Teaching Media Representation: Using VoiceThread

I also think that using a program like VoiceThread or iMovie would be a great way to teach media representations in an English classroom. Following a lesson on media representations of different groups and a discussion of stereotyping, I would have the student do the following performance assessment: Work with a partner to make an advertisement for a product. Advertise the product to the best of your ability using rhetoric and language that you think will appeal to your audience. Here's the catch: do not use stereotypes. Then I would like you post a picture of your image/collage/advertisement on VoiceThread and discuss the process of making this ad on VoiceThread with your partner. Was this easy to do? Difficult? Why do you think so? Do you think your advertisement will be effective? Why or why not? I would hope that this assignment would elicit some conversations about archetypes versus stereotypes and the representative nature of most types of media.