Using Technology to Produce a Literary Magazine
I found a video at the TIM website in which students are using 21st century skills to publish a literary magazine. The students are responsible for design, layout, content, images, and ad sales to support the magazines production.
I found this case very interesting and useful. I actually have experience helping students create a literary magazine, but it was many years ago and the only technology we used was word processing on our Macs and a scanner. The hand laid out pages were actually driven to the local newspaper by me where they were used to create the magazine and printed on newsprint. It was very hard to sustain because of our dependence on an outside source for producing the magazine, and the need to generate lots of ad sales in order to pay the newspaper for their services.
With the digital tools now available to me and my students this would be an exciting endeavor. I especially like that there is an editorial board, and students actually learn some of the business side of producing a magazine. With all the tools available to individual students these days, I can definitely imagine (and would encourage) students to create their own magazines for either online or print audiences.
Specifically, the 21st century skills I observed involved: use of computers, cameras, scanners, page layout and design software; collaboration through an editorial board and students assuming responsibility for various jobs associated with producing the magazine; creativity in designing the magazine; and critical thinking in terms of planning for production, distribution, and funding of the project.
I rate this experience as a 5 because the description of what students are responsible, as well as the footage of students clearly engaged in their responsibilities has inspired me to try this with my students.
I found this case very interesting and useful. I actually have experience helping students create a literary magazine, but it was many years ago and the only technology we used was word processing on our Macs and a scanner. The hand laid out pages were actually driven to the local newspaper by me where they were used to create the magazine and printed on newsprint. It was very hard to sustain because of our dependence on an outside source for producing the magazine, and the need to generate lots of ad sales in order to pay the newspaper for their services.
With the digital tools now available to me and my students this would be an exciting endeavor. I especially like that there is an editorial board, and students actually learn some of the business side of producing a magazine. With all the tools available to individual students these days, I can definitely imagine (and would encourage) students to create their own magazines for either online or print audiences.
Specifically, the 21st century skills I observed involved: use of computers, cameras, scanners, page layout and design software; collaboration through an editorial board and students assuming responsibility for various jobs associated with producing the magazine; creativity in designing the magazine; and critical thinking in terms of planning for production, distribution, and funding of the project.
I rate this experience as a 5 because the description of what students are responsible, as well as the footage of students clearly engaged in their responsibilities has inspired me to try this with my students.