My Reanalysis of "Tanya"

Hi Chiayen and Ras,

My mind swirled while watching Monte’s Digital story for the first time. Probably it was because of the competition between narration and background music all throughout except in the last part. I watched it a number of times, each time lowering the volume until I am able to make sense of the semiotic devices employed in her story. Thanks to your interpretations. I have a good number of ideas to start with.

The theme of Monte’s story is the experience with her first true friend, Tanya. The narration is clear about this: “She never knew what friendship was, not until she met Tanya.” I agree with both of you that the swing painting may symbolise childhood memories filled with fun and play. The painting, however, looks very strange to me having no seats. Its colour may also be associated with sadness and solitude. I reckon that the swing is an attempt to signify lack of friendship and a rather bleak childhood.

The next image signifies how she maintained distance from all the people she encountered along the way since she could not tell their pure intentions. Monte depicts herself as someone amidst squares of images of people without faces. This might be symbolic of her being a logical observer as she grew up putting an iconic image where she is in the centre of the abstract images of people around her. I deemed the feeling of Monte here is that she could not rationalise their intention which might explain the square-shaped image formed using all these peoples.Still, the shade of colour suggests melancholy.

Then she met Tanya with whom she established a good friendship, but she will die soon. These she highlights by flashing Tanya’s image twice. The technique leads the viewers to perceive Tanya using two dimensions: a friend of Monte, and a dying person.

From there, Monte continued with a description of Tanya's battle against death Tanya using an impactful picture of a very sharp tool, a human body, and a skeleton. Flashing it the second time is Monte’s technique to show the contrast between her foreshadowed death and her strength and bravery. With the words’ in bold letters, “no fear” more clearly embedded on the three images on the second flashing of the images, Monte implies Tanya’s distinctive attitude: her being sensible.

Next are the enumeration of Tanya’s desires and her course of actions to attain them. Being a single mum with two kids, she did not like to leave them astray, so she put them in a home to secure them. Aware of the limited funds available Tanya dreamt of forming an organisation meant to sustain the resources available so that dying “parents like her die in peace.” And then Monte highlighted the need of Tanya that moment: a friend.

Let me share how I viewed the semiotic devices used. The picture of Tanya’s beautiful kids is touching. The big smiles on their faces mirror their innocence (of Tanya’s condition) and their inner joy. The video clip of Tanya exhibits her enthusiasm in life. It is disconcerting to see how energetic and vibrant-looking she is knowing the difficulty she faces. The calmness on her face is captivating. But she is doomed. Probably, it is the reason why Monte chose two empty autumn-shaded garden chairs amidst a black background to signify the temporal friendship between a living and a dying, foreshadowed by the element of autumn with a black background which prefigures the coming of death—Tanya’s death and the end of their friendship.

After this, Monte used silence to express her lonesomeness. I agree with you, Chiayen, that it was an effective technique. Then she continued to give credits to her friend’s strength using news clips that featured Tanya. The juxtaposition occurred upon Tanya one day when she came to a realisation that she only accomplished one thing. Monte stated it this way: “She found a real friend; that was me.”

For someone who experienced being in a spotlight like Tanya, I reckon that what she meant was, even though she had sincere intentions, people who provide help do it to gain popularity or for self-recognition. This could be the reason why Monte used a painting with pairs of montages with some shadows of people without faces as Tanya’s relationships with them are not real. The only thing real was the true friendship between them.

I am not sure for what the next image was but I knew that the words “acceptance” on the bottom left side of the painting and the word “damp”on the bottom right which was closely focused later foreshadowed Tanya’s death. Probably Monte has been crying and has not resigned to Tanya’s death, signified by “damp.” This could be what she meant when she said, “not letting her dreams die with her.”

The next part is the climax of the story. The swan song of a dying person is presented. Monte showed her face at last with Tanya facing sideways. I found the encounter moving. Monte revealed herself at the best moment. The easing in of their image adds to the overall dramatic and suspenseful effect. Indeed it was an emotional tour de force.

Monte used a plain white background next to signify Tanya’s passing away while she continued her narration highlighting her disbelief that her dead friend knew her that much (That is symbolised by “her middle name”) This is another powerful semiotic device and it almost put me into tears. The lyrics came in at the perfect time. Then there were moments of silence. Maybe these were intended for Monte and her viewers to recover from the experience.

Like you, I am not familiar with the abstract painting. Somehow, I find it a device to end the story in a positive note after the lyrics of the music reverberate through the empty white slide. For me, the painting is Tanya’s image depicted like an angel (as Rachel expained) with a halo and wide- opened eyes but with mouth shut. Maybe I am imagining too much but probably it is Monte’s memory of her true friend who could still be fully alive in her thoughts.

E- Learning 2

Please click the hyperlink below before you read my analysis:
http://www.storycenter.org/stories/.

The digital story I chose is entitled, “Kim’s Story.” Produced as a culminating project in a Digital-Storytelling Workshop, it narrates a simple yet moving personal account of self-discovery by Kim Walker-Dennis, a social worker in New York, as she grappled with letting go as a prerequisite to personal growth, both her own and that of adolescents under her care.

In less than three minutes, the digital story sensitizes us to the need for a balance between needing and being needed, loving and being loved, and caring and being cared for. I chose it for the clarity of the message and for its universal or timeless appeal—a message which may resonate to a range of audience of both genders from teenage and adult age groups, particularly those who are seeking something that is lacking in their lives. I also chose it for the sincere and engaging storytelling, evocative images, and non-invasive musical scoring. It exemplifies how sounds and images reinforce or enhance a simple yet effective narration to drive home a powerful message. Finally, I chose it because it demonstrates some problems that ought to be minimised if not avoided in making a digital story.

One can read too much into it, but the title against plain black background, in rather unassuming fonts, at the bottom right corner evokes in me a sense of simplicity, humility and honesty that I in fact have encountered in the succeeding scenes.

Plainly entitled “Kim’s Story” it begins with an intriguing lead-in note, “It’s not about you…It’s about me.” One might be struck by its absurdity. Of course it is about her, who else? But soon one gets the sense of what this note alludes to. Disclosing in the following scene of birds flying way that letting go is difficult for her, and that she is gripped by fears of ceasing to be needed or wanted—metaphorically shown by a lonesome bird—by those whom she used to help, the narrator flags her deeply felt anxiety that she seems eager to expunge through self-confession. Effectively, the tension or problem around which the entire story revolves has been established smoothly with the astute use of the black-and-white initial backdrop, apt sound and ample silence, as well as reinforcing images that put together raise the viewers’ anticipation.

The storyline follows closely the techniques Ohler prescribes. It begins with a problem, thru change, to resolution. It contains Ohler’s three basic elements: (1) a problem that builds the tension in the story and dictates its forward momentum, that is, Kim’s difficulty in letting go; (2) transformation of the character who is no other than Kim herself; and, (3) character’s resolution, Kim’s actions and change of views that lead to the resolution.

As a result, Kim’s digital story displayed an öld Kim”and a “new Kim.” There is an underlying structure akin to a timeline that strategically flows to engage the viewers all throughout: from the beginning (problem presentation) - to development (presentation of assessment of others and the self) to climax (the peak of the story wherein Kim realised what she had to do)- denouement (the changes in effect)- ending(her change of views in terms of relationships) Overall, the narrative, the choice of words and her emotive way of speaking facilitates the transfer effect on the viewers.

With still and moving pictures serving as a backdrop—both as metaphorical and literal translation or enhancement—to her narration, Kim’s autobiography unfolds swinging between the present and the past and also looking into the future. Unlike Randy’s “Lyfe-N-Rhyme”, her digital story successfully told the whole story. She traces, for instance, the roots of her preoccupation to helping vulnerable youngsters to the influence of her grandmother who selflessly devoted her time to taking care of abandoned children. Echoing what others think that likened her to a hen that shields her chicks from harm, she was keen to help friends and other youngsters since her teen years. Her being a social worker now merely formalizes what she has been doing for long. From technical standpoint, the easing in of the hen, showing fairly closely the chicks under her wings effectively enhances the message. The same may be said of the film age-effect that she employed on her picture with (presumably) a brother in their grandma’s house. However, if Kim intends to highlight her views, maybe a gradual easing in of her own picture (when she was young) with her grandmother would have had a more dramatic effect to reinforce her statement, “When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in my grandmother’s house.”

I would have to say that the picture of a big house may be symbolic of her grandmother’s generous heart. The use of the images of a tiny window, stairs and a door effectively elucidates “caring for others” and “bringing people home”. The gray colours of the photos brought forth an apt effect of a memory of the past.

From the beautiful memories she had of her grandmother, she moved to her teenage years when she obviously adopted her grandmother’s ways. The colourful picture with her friends plus the gradual easing in of the image suits perfectly to illuminate the impact of her grandmother’s life on her.

Interestingly, what follows is an empty black slide, as she continues her expressive narration of what she learned from her past experience. Flashed next are three phrases: “a reason, a season, a lifetime” reinforcing her narrative that people come to one’s life because of them. The use of big lettered words zooming in stark black and white contrast effectively highlights the importance of the message. It also breaks the flow of images and sound that could be predictable or monotonous at times. In contrast to the silence she employed in the introduction, she opts to be straightforward this time, providing a nice balance. At this point Kim implicitly tells the audience about the reason why she decided to choose social work as a career—a mission to show utmost concern for the disadvantaged. For transition, she again employs the gradual easing in technique that seems to work well.

The resolution starts to unfold in the next scene. She walks past a row of medium-sized, gated houses with leaves swaying on the front yard. She sounds triumphant, even self-congratulatory for being able to help the youngster, but at the same time, she accepts with humility that she also learns a lot and was helped by them in the process. From technical standpoint, using her own moving image, lively as she appears, while a window opens gives the impression that she derives much joy from her work with the troubled youths.

Meanwhile as she continues her narration, she reveals the problem she herself encountered each year. The image to a mother duck swimming with her ducklings, one of which is shown negotiating the waters by herself points to learning by oneself and growing in the process. This is in contrast with the image of the hen which was overprotective of its young. The scenes are emblematic of the realisation that letting go is part of growing up, a lesson which Kim claims it took her a while to learn. “In order to grow, you must let go.”

The next scene goes back to Kim who is now seated on the stairs, deeply engrossed with her thoughts as she reflects on what had happened to her. I like the close-up effect used here, which along with the juxtaposition of herself with friends, former wards and family seems to say that the self that has been lost has now been found, thus, effectively putting a closure to the narrative.

Kim is an effective narrator. Her voice speaks of sincerity as the storyline is well motivated and it flows smoothly. On the other hand, perhaps it is also the fundamental source of the problem. In its paramount aim to be clear, it leaves not much space for ambiguity, artistry and imagination, addressing itself perhaps to a presumed unintelligent audience. By talking too much, especially after the initial powerful scenes, the narrator assumes a domineering in stance, perhaps too intrusive such that the still and moving images are there merely to translate, not enhance, the essence of the narration. They are not allowed to speak by themselves, to serve as vehicle of meanings. They are but an adjunct to the narration. I tried listening to the sound alone and I have been struck by the uni-dimensionality of it all. It heard like a program on the radio, flat and predictable. Silence should have punctuated the narration as the still and moving images are allowed to tell the story. This is, I believe, a serious shortcoming, but overall I find the digital story worth watching and examining.
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To Jennifer and Erica

As I read your article, “From Literacy to Multiliteracies: Diverse Learners and Pedagogical Practice,” my memory led me back to the university where I did my first degree and to the last school where I taught in before coming to Singapore. It was rather an extremely opposite experience. Similar to the institutions where you underwent your interesting research, the traditional atmosphere was prevalent in my alma mater while the use of technology was fast becoming a common practice in the school where I taught. Sadly, I had to leave before I could fully immerse myself in the emerging culture therein characterised among other things by technology-enhanced teaching environment.

This initial exposure, however, made me realise what the organisational culture in a school can do. This is probably because like human beings, schools create their own self-image, identity and culture.

Not all teachers, however, could cope easily with technology. Note that recognition is not akin to full-blown utilisation of technology. Any plan to use of technology in teaching ought to take into account a number of factors like school budget; attitude of administrators, teachers, parents and learners; availability of media resources; interests; values; and, the like. Moreover systematic changes should be implemented based on a carefully planned vision of the schools. Needless to say, pedagogical innovations can hardly be achieved overnight.

What I noticed was that in the initial stage, there was this constant pulling and pushing between traditional methods and technology-based approaches in the classroom. Consequently there created an impression among teachers that technology is but a ‘garnish’, a show-off, without much substantive impact on learning outcomes. This chain reaction also puts the utilisation of technology in a state of mediocrity. Well, I take it as probably a necessary part of birth pains, a challenging transition that a start-up teacher like me has to negotiate well.

Enhancing the Meaning-Making Process of the Written Word

The birth of the concept multiliteracies led to a revamp in the art of communications as multimodality has revolutionised the meaning-making process. Carriers of meaning have expanded far beyond their range decades ago when the access to the written words was a matter of privilege for a limited group of people … Nowadays, the use of other mediums has become the trend—perhaps alongside the push for the idea of multiple intelligences…

Born in a far-flung countryside (with no electricity), the primary source of meaning for me was a local magazine called “Liwayway.” It was everyone’s favourite that I had to compete with my cousins just to get a chance to loan it overnight. That would mean reading it from cover to cover before my time was up. Otherwise, I would be like an outcast when other members of the house chitchat endlessly about hot and trivial contents of the magazine.

No wonder when a movie house was built in the nearest town, swarms of villagers (including my Mum with me tagging along!) queued up very early for long to have a chance to enter the cinemas. All were thrilled to experience for the first time a different source of meaning. It was a one of a kind experience back then.

Many things changed when my family moved to the town proper. I became exposed to an expanded range of reading materials. I began to create meanings through closely reading a number of text types. Then my training on composition writing proceeded from primary school all the way up to the university.

With my exposure to the internet and to a mind-boggling array of softwares including Windows Movie Maker, my perception of the written word changed. Gone were the days when the art of expressing one self primarily meant tedious writing of compositions. The written word may now be enhanced to make it even more alive with colours and emotions. And because of the influx of technology, many are given the opportunity to learn the art of meaning-making using a combination of image, music, speech and word.

Images have also transformed the classroom-based learning process. As Bezemer and Kress (2008) pointed out, “The digital media, rather than the (text) book, are more and more the site of appearance and distribution of the learning resources, and writing is being displaced by image as the central mode for representation.”

The use of images empowers the written word immensely. Its functions include presenting social changes to epistemological changes hidden behind the printed words. No wonder the use of short video clips has become a promising tool in the learning process. What counts, of course, is a how an impactful learning and teaching may be achieved.

This we owe to multiliteracies and the power of technology nowadays. I wonder what is in store for the next generation.

Voice of an Amateur Website Evaluator

It was a challenging experience. Doing it the first time, evaluating educational websites proved much more painstaking than I thought it was. It made me heave and sigh. But I learned many things that otherwise I would not had I not been given the task to do it.

The process of screening took me ages. It dawned to me that I used the wrong strategy upon realising that the deadline was just a few hours away and yet my output was still inadequate. I spent too much time exploring several websites thinking that I would find ideal websites that suit my selected criteria. Perhaps it is a mistake that an amateur website evaluator like me falls easy prey to.

I have realised how important was Session 3 of our DL class which concerned about the basic skill that ought to be mastered when finding information on the worldwide web. Evaluating websites is very challenging especially for an amateur like me. I have realised the need to harness skills necessary for this task.

I ought to learn more, practice again and again and discover how useful computers are beyond my limited exposure. The activity was an eye-opener for me. It was sobering to realise how little I understand and how enormous the challenges before me.

Maybe, I ought to "reboot my mind" (Dyck,2004) so as to make it easier to adopt computer-assisted learning strategies.

Engaging the DNs

“The future of the nation is on the shoulders of teachers and how they teach the kids; the future of the world is in the classroom where the teachers are. And if we have any chance to guarantee a positive bridge to the 21st century, it is how we educate the children in the classrooms today. “- Richard Reginald Green


When I saw the slogan, “Teach me how to think, create, analyse, apply, invent…Engage me.” conspicuously displayed on the video, I asked myself quietly: How did (do) I teach? Did I fulfil my obligations faithfully and skilfully? Did I help my students acquire thinking skills, hone their creativity and critical faculties, realise the relevance of their learning and motivate them to produce new things?

Because of the infiltration of technology in almost all aspects of people’s lives, a new group of students called DNs whose number is increasing, apparently constitute a significant portion of the 21st century learners. This scenario carries significant implication on how teachers should teach today. With the availability of technological tools, it is certainly vital for educators to broaden the spectrum of their methods in order to respond to needs of the increasing number of DNs.

In re-appraising the nature of the teaching and learning process, however, teachers should not rely on technology alone. It certainly is vital but one should not forget that it is only one in a range of tools for enhancing teaching and learning. Technology is a means to achieve a desirable end; it is not the end itself. To note, the teaching process comprises of a number of elements which include teaching strategies and styles, instructional materials, classroom management, lesson planning, and the teacher himself or herself. The learning process, on the other hand, is influenced by the learner’s motivation, interests, IQ, learning styles and strategies, needs, interests, socioeconomic background, and the likes.

Technology can enhance the effectiveness of teaching practices. It can help sustain learners’ attention and make the learning and teaching process more fun-filled. But it cannot replace teachers. As learning and teaching entail a partnership between learners and teachers, a trusting and nurturing relationship between them play a crucial role in creating a favourable classroom atmosphere. Being a director, moderator, planner, adviser, mentor, guide, facilitator, arbiter, the teachers remain the most crucial element in the ‘teaching and learning process. “

Truly, to teach is to be an artist, a psychologist, a director, a manager, a technophile and more. It is a complex role not all individuals have the right personality and/or appropriate skills to handle effectively. It is a huge responsibility for it is through teaching that minds and hearts of future leaders are shaped. Technology plays a crucial role in it, but it may not suffice. What the world needs is a technology with a heart.

An Interesting Link

I want to share with you this link posted in fb by my former co-teacher. It answers the question,"Which technology tools can help enhance teaching and learning?"


http://http//thejournal.com/articles/2010/01/20/14-technologies-educators-should-watch-in-2010.aspx


Happy surfing!

I'm not a Singaporean

After a lively discussion on the extent of influence of technology on people's lives in Singapore, I realised that, indeed, I am an ' immigrant' here, in more than one sense of the term.

Eighteen months of living in this country is more than enough to appreciate the pervasive clout of technology on practically every aspect of one's life. The database appears to be centralised: bank accounts, NRIC, EZLink, CPF, NLB library account. Name it, and you'd be lucky to have one aspect not electronically wired. It is convenience that I can only dream of back home.

But I feel that something has been lost. Maybe it is what Wilson and Soo mentioned: the personal touch and perhaps the sense of freedom, as well.

Life here is too fast-paced. The race seems on, all the time. I find it hard to live here...To exist, yes, but to live, it's quite a challenge.

Seven years ago, my family and I had a chance to stay in Jogyakarta, Indonesia. There I managed to live without a cellular phone and other techno-gadgets, but oh boy, how I loved the place. At some point we moved to Canberra where all the more I have come to appreciate the joy of simple, unhurried, uncomplicated life. Picnic by the lake, watching and feeding birds practically everywere, riding bicycle to work, friendly locals. It was a life laidback as one might wish it to be.

I am not saying that I don't like Singapore. Singapore has a lot to teach other nations aiming for progress and prosperity. The technological innovations contributed to the world by this country in areas of medicine, sciences, education and economics are immense. Technology at its best is exemplified well by Singapore.

But I am not a Singaporean.