| Previous | Contents References |
Next |
| |
Material Environments And ResourcesA comparison of the available materials is necessary to consider how the material environment participates in program activities. (See the maps in Appendix C, which demonstrate the configuration of the campuses.) The way video production was framed (Latour, 1996) by the material world is frequently not visible in the actual videos: An analysis of institutional constraints (ZFM) and promotions (ZPA) requires information from observation because much of what was observed in classrooms arises in videos only in their absence; most video projects (particularly at Urban and Suburban Highs) demonstrated efforts to escape campus constraints by recording off campus, and what happens in response to particular depicted features cannot happen in the absence of these features. The overall impact of the material environments was most prevalent at Urban High. The locations and arrangements of Urban High’s New Media classrooms posed clear constraints: New Media 1 had everything needed to cook but lacked much of what is needed for video, particularly sufficient room within the classroom for recording. Students sat at large, round tables, that so completely filled the room, it was difficult to move among them. The teacher was thus constrained in his access to students and students were constrained in there movement. I was also limited in interacting with students. Recording and editing required going to another classroom, where all the equipment was kept. There was one computer and several more in an adjoining room, but these were not equipped with editing software. The result was that there were frequent difficulties and only one video was edited from a semester’s worth of work. Students commented that they did not even know editing was an option. Urban High’s “studio” (See Appendix C, Map 5), where advanced classes were held, was by contrast huge but almost as crowded. An odd assortment of desks and tables was in the room, but what made it crowded was the boxes of monitors that had never been opened, old school furniture, and other school equipment, including a large lawn mower. The room had accommodations nevertheless for production with some rearranging, and the teachers initially responded with an eagerness to put their mark on it: Attempts to have students paint the room had resulted in a design of hand prints near the door in addition to areas of fresh paint, and the effort to create “sets” had led to an array of furniture. An area in the main room was separated by boxes and old display cases to create one “set,” and a balcony overlooking the room held another arrangement of salvaged furniture. Efforts to adapt the room lasted only the first month, however, and the potential of the room—during their first semester of using it—was overwhelmed by the difficulty of having two classes share the room at once. Unlike the Media 1 classroom, the Studio had the room and the technology for producing videos: Computers lined two sections of wall during the second semester, promoting an emphasis on editing, which was supported by one teacher, and all the equipment was stored there in a locked closet . But both Urban High classrooms were crowded with objects that had nothing to do with video. The Studio was in essence a warehouse that the school continued to use as such, storing materials even in the yard around the room. And both rooms showed their age in dirt and disrepair. The impact of these qualities was not directly observed because they did not directly constrain activity, but there is a potential message about the value of the students and the program, and it did nothing to establish an identity for the program. Suburban High, by contrast, had a noticeably newer building and newer furniture than Urban High, but even with a greater degree of uniformity among the tables and chairs, there was a certain chaotic quality due to the amount of equipment in the room; every surface seemed to have materials stacked on it. The effect, however, was quite different because it all related to video. Student tables were rearranged as needed and routinely shoved out of the way of the school news show, but the room afforded these transformations. (See Appendix C, Map 3.) The news show had a set that included an anchor desk raised a few inches by a wooded platform, thus representing the advanced class in the beginning classes and serving as a promotion of a “news” orientation. Lights hung from brackets set in the ceiling, but the room lacked a lighting grid, limiting where lights could be positioned and constraining the flexibility of arrangements. A control room was at one end of the room, which had a door connecting it to the next classroom—a music composition room—helping maintain a connection to other performing arts subjects. The music teacher, at least, maintained contact with the television production teacher and worked with her students to provide music for a video. The overall chaotic appearance seemed less chaotic as I accustomed myself to the boundaries of the different sections and the routine transformations.It was clearly a room for television production with a functioning, if small, studio. The room and its contents were not new, but they had been maintained. Unlike the studio at Urban High, the objects that filled the room had purposes and were used. The Boarding High art classroom was similarly marked as an art room. Art was everywhere, on every wall. The room was divided into two sections: On one side, the teacher had a desk facing rows of tables, while the larger section of the room had work tables with stools at them. Most of the time, the surfaces of the tables were clear and ready for work. There was plenty of room, particularly when the classes were small, and the room was full of color and self-expression. By comparison, at both Urban and Suburban schools, the material on the walls was mostly published materials with academic content; such publications were overwhelmed by student work at Boarding High. |
|
| Previous Contents |
Next References |