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In summary: as discussed earlier in this Curriculum (Part 1), various pedagogical approaches are possible. Please review the list in Part 1 and decide which approach to apply to the suggested Activities below and others that you may formulate.

List some technical and symbolic codes and conventions that are used in the following genres: television soap operas, tourist brochures, documentary films, family sitcoms, and political advertisements. What messages and information are conveyed through these codes?

• Identify the signs and symbols in your community that are used for a variety of purposes to convey information (e.g. for directions, locations of attractions, etc.). Describe the verbal and visual ‘languages’ used in these signs and symbols, so they are commonly understood by people in your community. Consider the use of font, stylized images, design, etc.
• Examine a variety of postcards from your country or community. Identify the key symbolic and technical codes that are used in each. What information about your country is communicated using these codes? What information is omitted? Create a postcard for a place or organization of your choice. What key technical and symbolic codes would you use to convey important information and create the desired impression?
• Using still or video images, create a collage of images to convey the importance of your educational institution to a particular audience. Consider the use of appropriate icons, symbols, visual/ verbal language, music, colours, camera shots and angles, etc., to engage and speak to this audience. Audiences for this collage could be potential students who might enrol, parents, trustees, a politician, and so on.
• Social media is effectively a platform for conversation and sharing, usually powered by algorithms designed for business purposes. While one of the major uses of social media is keeping in touch with friends and relatives around the world, it is also a platform for customers, investors and employees to communicate with one another. This is where the enormous and ever-growing industry of social media marketing takes centre stage. Divide learners into small groups. Have each group choose a social media platform. Guide them to study the platform to identify technical codes and conventions used by each platform to communicate and frame messages. Think, for example, that a Tweet on Twitter cannot exceed 240 characters. Organize presentations from each group and discussions to answer the following questions and others that the educator might think of. What differentiates one social media platform from others? What is similar? What is unique to each? Do these technical codes and conventions used affect how the learners engage with information and digital tools and meaning derived - based on experience? How do they affect the learners? Are these codes and convention always gender-sensitive or are they sometimes biased toward women and men? Now that educators and learners are more aware of the presence and potential effect of these codes on messaging and meaning, what are the critical steps they should take to act with more discernment in the future? Note that different platforms develop different features (e.g. TikTok for dance clips). Note too that platforms are not passive stages on which users act without direction. They are systems created by algorithms that determine what content succeeds. Encourage educators and learners to share what they have learnt with friends and family on social media.
• Since the dynamic information and digital communication environment has not slowed down, educators and learners will be forced to address competing demands in the foreseeable future. Organize an idea generation and debate session among educators or learners. Guide them to share what new technologies and media might be developed in the future and what new codes and technical conventions they might use. For instance, imagine a physical computer monitor as we know it being virtual and in 3 dimensions. What changes could this bring about? Think also about present and future technological tools for the classroom and in community spaces as “classrooms”. Organize a debate about how the use of certain technical codes and conventions could further enable or hinder the teaching and learning process.
• The collaborative potential of new media and smart phones provide new opportunities for the expression of talent and creativity. The new media platforms nowadays enable ordinary people to express themselves and produce their own content without the usual barriers. They are no longer hindered by the need for large budgets, equipment and human resources formerly needed to showcase their abilities and reach viewers all over the world. Also, they help in spreading and cultivating the idea that art and creativity are not limited to certain categories of people of particular societies. Divide learners in into small groups. Have them do research to identify unique media and technological codes and conventions developed by ordinary individuals to enhance their media and digital products. Are these any different from those used by big media and digital communication companies? How do business models affect what creative content rises to the top and is paid for? Organize presentations and discussion.