Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

515. Recommendations for teachersThe «24 hours without media» exercise enablesteachers to gauge how their specific population ofyoung people uses media. Such an exercise providesboth teachers and students with current data (ratherthan statistics from some other group at some othertime) that can be referenced throughout a semester oryear-long course of study. The «24 hours withoutmedia» exercise allows students to critically examinetheir own specific media habits and see how theirmedia-free experience compares to that of their immediatepeers. Because this assignment requires self-examinationand reflection rather than memorization orresearch, it is the experience of these researchers thatthe lessons learned remain with students.The appeal of the «24 hours without media» exerciseis in its simplicity. Teachers the world over arealways looking for exercises that are easy to explainand implement, require few resources, take little timeto complete and produce tangible results. Laying outthe details of the media-free assignment is simple. Allstudents need to know is that they are to refrain fromusing any form of media (from mobile phones to theInternet, from radio to television) for one full 24-hourperiod within a designated timeframe, and that theyare to write about their experience immediately afterfinishing their media-free period. Teachers need notdo any preparation for this assignment beyond articulatingexactly what they want students to write aboutin their response essay – usually a mixture of logisticsof the day, what technologies were missed most andwhat kind of emotions were felt during and after theexercise. Prior to the exercise, teachers should notexplain to students why they are being given thisassignment, nor should they provide students with anybackground (including past students’ experience ornews coverage) about the exercise, as student shouldcome into this assignment with as few preconceptionsas possible 5 .Beyond the simplicity of the «unplugged» exercise,the exercise is also appealing because of its portability:it can be used in all media environments and in manyclassroom settings. The assignment meets studentswhere they are: if they live in an immersive «broadband»environment, then students will likely need toforego for 24 hours a broad range of media, frommobile and digital technologies, to print and broadcastones. If students are in a more limited media environment,they may only have to forego one or two mediaoutlets – for example a mobile phone and the radio. Ineither case, students will emerge from the exercisemore mindful of how, when and why they use media,and what the impact of their use is on their intellectual,social, political and family life.The «24 hours without media» exercise is appropriatefor use in both secondary schools and at collegesseeking to promote critical thinking, media awarenessand media literacy (The researchers have also consultedwith middle schools that have adapted the exercisefor younger students). The exercise can also be usedacross discipline and in all size classes. Journalismclasses can use it as an introduction to the ways inwhich young people access information in the twentyfirstcentury, the growth of user-generated content andthe changing definition of the term «news».Commu nication studies courses can use it as astarting point for a discussion about how audiencesprocess information and increasingly expect to engagein two-way conversations with content producers.Political science courses can use it to discuss howchanges in technology affect the state of political discourseand engagement. However and wherever it isused, «24 hours without media» fits well as an introductoryassignment that gets students talking abouttheir media use and the role and authority of media intheir own environments. Teachers can use lessonslearned from this exercise to broaden their class discussionshowever they see fit.Researchers note that the «24 hours withoutmedia» assignment can be variously adapted to servespecific purposes. Teachers can assign students tospend more than 24 hours without media, to gomedia-free on a specific day, or to only forego certaintypes of media. The assignment can be adapted byasking students to go 24 hours without media and thenimmediately afterward asking students to track theirregular media use for 24 hours. Students can also beasked to repeat the assignment over the course of asemester to create a more longitudinal study. Teacherscan exercise freedom in establishing the parameters ofthe exercise, without considerably diminishing theimpact of the project on students or limiting the rathersophisticated comprehension the teachers themselvesgain about how their students find, share and experiencemedia.As a UK-based student who participated in «TheWorld Unplugged» study said: «I’d actually recommendanyone take part in the challenge, as it heightensyour awareness to how much we as people rely onmedia for so many things». Such student reactions tothe «24 hours without media» exercise make a compellingcase for such an assignment to become a core partof any media literacy course in secondary schools anduniversities around the world.Comunicar, 39, XX, 2012© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293 • Pages 45-52