Proposal for Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University

I would be honored to be granted the opportunity for to study as a research fellow this summer at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University.
The United Kingdom has been a leader in my field--- media education. For the past nine years, I have been studying the work of British scholars such as William Dutton, Viv Ellis, David Buckingham and Len Masterman. Thus, this summer study at UK will provide me a chance to investigate the integration of new media and technologies into media literacy curriculum from a British point of view. I am looking forward to engaging in interdisciplinary conversation with colleagues in the Department of Educational Studies programs at Oxford University, and especially in discussing E- learning projects[1] like OSBE (Oxfordshire Schools Broadband Evaluation) and Kar2ouche[2] research.
I am currently writing a book chapter entitled, “Teachers Discovering Media Education: Power of Media Production in Developing Media Literacy Skills among K-12 Teachers.” The final draft of this chapter is due in August 2005. The content of this chapter is based on data collected from a participatory research study conducted with over 220 educators in eight states in the United States. To further my research, I now would like to gather data from British educators by interviewing ten K-6 teachers and teacher candidates at Oxford University and studying the integration of media literacy into their respective curricula. This aspect will be incorporated into my overall study, which I believe will provide a greater understanding of the importance of media education in teacher education programs.

Among the additional research activities that I would like to undertake while at Oxford University are the following:
· Examining Oxford’s approach in orienting teacher candidates into the e-portfolio assessment tool and strategies in Oxford University’s teacher education programs. This should strengthen my work in using new technologies in developing assessment strategies of teacher candidates for NCATE accreditation at the College of Education of William Paterson University.
· Researching and viewing especially non-print materials (such as films, videos, DVDs) in the area of media education by using specialized libraries in my field such as Oxford Internet Institute Library, Harris Manchester College Library, and Educational Studies Library.
· Discovering ways in which I can add new resources to my online course, “Rediscovering History through Media Education” [3] by accessing unique programs such as Virtual Society[4] and resources at Oxford’s Social Science Library and History Faculty Library.. This interdisciplinary course requires resources not only through print and broadcast media, but also utilizes multiple perspectives on global issues and online dialogue among scholars.
I believe that my summer study at Oxford University will help enhance my research knowledge and provide additional perspective to understanding media education in teacher education programs. I also believe that my findings will contribute to professional development and preparation of pre-service teachers at the College of Education, which will strengthen William Paterson University’s contribution to the field of education.
Thank you for your consideration,
Melda N. Yildiz
Research Project Title:
The Role of Media Literacy and Media Production in Teacher Education Programs in the UK. This project is based on my ongoing research, “Analog and Digital Video Production Techniques in Developing Media Literacy Skills Among K-12 Educators.”
Study:
This participatory research study promotes media literacy skills through media production techniques and describes K-16 teachers' and teacher candidates’ reactions and experiences with media. This study will explore the wide range of meanings that participants associate with media education, the impact of video and multimedia production activities on their understanding of media, and ways that participants integrate media literacy and multicultural education into their curriculum and multimedia projects.
This research will outline strategies for integrating media literacy and media production into the curriculum from British point of view, explore creative suggestions for producing media in the classroom with minimal resources and equipment, and describe K-16 educators' experiences with media production.
Significance:
Media Education needs to be integrated into the curriculum. Media Literacy and Media Production are listed under content standards in some states; others, like New Jersey, have just added Media Literacy to their core curriculum standards. K-12 teachers now need training in media literacy skills and in understanding of how to infuse media production throughout the curriculum to enhance learning.
Participants:
Approximately ten K-16 educators- K-12 teacher candidates, media specialists, and teacher educators will be designated with the help of colleagues at Educational Studies department at Oxford University who are currently working on research related to media education and media production. The participants will be contacted through email at least one month before and will be requested to fill out a media survey.
Methods:
The methodology will include media surveys[i] and interviews. My study will use a three-pronged theoretical framework: semiotics, media literacy, and multicultural education. During the interview, participants will be asked to share and showcase their multimedia projects. Participants’ electronic mail and weblog correspondence, curriculum resources, lesson plans, and the multimedia projects were employed as content analysis and were studied as an archival and secondary research material.
The main goal of my research is to draw on the natural links between media literacy and teacher education. Specifically, I would like to explore how a critical approach to the study of new media combines knowledge, reflection, and action to promote educational equity and to prepare new generation to be socially responsible members of a multicultural, democratic society.
[1] E-learning research projects part of the Learning In and Out of School Research Group in Teaching & Teacher Education program in the Department of Educational Studies in Oxford University. http://www.edstud.ox.ac.uk/research/elearning.html
[2] Kar2ouche is a role-playing software that engages children in highly visual environments developed as part of e-learning projects. http://www.kar2ouche.com
[3] Course Outline is http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/faculty/yildizm/history.pdf
[4] Virtual Society? Social Science of Electronic Technologies http://virtualsociety.sbs.ox.ac.uk/
[i] Media Survey at http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/faculty/yildizm/mediasurvey.htm