an organization’s page and spread important information. The accessibility of Facebook to the everyday person is the strongest aspect of being able to use Facebook as a new floor for marketing and connecting with customers.

Facebook should be given more respect than being called to old time-waster and an outlet for nosey busybodies. Facebook can be utilized in a more productive, business like matter. Facebook is now being welcomed into the business world as a more influential, people-reaching, attention-getting site

Facebook is creating a positive influence on adults and teens as they are trying to attract the innumerable customers and advocates that are said to be crawling on the Facebook network daily. The new use of Facebook is encouraging people to speak out as open supporters of their favorite charity or promoters of their own business because they feel that through a wildly popular site such as Facebook, they are reaching more people. Businesses and organizations are required to have a topnotch page that makes you want to click on their name and see what they are up to. As a result of the new business Facebook trend washing through, most of us are newbies to becoming an online humanitarian, entrepreneur or club leader; we are reassured by the fact that we are spreading our message and cause to literally hundreds of people on a daily basis!

Essentially, Facebook is a way to expand an organization’s or our own personal digital footprint. The ability to use Facebook outside the social realm should be welcomed with open arms into the business and marketing society. What could be a better way to reach someone than to use a site on which almost everyone you know has a page?

Guest Blogger - Mavin Gunter

Robotic surgery is making its way into hospitals! They call it the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery System. This new technology only requires one surgeon to move the robotic arms in the room during surgery, and uses a high-resolution camera to help find where to place incisions. The camera works better than a human’s naked eye. The four small robotic arms help make surgery less invasive. With this new technology taking off people are trying to take it to the next step. They want to start using these new computer consoles all over the world to perform operations from miles and miles away. This new step towards the future can be described as Telesurgery. Imagine your doctor all the way in Washington while you are in Georgia, and him performing a surgery on you from so far away. This technology has its many advantages for people. Some advantages would be finding the best surgeries for you and not having to leave your hometown for it, possibly cheaper health care, and the surgery itself from the robotic arms is less traumatizing. For the actual robotic surgery, the robot only needs about a three-centimeter incision to work. This can mean less scarring and faster recovery. While robotic surgery has its advantages there are a few set backs that come along with the robotic surgery. These set backs are time, cost of equipment, and if people are willing to put their lives in the hands of a robot. The timing is nearly twice the amount a normal surgery done by a doctor would take, and newer technology means millions of dollars spent on parts. The most important part to getting the robotic surgery throughout the hospitals is having the people’s trust that the machine can perform surgery, without life-threatening mistakes occurring. Therefore my question is, would you put your life in the hands of a robot?
http://www.howstuffworks.com/robotic-surgery1.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZLpWrJGgk

Because Cats are Always Funny

When people ask me why I like teaching high school, my answer varies depending on the day. Sometimes I love it because I get to stretch young minds, introduce difficult concepts, or be a mentor through a difficult crisis. Most days, it's because I get to laugh every single day.

Kids are so creative and funny. Don't believe me? Check out this video and tell me you didn't at least crack a smile:

Guest Blogger - Danielle Moss

Everyone knows about it and most everyone has it, I’m talking about Bieber Fever. He was only 13 when he first came to Atlanta to meet recording artist Usher and now he is in the running for having the most views on YouTube. It all started after his first talent show appearance when his mother, Pattie Mallette, posted his second place worthy performance on YouTube. She only posted it so that distant family members could see how good he actually is. Well, by chance, music producer Scooter Braun, who works with Usher’s recording label, was searching for another singer but accidentally clicked on Bieber’s video and was very impressed by what he saw. He then contacted the place where Justin was performing, who contacted his school, which contacted his mother and from there it was history. He signed with Raymond Braun media group, which helped him sign with Island Records in 2008, and by July 2008 his single “One Time” was number 12 on Canada’s Hot 100. He’s not the only artist that was a YouTube sensation. He is in company with other artists like Soulja Boy, Mia Rose, and Arnel Pineda the lead singer from Journey.
If only it was that simple for every artist that put their video on YouTube hoping to be successful, but its not! Justin’s career happened by chance and now he is one of the most viewed artists on YouTube next to Lady Gaga. There are millions of artists that post to YouTube everyday but not that many are as lucky as Bieber was. Artist such as Grayson Chance, who inspired Ellen Degeneres to start her own label and sign Grayson herself, and Meghan Tonjes who uses household objects as instruments are on the rise as the next Justin Bieber’s. Solo artists are not the only ones who are doing big things with their talent. Groups like Pomplamousse, who started out as two separate solo artists joined together to make one amazing group, and apparently the new power couple of YouTube and the R&B group Ahmir, who record their own music and then make their own music videos, are both taking YouTube by storm. All of these artists, who have at least 1 million views, are making themselves known and wanting to be the next Justin Bieber. Do you know who will be the next great artist?

Digital Storytelling

This week, we're starting to look into a new art form: digital storytelling. It's just what it sounds like - the use of digital mediums to tell meaningful stories. Here's just about the best example I've come across. It's called "Grand Canyon". Double click on the post if you are having trouble opening it.

Twitter Time: Azim Damani

Today's guest post is from Azim Damani -

For my Communications project, I want to help the class learn how to use Twitter effectively. Almost everybody in class has a Facebook but Twitter is a little more rare. I have been using Twitter for a year now, and I have found it extremely useful. There are so many people to follow from celebrities to companies that provide coupons and nice deals. I follow a musical artist named Jay Electronica and he tweets every time he has a secret concert so his fans can attend. Without Twitter, it would be difficult for somebody to find out about such concerts.

There are also Twitter accounts that update sports scores for certain teams and anything that happens in relation to that team. Sports reporters and news outlets use Twitter to reach the fans and find out what the fans want to hear about. They tweet out breaking news and everything newsworthy. Many celebrities also retweet some of their fans resulting in increased traffic on the fans’ accounts and sometimes even more followers.

I think Twitter is a great tool to use when you know how to use it well. The activity for my presentation is for you to go home and make a Twitter account if you don’t have one already. After that, find 5 people that you want to follow(if you already have an account, find 5 new people) and follow them. You must follow at least 1 celebrity and 1 news outlet.

Tools of the Trade: Auto-Tune Your Voice by Celine Talley

This year, GACs decided to join the digital age. The use of technology in the school skyrocketed, and our technology knowledge had to grow as well. Creativity is key in school, and the more you can do with your Macbook, the more successful and creative you can be. Every year at least one teacher assigns a project where you have to sing and create a song. You always get the bland talk singing, because no one is truly comfortable with his or her singing voice, but with Garageband’s auto tune you can be. When you learn how to auto tune your voice, your creativity can show through, and suddenly your generic project turned into something a little more high quality. Auto-tuning your voice with Garageband is simple, just follow the screencast, and you should be a pro in no time. Also, once you learn it, you can apply it to other projects, like keynote presentation or anything else you want to take from boring to entertaining. So take this newly learned information, and get creative. 

Here is a link to one of the best auto-tuning groups. They took the average everyday news, added auto-tuning, and made it funny. They are also the creators of the Antoine Dodson "Bed Intruder Song."

http://www.youtube.com/show/autotunethenews?pl=77D122FA6AE9B04D