Author:
Kat Cain
Subject:
Information Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan
Level:
Community College / Lower Division, College / Upper Division, Graduate / Professional
Tags:
License:
Creative Commons Attribution
Language:
English
Media Formats:
Downloadable docs

Blackout poetry - digital literacy in creative ways

Blackout poetry - digital literacy in creative ways

Overview

Digital literacy is more than finding articles or being able to use Powerpoint - it's a flexible engagement within the digital world. This workshop uses poetry as an engagement lens on mindsets, learning, creativity and literacies. 

Developed as part of CAUL's Digital Dexterity launch program in 2019, this blackout poetry resource provides you with workshop slides, workshop plan and an instructional handout. 

Lesson slides

CAUL Digital Dexterity branded slides are attached that can be used as a guide in putting together your own teaching and learning materials for this creative engagement and digital skills building experience. 

Workshop lesson plan

Creative engagement with literacies: Blackout Poetry

Class Description 

This workshop will foster participants to engage flexibly with digital skills by considering the Learning Zone Model (Senninger) or Growth Mindset (Dweck) and working through a hands-on digital challenge  

 

Guiding philosophy or pedagogy

‘If you want to feel secure

Do what you already know how to do. 

But if you want to grow… 

Go to the cutting edge of your competence, 

Which means a temporary loss of security. 

So, whenever you don’t quite know 

What you are doing 

Know 

That you are growing…’ 

Viscott, 2003

 

Facilitators 

Insert here

 

Duration 

60 mins

 

Learning Objectives 

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: 

  • Articulate basic elements of learning mindsets - Senninger’s Learning Zone Model / Dweck Growth Mindset 
  • Create a digital artefact in the form of a black out poem 
  • Demonstrate relationship between creativity and digital capabilities  

   

Sessional resources

In-person session

Digital session

  • One-two facilitators
  • Internet connection 
  • Tables arranged in groups 
  • Digital device for each person
  • Table handouts and materials
  • Potential shared contribution space either physical (noteboard, sticky notes, parking lot) or digital (Padlet, chat, Trello, Jamboard, Google Drive etc)
  • Two facilitators
  • Internet connection 
  • Tables arranged in groups 
  • Digital device for each person  
  • Digital handouts
  • Potential shared contribution space (Padlet, chat, Trello, Jamboard, Google Drive etc)

 

 

Activities 

Creative activity – create a poem using the affordances of a self-selected technology/app  

 

Resources used in lesson 

 

Lesson Plan – Digital blackout poetry  

Timing

Topic

Notes

2 – 3 mins 

Introduction 

Scene setting:  

This was originally designed by Kat Cain (Deakin University) and a UTS colleague (Elizabeth Smith) for CAUL’s Digital Dexterity satellite event at ALIA Online 2019. It has since been reworked for Deakin internal training session and other experiences.

 

Explain: 

The purpose of the digital challenge we are about to get our brains engaged with– is to do a set task in as creative a way as you want. To take a set of steps designed for a physical format and to flexibly adjust it to a digital form. All of which is clearly driven by digital literacy capabilities.  

10 mins 

Signpost session learning aspects and expectations: 

 

Using individual mindsets to frame digital capabilities  

 

Explain:  

We are going to explore how learning is shaped by mindsets and learning zones by taking on a digital challenge that may have aspects you are not comfortable with. We want you to engage with concepts like - What does “individual mindset” mean to me? Why is it important to learning? And how does understanding your own comfort levels work impact on learning? 

 

I tend to use the Senninger model in learning design, whereas this session’s codesigner Elizabeth from UTS works with focus on the Dweck growth mindset. Different concepts and teaching theories used to help learners approach digital challenges.  

 

Explain:

What is Senninger Learning Zone model? Why use this? 

I like this model because it’s simple but really helps shape a learning design by pushing you to question your content.  

 

Explain and show:

Briefly put and Demonstrate with interactive diagram as you unpack the concepts: 

  • Comfort or Safe zone: concepts are familiar and where we don’t need to take any risks. Current skills and abilities. A cozy safe haven and place for reflection.  Not surprisingly we tend to operate in this space a lot.  
  • Learning or Stretch zone: looking for new concepts, space for curiosity and making new discoveries. So we are focused and open to new stuff!  
  • Panic or Strain zone: learning becomes difficult, barriers emerge from frustration and all our energy is sucked up just to control our anxiety. Learning can’t happen in this space. Think Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide.  

 

Explain (optional):

Point of maximum learning – that line between learning and panic. That space where we explore the very edge of our abilities and limitations.  Learning zones are an extension of the Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) developed by Soviet Psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky: “the role of education is to give children experiences that are within their zones of proximal development, thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning.” 

 

Explain:

Obviously, these zones are different for different situations and different for each person. And keep in mind that the lines between comfort, learning, and panic will change, fluctuating from moment to moment.  So today we want to create a learning situation that keeps you in the learning zone, stretching it as far as we can. In order to learn we do have to venture into the unknown and outside our comfort zone. So together we are going to dis-comfort ourselves but hopefully not hit panic!  

  

Explain: 

What is growth mindset? Why use this?  

Another learning approach we flagged in prework and earlier today is the growth mindset.  To briefly recap it’s based in educational psychology and there are different ways of describing it, but the term “growth mindset” is what’s been popularised by people like Carol Dweck.  

 

Dweck uses the terms growth mindset and fixed mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people can hold about their ability to learn. A growth mindset helps us deal with the sometimes frustrating process of learning new things, and concentrates on the effort or process it takes to learn new things. A fixed mindset is often stuck on the outcome, or a belief that our abilities are pre-determined. 

 

Show: 

It’s like two voices talking to us in our heads. One is saying this… the other saying that… NTS: use visual aid  

  

University of Technology Sydney like using it in their teaching– and often use it to frame digital skills training – because it helps coach learners through that self-talk we go through when learning something challenging.  

 

Key points:  

Struggling and making mistakes is part of learning. A growth mindset believes that knowledge is not innate, and you can learn a new skill through effort.  

 

It's important to remember that we do not always have a growth or a fixed mindset. It will change depending on time, the task and our workplace.  

 

Growth mindset is just like everything else we learn, though. It needs to be practiced before we will be good at it.  

 

To connect the two approaches - if we look at Senniger’s model, growth mindset techniques are the kind of self talk or thinking we use to help deal with the discomfort and panic that can happen when learning new things.  

 

“All of which leads us to our creative challenge……" 

5 mins 

Blackout poetry introduction 

Ask: 

Has anyone here heard of blackout poetry?  Can you describe what it is?  

 

Explain:  

Blackout poetry is a creative exercise. Traditionally this has meant taking a print newspaper and redacting the majority of the words, leaving only a small fraction of readable text which forms a new form of visual poetry.  

 

Show: 

Example of blackout poetry  

Let’s look at the process of blackout poetry - there are instructions on your table  

 

Show: 

Video (PLAY AT 2x SPEED) - an idea of how the process works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bPAkoPsX0gA  

 

Highlight: 

On each table there are steps to guide you through the process  

These are:  

  • Choose your resource  
  • Look for “anchor” words  
  • Look for other words that hang off your anchor  
  • Circle or box the word to build your poem around  
  • Blackout! Get rid of everything else 

 

Show (optional)

Video (play at normal speed) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maed55XObjU

Now for some people the blackout poetry example video may have been too much information, too quickly. For others it would be just right and the instructions can fill in the gaps.

But to help make the process more transparent – I’m going to play this slower more explicit example of doing a physical blackout poem for anyone who wants to watch. Otherwise jump in and get started.

2 mins 

Digital challenge framing 

Show

  • Slide framing challenge 
  • As we go through this challenge… one of the easiest ways to start moving towards more of a growth mindset is to use the word: “YET.” e.g. I’M NOT GOOD AT THIS YET; This isn’t working YET. And, in fact, mistakes and failure are a part of the learning process. So I didn't get this to work, or I’m not quite sure what I’m doing… yet. It’s a really simple way to try coach ourselves through something new and uncomfortable.  
  • And remembering our Senninger model: If you are not slightly uncomfortable – you’re probably not learning. It’s good if you feel a bit uncertain.  
  • Don’t be afraid to change your mind (e.g. change your source material, change your anchor words, change your theme)  
  • Be creative (scribble, draw, merge words together to form a new word, focus on drawing first and words second) - If the word you need is not there can you make it by deleting parts of other words  
  • Be relaxed about it – poetry is all about experimentation - Don’t read the page as a story! Look for words and phrases that jump out at you  
  • Your poem doesn’t have to have anything to do with the original content. It can be as random or abstract as you like.  
  • Quick and fast – don’t agonise (we will set a time limit for you today but if you were to go solo – recommend spending less than 15 minutes on it)  
  • Keep in mind – your poem will be at least as good as this one  https://giphy.com/gifs/poetry-poem-roses-are-red-l0HlAqa1TukYusGAw   

 

30 mins 

Poetry challenge: Learners problem solve how to create a digital blackout    

Core message

It is impossible to make a mistake. Whatever you create will be a fantastic experimental poem  

 

Focus for learners: 

Tracking their self-talk and which learning zone they felt like they were in.   

 

Focus for instructors: 

Support for learners to self-solve problems, working through barriers, by providing problem-solving strategies  

 

Note for instructors –processes/methodology used in the past for digital blackout poetry have included:  

  • Powerpoint  
  • Google slides  
  • Microsoft word  
  • MS Draw  
  • Adobe Acrobat   
  • Taking a photo of book page/letter and using ipad app to edit  
  • Google drawing  
  • IPad apps – like Brushes Redux, YouDoodle   
  • Endnote annotation functionality   

10 mins 

Learners share their work 

Show/Demo:

Show the Sharepoint folder to upload their poetry: 

http://bit.ly/deakindigipoet19  

  

Do: 

Learners upload examples of their work to the Drive Show examples on screens and ask creators to talk about what they did.  

  

Focus: 

Students should focus on the success of others as well as their own. The creativity of every participant is something to be celebrated and learned from.  

 

 

Resources used in planning or research 

 

Potential images for use in presentation: