Author Archives: Matthew Williams

About Matthew Williams

Matthew Williams is a filmmaker and media educator who has recently transplanted to Oakland from Los Angeles. He believes that you are what you eat and feels everyone should have a multitude of dietary options for self-realization. Matthew is the Educational Technologist at KQED.

Teach Civic Engagement Using Social Media with KQED Do Now (An Online PD Module)

May 17, 2013, 9:45 am • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Do Now

Are you interested in having your students debate about current events with other students from around the country? KQED Do Now is a weekly activity for students to engage and respond to current issues using social media tools like Twitter. KQED aims to introduce 21st Century skills and add value to learning through the integration of relevant content and new media tools and technologies. Do Now gives students a chance to practice civic engagement and digital citizenship skills while they explore ways to connect topics in their classes to the present day.

If you are interesting in using Do Now with your students, here is a self-paced tutorial that will get you oriented and ready to implement. Give yourself about 1 hour to go through it. Also, if you are interested in participating in the KQED Do Now working group for Fall, 2013, email Matt Williams at mwilliams@kqed.org. Educators who participate in working groups will receive a small stipend.

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Filed under: Online Training Modules, Teacher Trainings
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Do Now #79: Saving the Honey Bees

May 7, 2013, 8:22 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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KQED QUEST

KQED QUEST

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

Are we doing enough to protect honey bees? How might this environmental issue impact you? What do you think will happen if there are no more honey bees?

Introduction

Since 2006, honey bees have been dying at an alarming rate. The event, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has killed about one third of all honey bees within the US.

We depend on honey bees to pollinate crops that we eat every day—apples, cucumbers, blueberries, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, almonds, strawberries, soybeans, watermelon, and more. The bees’ services are estimated to be worth $20-30 billion in agricultural production annually in the US alone.

Researchers have found links to CCD with certain pesticides called neonicotinoids. Last month, nations within the European Union voted a two-year ban on neonicotinoids to protect honey bees.

The US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency came out with a 72-page report on honey bee health determining that pesticides in combination with other factors—including parasitic mites, low genetic diversity in bees, and poor nutrition—are contributing to CCD. Neither organization recommends banning neonicotinoids as the EU has done, but would like beekeepers and growers to collaborate on best practices with use of pesticides.

The US organizations will update an action plan to include priorities in combating CCD over the next 5-10 years.

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Science
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Students Debate Immigration Reform -- Do Now Round Up

May 7, 2013, 12:58 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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The Change, a documentary on immigration

The Change, a student-produced documentary on immigration

As the immigration reform bill begins to consume lawmakers in Washington in the coming months, students around the country had a head start to debate the issue online. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the lead Democratic negotiator, explains, "The American people have told us to do two things. One, prevent future flows of illegal immigration, and then come up with a common sense solution for legal immigration. And that's what our bill does."

The bill also makes changes to how foreigners can legally immigrate to the United States going forward. These changes are intended to make the process easier. However, only immigrants who came to the country before Dec. 31, 2011 can apply. To read more about the bill, you can visit to the KQED Do Now #75 prompt.

In Coppell, Texas, students at New Tech High @ Coppell overwhelmingly took over the debate last week in our weekly Do Now discussion. Educators Janelle Bence and Danae Boyd presented the activity to over 136 learners who all made compelling arguments about the issue. The majority of the conversation happened in the comments section of the KQED Do Now blog post. But, students also tweeted rich media that they produced, which consisted mostly of documentary and poetic videos about immigration.

Rookies in Ms. Bence's class debate immigation on KQED Do Now's website.

Rookies in Ms. Bence's class debate immigation on KQED Do Now's website.

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Filed under: Community Voices, Do Now Round-Ups
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Do Now #78: Fast Fashion at a High Cost

May 3, 2013, 10:03 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Garment factory in Bangladesh, photo by Fahad Faisal/Wikimedia Commons

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

Should fashion companies like H & M and Zara be responsible for the manufacturing of their clothing even though they don't own the factories? What should be their role? What is the role of the consumer? What is the role of government?

Introduction

Last week a garment factory building collapsed outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, leaving over 500 workers dead. Labor organizers argue that this tragedy could easily have been prevented if factory regulations were put in place to ensure safer working conditions. However, the lack of regulations allows fashion companies to pay less money for the manufacturing of their clothing, making it cheaper for people to buy the products in stores. Should the effort to sell clothing at such a low price justify the hiring of garment factories with poor and dangerous working conditions?

What makes clothing so cheap? U.S. fashion companies design their merchandise in the United States and then outsource the labor in countries like Bangladesh where workers are paid very little to sew the garments. According to Elizabeth Cline in her book Over-Dressed factories like these in Bangladesh pump out what she calls "fast fashion," or clothes made on the cheap by big chains such as H&M, Zara, Esprit, Lee, Wrangler, Nike, J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart.

According to Cline, these factories are unregulated. There are power outages six times a day, infrastructure problems, but the labor is so cheap and gives companies a competitive advantage. In China, where 15 million people work in the garment industry, the cost of labor has gone up recently so companies are looking elsewhere to manufacture clothing. But Bangladesh can't keep up with China's infrastructure to produce such a high volume of clothing, so they buckle under the pressure and mistakes happen like a building collapse or a large building fire in November.

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Government and Civics
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BAYMN FEST 2013 -- June 1 & 2

May 2, 2013, 3:01 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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BAYMN FEST

On June 1 & 2, the Bay Area Youth Media Network (BAYMN) in partnership with KQED will present BAYMN FEST, a free two-day interactive showcase of media produced by young folks ages 12-24, hosted at the San Francisco Public Library. Through screenings, workshops, a transmedia gallery, a makerspace, parties and networking opportunities, BAYMN FEST will be a place for young artists to share their work, meet their peers, acquire new tools, make their voices heard—and win cool prizes and media-making tools! It is a unique opportunity for youth, educators and the general public to celebrate the work of talented young media makers. We hope you will join us and be inspired.

We received over 300 youth-produced videos through our call for entries in a variety of categories including Science, Technology, & Innovation; Arts & Expression; and Social Justice & Community Engagement; and we have put together an exciting series of shorts programs that will screen throughout the weekend.

This event is open to the public. For educators, we encourage you to schedule time for your students to come and participate… or if you are out of school for the summer, to organize a group of young folks to attend. This event will be a great opportunity for young folks to connect with their peers who are passionate about making media, and it will give you the chance as an educator to immerse yourself in the youth media movement, network with other educators and even acquire some new skills. This festival is funded by Adobe Youth Voices and The AT&T Foundation.

To attend to this event, you must RSVP here -- www.baymnfest.eventbrite.com Below is a breakdown of the festival schedule, workshop schedule, and film program. Please reserve a spot for one of our workshops by filling out this form. Be sure to reserve spots for any or all of the days. And don't forget about the BAYMN BASH reception on the evening of Saturday, June 1! And it's all FREE!

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Filed under: Bay Area Youth Media Network, Community Voices, Youth Media Festivals
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Do Now #77: What is the Definition of Terrorism?

April 26, 2013, 8:24 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Photo by Aaron Tang/commons.wikimedia.org

Photo by Aaron Tang/commons.wikimedia.org

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

How should the U.S. government define terrorism?

Introduction

Two weeks ago, on April 15, two bombs exploded at the finish line during the Boston Marathon, leaving three people dead and injured at least 250. It was a horrific act that brought the nation together in support of the families of the victims as well as the Boston community. As the aftermath unfolded, questions were raised whether this was a terrorist attack or not.

As Howard Koplowitz mentions in his article in the International Business Times, "When he addressed the country around 6:15 p.m. EDT, President Barack Obama was criticized in some circles for not using the words 'terrorism' or 'terror' to describe the explosions that rocked Copley Square during the Boston Marathon Monday afternoon….But just 15 minutes later, the Obama administration said the twin bombings were 'acts of terror.'"

Consequently, this shift in identification of the act raises questions about the way our government defines terrorism. In the 1980s, during the Reagan Administration, journalists and scholars claimed that perhaps the definition of "terrorism" is quite subjective, depending on a person's political point of view. Clarence Page wrote in a Chicago Tribune article in May 1986, "When President Reagan decided to use the term 'freedom fighters' to describe the Nicaraguan contras, he fell into an old word trap. One person`s 'freedom fighter' is someone else`s 'terrorist.'" Page references that both geographic location and ideology factor into the definition of "terrorism."

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Government and Civics
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Do Now Round Up: North Korea

April 16, 2013, 9:29 am • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Do Now #72 Round Up

Last week's KQED Do Now investigated North Korea's threat to attack their neighbors and even the United States. In recent years, North Korea has made several threats to develop and deploy nuclear weapons on countries like South Korea, Japan, and even the United States. These type of threats were never met with major concern as it seemed clear that North Korea was not close to building weapons grade nuclear materials nor had the capability to fire long range missiles outside its border. Well, things have changed.

Students' responses to North Korea's warning varied greatly in terms of how the US should respond and whether the threat is crebible. Below are some of their ideas.

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Do Now #73: An Acidic Ocean For All?

April 10, 2013, 6:47 am • Posted by Matthew Williams
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California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

Why does ocean acidification matter? What role can you play?

Introduction

Over the past one hundred years or so, the ocean has absorbed the carbon dioxide (CO₂) released into the environment from burning fossil fuels. Absorbing these emissions makes our oceans more acidic. This change in the ocean’s pH level is called ocean acidification. As the pH levels change, we face increasing threats to our ocean health, marine life and even our economy (i.e. industries such as fisheries and tourism).

One of the most harmful effects of ocean acidification is a decrease in marine organisms’ ability to grow structures like skeletons and shells. Corals are especially under attack; higher acidity slows their growth and makes their skeletons weaker. Since coral reefs are home to at least a quarter of all marine species, losing such a habitat would have drastic effects for our global food chain.

Though ocean acidification is a relatively new topic of discussion for scientists, it has caught the attention of several groups around the world to speak and act in support of our oceans. In an article in Scientific American, Virginia Gewin writes, “Washington State, a leading U.S. producer of farmed shellfish, has launched a $3.3-million, science-based plan to address this growing problem for the region and the globe.” There are other actions and studies taking place in the scientific community as well. The Science Daily writes that at Stanford University, scientists are seeking the sea urchin's secret to surviving ocean acidification.

How much of a threat does ocean acidification have on our ecosystem and food chain?

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Science, Science
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Do Now #72: North Korea's Threat of Attack

April 5, 2013, 6:59 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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PBS NewsHour

PBS NewsHour

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

How do you think the U.S. should respond to North Korea's threat to deploy nuclear weapons on its neighbors and even the United States? Why? Is this a credible threat?

Introduction

In recent years, North Korea has made several threats to develop and deploy nuclear weapons on countries like South Korea, Japan, and even the United States. These type of threats were never met with major concern as it seemed clear that North Korea was not close to building weapons grade nuclear materials nor had the capability to fire long range missiles outside its border. Well, things have changed.

Now, it seems that North Korea is much closer to reaching the capability of deploying such weapons. All of this started when North Korea conducted new nuclear tests in February, which in turn prompted the United Nations Security Council to impose new sanctions on the North. And last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a plan to put strategic rockets on standby to be fired at the United States and its bases in the Pacific at any time.

It is unclear at the moment how serious or credible the threat is to the U.S, however, the U.S. government announced last Wednesday that it was deploying an advanced missile defense system to Guam as a precautionary measure against these threats from North Korea. The resource below provides three perspectives on the conflict. What do you think? Does this action seem necessary? Is it too passive or aggressive? How should the United States handle this very delicate situation?

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Government and Civics
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Do Now #71: Sexual Cyberbullying: The Modern Day Letter A

March 29, 2013, 7:43 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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cyberbullying

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

Do Now

These days, many teenagers live half their lives on social media sites, and they're writing the rules as they go. One online trend 16-year-old Temitayo Fagbenle finds disturbing is something she calls "slut-shaming," or using photos and videos to turn a girl's private life inside out. How often do you see sexually explicit images of your peers in social media news feeds? What do you think when you see images like this? Do you think sexual cyberbullying is a problem?

Introduction

Temitayo is a youth reporter for Radio Rookies, a New York Public Radio initiative that gives teens the tools and training to tell true stories about issues important to them. She decided to do the story, Sexual Cyberbullying: The Modern Day Letter A, because she noticed that a lot of sexually explicit videos of girls were ending up on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Teenagers often encourage this when it happens by liking, sharing and commenting on the images countless times.

“Slut shaming” isn’t new; it’s been going on for centuries. In her story, Temitayo compares sexual cyberbullying to the book the Scarlett Letter. The main character, Hester Pryne, lives in the 1600s--Puritan times. She cheats on her husband and has to wear a letter A on her chest (A= Adulteress) for the rest of her life.

Similarly, when photos and videos are posted online they can follow you forever. There are countless websites, Facebook pages and Twitter handles that are created to shame girls online, many are literally called "exposing hos." Temitayo tried twice to report a sexually explicit picture she saw of a teenage girl to Facebook, but they didn’t take it down. Do you think Facebook or other social media sites have any responsibility in this?

"Once it gets to a social media network it’s over for her life," one of Temitayo's classmates said. She gathered a group of girls from her school to talk about why so many teenagers, especially girls, harass each other online. "Girls do it to themselves," another girl explained, "half the time we can’t even blame guys."

But another young woman pointed out that a lot of girls don't even know they're being recorded. She said, "It’s not fair that a guy can actually hide his phone, have sex with you and record you, and then show it to his friends, like, 'Yo, look, look, look!'"

In the age of social media, schools have had to take on a new role. Some students screenshot the cyberbullying they see online, print it out and bring it to their teachers as evidence. Erica Doyle, the Assistant Principal at Temitayo's school said, "Once we’re dealing with digital media that is sexually explicit that has been captured and shared with the public, that actually now is a criminal matter."

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Government and Civics
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