Crossing the US-Mexico border
Hello, and a good day to you! Please CLICK HERE to see my media-based visualization about crossing the US-Mexico border, which is a sub-topic of my main topic which is immigration reform.
Visualizing Understanding; Part 2
I chose to
make my project on Thinglink because it offers multiple ways of showing various
medias in a easily digestible way. For example, there is no format I’m limited
to. If I think a video would be a good focal point of the lesson I can not only
post that, but also surround it with links, descriptions and other visual
images to help scaffold the video. I thought that the most important pieces of
this interactive visual experience will be the backdrop since that is what is
grabbing one’s attention in the first place.
For the
backdrop I chose to use an artistic version of the American flag with silhouettes
on the bottom depicting people crossing the border. We know that this has to do
with a dangerous border crossing because, if you look closely, you can see
barbed wire that the people are walking over. The travelers also seem to be
carrying much luggage which looks to me as if they do not plan on returning to
their homes. I chose the interactive “media points”, or the clickable icons on
the background based on what the story included media-wise. For example I could
use the camera icon for a video, or a book icon for an article. There were many
options, almost too many. The point here is that there was always a way to
classify my media points in a manner that suggests what type of media you might
be about the delve into.
Creating
the visualization deepened my understanding of the topic in ways that reading
alone might have not by forcing me to expand my research probe into areas I’m
not exactly comfortable in. For example, if I was using a video I’d need to
include a link, description and title. Because each media point has so many variables
that I’m able to input, the sky is the limit when dressing up these points of
interest. If I was just reading the material, I wouldn’t have heard directly
from the people that crossing the border affects, or I wouldn’t have mental images
from real photos rather than using my imagination when the stories are only dictated
or read.
This
process has influenced my thinking on visualization as a vehicle for learning
by making me feel like I now have the ability to produce such educational
material, rather than just consume it. Now I’m not worried that I won’t be able
to find the perfect visualization online; I’m not able to make them myself.
I’d use this visualization in my
future lessons by, well, just using them. What I mean here is that one must use
the tools in order to understand them and be proficient and knowledgeable. I
will not be afraid to try new ideas and platforms, so in my future teaching I intend
to use media-based visualizations as a standard practice within my lessons. However,
I absolutely will make an effort to seek out new media platforms and try new
ones as they are discovered by myself.
Hello Conor,
ReplyDeleteI think that you chose a great subtopic for your visualization. I think you did a great job explaining the importance of your topic. My question for you as a response is what can we do as a society to become more educated on this topic?
Conor, The images and links you chose for this visualization project are fascinating. I spent a great deal of time clicking and exploring. I especially loved the border photos detailed on the CNN link. Every time I read about Friendship Park having restrictions on the hours loved ones can come to the fence to see one another...so sad. I imagine all of my former students who sent part of their family to the US and had to wait years for parents or siblings to arrive. You should check out Tyler W's blog too-he used this platform, but instead of using picture icons, he used numbers. I explored his blog in number order, and this could be a way to guide your students through the information chronologically or topically. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteConor,
ReplyDeleteI have to say-- I'm really impressed by your blog and your visualization project. While many of us neglected to change many of the default settings, you really went above and beyond to make yours extremely aesthetically pleasing and relevant to your topic. Your visualization project is also awesome. I really appreciate the diversity of sources. It seems like you've covered pretty much every aspect of the issue: legal migration, illegal immigration, tourism, law, policy, personal experience... the list goes on and on!
Wow, this digital poster on immigrations brings together so many different aspects on the topic of immigration. It seems like it could be a teaching resources that could be revisited several times. I'm curious as to how you choose the different colors and symbols for the nodes on the image.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Conor, for sharing your interests in immigration here. I wish you well as you move forward in your professional studies.