Respect the Hoff.

When I was a youngster in the 80s, my family went to Universal Studios as part of a summer vacation. One of the exhibits was the car from Knight Rider (Kitt), which was one of my favorite shows at the time (God bless David Hasselhoff). For the few of you who aren't familiar with the show, Kitt had artificial intelligence and was able to talk with people (and drive himself). Check out the opening:



At the exhibit, after waiting in line for hours, you could get in the car and have a real conversation with Kitt! I remember my 8-year-old brain being completely blown away by this (although I’m sure there was just a person acting as the brain and voice of Kitt—I had absolutely no clue at the time). Anyway, at one point some Mexican kids hopped in the car, and as soon as they started asking questions, Kitt immediately responded in Spanish! It was hilariously cool. I wonder if Kitt ever experienced any of the same kind of abuse that “Jane” experienced from the Veletsianos, Scharber, & Doering study.

While these students’ behavior is unsettling, it is not particularly shocking. Students want to test the limits of the technology, and they know that they will not be held accountable because they know that Jane isn’t going to tell anyone. I think that in order to avoid this kind of behavior, the programmers need to develop a way to send alerts to the teacher if certain “off limits” words or terms are used. This way, teachers wouldn’t have to go through pages and pages of transcripts (like we don’t have enough to do already). If students knew that inappropriate interactions would be reported to the teacher (and potentially the administration and their parents), I’m sure that relatively few would attempt it. Another thing to consider is that students might just need to get it out of their systems…in other words, if students were to use this technology repeatedly throughout the course of a semester or year, I bet the kinds of inappropriate interactions would drastically decrease. Once they realized that Jane’s responses were relatively limited and the novelty of asking these awful questions wore off, it might prove to be a more effective tool. Another thing that would decrease (but probably not eliminate) this behavior would be to tell students that the teacher is sent transcripts…although if any student did try it, I bet word would get out. I wonder if just teaching students about reliable sources and how to effectively research using various tools like Google might not be a more effective way of spending class time.


On a complete tangent, this article’s ideas concerning students need to treat the agent as subordinates in order to “maintain the power differential between themselves and the agent” (pg 4), had me thinking about the amazing TV show Battlestar Galactica (If you haven’t seen it, it’s less sci-fi nerdy than you would think. It’s one of the greatest television dramas of all time!). The premise of the show involves robots who evolve into super intelligent beings called Cylons who rise up against humans and attempt to exterminate the human race. Man, the students from this study would be at the top of their list for sure.

Digital Matt

Don't believe it when you see it.

(Note: this is the second lesson plan that's due 6/25; #1 was posted on 6/22)

Computer programs such as Photoshop and Smoke allow media developers to adjust images of reality in order to fit their purposes. This results in audiences not always being able to know if what they are seeing is an accurate reproduction of reality. Rather, they are being manipulated to feel or think a certain way.

First, students will watch this great short video from the New York Times about magazine retouching.

Next, students will examine the following examples, and answer these questions:

How has this image been altered?
What is the purpose of this image (to sell a product, a service, a business, to frighten, to entertain, etc)? What are the motives of its creator? Why was it altered?
Why WOULDN'T the creator of the image want to show the real image?
What does the creator of this image want me to do? How are they trying to position the viewer?

1. Iran's altered missile photo(which ran in several American newspapers before the altering was discovered)























2. Fox News alters photos of NY Times reporters - students will watch the video to determine the producer's motives.

























3. Videos of aliens/flying saucers


4. Photoshop and Magazine covers - this website lets you see the before and after of various changes to the image.






















5. Computer transforms into spaceship that flies away:


This activity will help students to look critically at the images they are presented, and consider if and how they may have been altered. In addition, it gives students the opportunity to consider WHY these images might have been altered.

One could take this activity in a number of directions from this point. Here are a few ideas:

A) Students will find an image (still or video) that they suspect has likely been altered in some way. They analyze it using the same questions listed above.

B) Exposé of their own school newspaper. They will interview the editor for if/how/when/why Photoshop is used.

C) If your school has access to Photoshop, you could have students create a News article, or Persuasive piece that involves a doctored image.

While we're on the subject of the News...

Time Machine: The Internet in 1996.

While we've talked about analyzing advertisements in this course, for this assignment, students will analyze the role that websites play in advertising political candidates. I'm a big fan of the website The Living Room Candidate which archives television advertisements for presidential candidates going back to 1952. One could develop tons of lessons using the materials available at this fantastic site.

One interesting part of the site contains links to a partial archive of websites of past presidential candidates, which of course, only goes back to 1996. As you can imagine, Bill Clinton's 1996 website looks A LOT different from Barack Obama's website (which is not "locked in" to its 2008 campaign look, but is constantly updated). Further resources on past presidential websites can be found at http://www.4president.org/ (including still images of Obama's website in 2008, as well as other candidates' websites).

For this assignment, I would have students explore either Clinton or Dole's 1996 website (not all links on the pages are active, but many of them are), and analyze it for the following things:
1. the layout. how are things laid out on the page?
2. how are text and images used? What about color? Font? Amount of text and images? Videos?
3. how are links incorporated?
4. in what ways is it "interactive"
5. in what ways do the candidates try to explain their positions on issues?
6. how do the candidates attempt to "connect" with voters?
7. regardless of the victor of the race, is it a successful website?

Next we would have a brief discussion about how many people have said that Obama's savy use of the internet played a big role in his winning the election. Next, I would have them look at www.barackobama.com and look for the same things they examined in the 1996 websites. How is Obama's website different from the websites form 1996?

Next, students would draw, and/or write about a website for a presidential candidate in the year 2020. What will change? How will they look? How will they involve voters? How will the technology have advanced in the next decade?

One of the goals of this assignment would be to see how the internet has changed and developed over time, and also the ways that candidates are using campaign websites has changed. In addition, this assignment gets students thinking about the future development and potential of the internet.

Another idea...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Morning Joe's Sarcastic Starbucks Sponsorship
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

I haven't written up a lesson plan for this idea, but another interesting thing to analyze in the classroom would be one of the skirmishes between John Stewart and a "legitimate" news source. A recent example involved Stewart criticizing the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" for its sponsorship by Starbucks. Stewart argued that this sponsorship affects their ability to objectivity report the news; he included a clips where MSNBC hosts interviewed the CEO of Starbucks and appeared very agreeable and non hard-hitting, he also included numerous praisings of the company's beverages. After this segment aired, the host of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough, shot back that Jon Stewart is angry and short and has a "Napolenonic complex." Initially, Stewart focused his argument on ideas and journalistic integrity, and while Scarborough defended their sponsorship (in an almost non-sensical way which Stewart further criticized) he quickly resorted to personal attacks on Stewart. I think it would be interesting for students to analyze the kinds and types of arguments made by these very different television hosts.

School Newspaper Parody

For this assignment, students will be writing their own parody of their school newspaper.

First, students will examine stories from The Onion, and then perform research in the computer lab to find a corresponding story from a "real" news source (bbc.com, nytimes.com, news.bbc.co.uk, cnn.com). What are the similarities in the stories? Where do they differ? Where is the "humor" in the parody piece? What are some common characteristics of a "parody" news article? How much is based on real facts or events? What is the audience of each piece?

Next, students will examine past issue of their school newspaper to find stories that they find particularly interesting (or poorly researched/reported). Then they will write a parody of this article. We will try to get a wide variety of stories and subjects (national, local, sports, etc) and we may then attempt to construct an actual newspaper that we can distribute in the school. (Of course, we'll probably have to get check with the administration to get the okay).

Rationale: By using stories that have relevance to students lives, it will help to engage students in the process of incorporating the news into their lives. By producing work for an authentic audience of their peers, students will be more likely to put serious effort into their work (as opposed to an assignment that is for the "teacher's eyes" only). This assignment will give them experience doing multi-media research online as well as the experience of analyzing and evaluating messages from the news.

Fox News vs. The Daily Show assignment

Many people accuse FOX news of having a conservative bias, and The Daily Show of having a liberal bias (you could also substitute MSNBC on the liberal side). Working in the computer lab, students will search foxnews.com for "George Bush" and try to find an a story that shows FOX News being critical of President Bush. Then searching dailyshow.com for "Obama" students will find an example of John Stewart being critical of President Obama. How are their criticisms similar? How are they different? Even when they are being critical, do you detect any bias? Is it a harsh criticism or do they go easy on "their" president? How can you tell? In what ways (if any) are humor, sarcasm or irony used? How does each broadcast use headlines and graphics? Is bias detected regarding the way the printed word is used in the piece?

Students will present their findings to the class (and time permitting, will show brief clips of their examples).

We will tally the results to try to determine which source appears more biased of "their" supposed president of choice.

Rationale: This activity will give students the opportunity to do their own multi-media research into the commonly discussed idea of a politically biased media and then come to their own conclusions, rather than simply repeating an established party stance. Doing this kind of online, video research (as opposed to using only traditional print sources) helps students to deal with the kinds of informational sources that they are likely to encounter in the real world. By analyzing these stories, students will gain experience in evaluating messages in order to make informed political decisions.

Where was tonight's equivalent to the coupon cutting story KARE 11 ran last night?

So I think that KARE 11 execs must be reading our blogs. Tonight they did a critique on media coverage of the H1N1 virus. HA!

A quick thought about the news and my own consumption habits.

Reading chapter nine from Teaching Media Literacy as well the news analysis assignment got me to thinking about my own news consumption, and how my habits have drastically changed over the years.

When I was in High School, I could care less about the news and current events. I was in to the arts (primarily music) and I rarely if ever watched the news. I was more concerned with the new Pavement record than the news about the Middle East. I became slightly more interested in college, but I remember the exact day that my news viewing/reading habits changed. 9/11. While it's true that the entire nation was glued to their television sets for that day and the weeks to come...my news habit continues to this day. Hell, I even watch Meet the Press whenever I have the chance. This may in part be due to just becoming older, but I think that those events really got me thinking more about the world as a whole. And I think that this trend of wanting to know more about the world, and hence become more involved in the world has played a big role in my decision to leave my old career and become a teacher. Reflecting on my high school self also makes me wonder about today's students' news consumption habits. Of course it's vital to teach them to critically analyze the news, but I need to also continue developing ways of making students care about the news in the first place.

Local News Analysis and Lesson Plan:

Please follow this link for today's assignment.

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhjtd9hz_19gdqjrrcf

Effective leaders in the workplace

Williams and Murry, in their book about starting your own business, The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself have a few simple rules for being an effective boss:

1) Treat employees with fairness.
2) Consider each employee as an individual.
3) Be an enthusiastic leader.

This sounds like a book that Michael Scott has read, or maybe just skimmed. While these may be realistic guidelines, the media rarely portrays “effective” bosses treating employees as individuals; rather, they tend to have a more militaristic interaction spewing out commands to their subordinates. While the media portrays effective leaders as “enthusiastic” (in a stern and serious way), treating employees “fairly” never seems to be a high priority.

Amanda Sposato in her article, “Tips for Being an Effective Boss” says that, “It's fine for a boss to be on good terms with their employees, but it's also important that the job get done. An effective manager finds the middle ground. When they do, productivity increases and the workplace becomes an overall good environment.” Here are some more of Sposato's suggestions:

1.Put the job first
2.Don't play favorites
3.Be honest
4.Make yourself approachable
5.Set an example
6.Give the respect you want to receive
7.Avoid "blaming" confrontations
8.Be willing to pick up the slack

Most “effective” bosses in the media consistently “put the job first” (#1), and are “willing to pick up the slack” (#8), and maybe #5. They're usually extremely unapproachable, dishonest, look for anyone to blame but themselves. The game of favorites is common and respect is rare as most employees are looked at by these TV bosses as incompetent.

Ifeanyi Onuoha offers this advice, "If as a boss, you are the only person who enjoys working in your company, then you have failed. You cannot claim to be a good boss if the only reason your employees are still working for you is because they have no alternative." Most effective bosses in the media seem that they could care less if anyone else is happy. In fact, most of these bosses would probably frown upon outward expressions of happiness as it goes against their strict, stern, "business first" demeanor.

Authors Alaina Love and Marc Cugnon in their book, The Purpose Linked Organization believe that business should leverage individuals' sense of purpose. By using this combined power, they believe that businesses will be more successful than if people are just going to work to collect a paycheck. Effective bosses in the media rarely seem to care about the individual's needs, purposes, or skills.


Looking at listings for CEO positions on Monster.com, I came across the following jobs:

The first one is for a CEO at a Healthcare facility in Texas:

“The CEO is responsible for creating an environment and culture that enables the hospital to fulfill its mission by meeting or exceeding its goals, conveying the hospital mission to all staff, holding staff accountable for their performance, motivating staff to improve performance and being responsible for the measurement, assessment and continuous improvement of the hospital's performance."

Here’s one for a CEO of a treatment facility in Wisconsin:
”The President / C E O must demonstrate visionary leadership, business acumen, and a commitment to Chileda's Mission, 'Unlocking Potential.' This position must completently represent Chileda to the public, to consumers, and to professionals in the field of developmental disabilities."

It seems that bosses are often responsible for a lot of vague and “big picture” items such as creating a certain kind of environment, and “Unlocking potential.” Again, if one looks at the philosophies of Michael Scott, he strives to do these things, but he rarely does them well. Hardnosed bosses in the media rarely seem to care about a nurturing environment or unlocking potential. They just want everyone to do what they say and not ask a lot of questions. There seems to be a bit of a contradiction here, as the Michael Scott type of boss technically seems to follow most of the “rules” of being a good boss, but he is portrayed as a terrible leader. The tough bosses don’t follow many of these rules, but are portrayed as successful leaders.

Representations of bosses in the media:

It seems that there are usually two main representations of bosses, either they are a) a completely flawed and ineffectual individual, or b) a total hardass who is more like a robot than a human being. In other words, they’re either terrible at their job and anybody would seem better qualified, or they’re mean, unlikeable and overly focused. The common trait seems to be an outward appearance of extreme self-confidence (even if it’s a façade). Most people in America have had to deal with bosses at some point in their careers; even bosses usually have to report to someone else; These people are often criticized for the decisions they have to make, which inevitably results in some party being unsatisfied. The assumption is that if someone is going to achieve their American dream and climb the corporate ladder by being a good, effective boss, they're probably going to have to be a huge jerk.


Now of course, the first example that comes to mind when it comes to bosses is The Office. Both the UK and the US versions show bosses (David Brent and Michael Scott, respectively) who are overconfident to a fault, completely blind to their own inadequacies.






The other main representation of a “boss” is the efficient, tough, uptight, unlikeable asshole who is extremely focused on the task at hand (whether it be making money, capturing the bad guy, solving the crime, etc). To these types of bosses, nothing matters more than the job, the corporation, or the task at hand. Human emotion does not enter in to the equation. Although these characters usually seem more interested in the company than anything else, they are often selfish individuals who care mostly about their own job and potential for advancement into a more powerful position. The following clip from 24 features George Mason (acting head of CTU) considering his future:


The principal from School of Rock is another example of the effective, strict boss; she doesn’t reveal human emotion until Jack Black gets her out of her work environment and gets her drunk. The show 24 often features some new boss who is sent by “division” or some higher authority to reassert control of the agency. In one of the odder casting choices of 21st century television, Sean Astin (formerly a hobbit) was brought in to play this role during season 5.

When comparing Tonight Show hosts Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, who could be seen as the “bosses” of the show, we see this dichotomy play out. Jay Leno, who seems more content to make fun of other people through segments like “Jaywalking,” shows a boss who is self confident and better than everyone else. Self deprecating Conan O’Brian, on the other hand, consistently portrays himself as a buffoon with no fan base and terrible ratings. He "pretends" that he is not good at running the show.

One interesting combination of these two representations is Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock. Expertly portrayed by Alec Baldwin, he is simultaneously hardnosed and completely ridiculous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xKBw8xL6WE

Ad Analysis: Terry Tate: Office Linebacker

I chose the first "chapter" of the "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker" series of Reebok commercials (roughly the first 41 seconds of the following video):




Here's a link to my analysis:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhjtd9hz_0ctcz4rg3

Teaching Film/Editing Techniques

I like the idea of using comics and graphic novels to convey the notion of visual storytelling to students. One excellent example I would use is Shaun Tan’s wordless book, The Arrival. We would also look at some silent film clips (e.g. Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd) and see how stories are told without dialogue. This could lead into a storyboarding activity.

If there is access to the right technology (cameras, editing capabilities), early in the semester I might have students make a short film that is STRICTLY visual, with absolutely no dialogue. I took a film class in middle school (Summer Academy) where everybody had to make a film involving somebody slipping on a banana peel.

Another activity that might be fun would be to give all the kids the same raw footage (of a limited number of shots), and students would have to put these images together in a way to tell a story.

Scene Analysis - Lawrence of Arabia

For my scene analysis, I’ve chosen a scene from David Lean’s epic film, Lawrence of Arabia. The film opens with Lawrence’s death and following funeral, where the audience is given the impression that this was an important man. The film then flashes back to when Lawrence is working away at a dull office job in Cairo, coloring maps for the British army. Lawrence is more than happy when he is given a more exciting assignment that involves heading out into the desert to find and meet with Prince Feisal, an Arab who is leading the revolt against the occupying Turks in Arabia.

The scene begins with a transition from Lawrence putting out a match to an extreme wide shot of the blazing sun over the desert landscape. This transition shows how Lawrence is ready to take on the challenge (previously he had been shown putting out matches with his fingers). The soundtrack plays an ominous tune as the sun slowly rises, thus indicating the extreme conditions of the environment. The music tells us that this is not a comfortable place. As the sun rises, the music begins to swell. The sunrise shot fades into a beautiful extreme long shot of desert hills and a few moments later we see two tiny specs approaching from over one of the hills while the triumphant and majestic non-diegetic soundtrack blares. This is a story about a larger than life figure, overcoming the challenges of a larger than life location in an enormous movie (3.5 hours!), and this single shot helps to convey that message. The fact that these people are so small in the frame accentuates just how small and insignificant they are compared to the vast and imposing desert. This journey will not be an easy one.

Next there is a two shot (long shot) of Lawrence with his native Bedouin guide sitting on their camels looking over the landscape. The Bedouin tells Lawrence that he may have a drink, which Lawrence agrees to. It is a low angle shot which positions Lawrence lower in the frame while the Bedouin is positioned so that he seems larger and more authoritative.

The next shot cuts in a little closer to a medium shot, again from a low angle, only now the angle is more severe, thus making Lawrence seem even smaller compared to the Bedouin. “One cup,” says the guide, and Lawrence begins to pour. Once Lawrence realizes that the guide is not also going to take a drink, Lawrence tells him that he will wait to drink until he does. Lawrence wants to prove his ability to endure and to be seen as an equal to the native desert dweller.

The next shot cuts to a reverse shot on Lawrence, from an fairly level angle that doesn’t show the head of the Bedouin. The triumphant theme music resumes as Lawrence smirks and pours the water back into the canteen. The audience is getting a little bit of insight into Lawrence’s character and his desire to be seen as an equal to his Arab counterparts. This short scene shows us not only that he is tough, but that he wants others to know it.

One of the larger purposes of the film is to try to help the audience to better understand the legendary man, T.E. Lawrence. One thing that is central to his character is his ability to endure pain and overcome immense obstacles. He meets every challenge that the desert or his enemies throw at him, eventually gaining the trust of his Arab colleagues who come to see him as one of their own (they even give him traditional Arab clothes to wear). This brief scene succinctly shows Lawrence’s toughness juxtaposed with the native culture as well as the harsh landscape. Ultimately, Lawrence does encounter something that he can’t endure when later in the film he is tortured and likely raped by his Turkish captors. He becomes a broken man who wants to leave the desert and return to England to live a quiet, comfortable life.

Sunday June 7: Rationale for Teaching Media

What kind of world are we preparing our students for? What kind of world will they be entering when they complete their secondary education? What kinds of messages will they be receiving and interacting with?

The truth is, it’s a much different world than the one we entered when we finished High School. While classic texts, authors, and methods that are studied in this district (e.g. A Raisin in the Sun, House on Mango Street, The Odyssey, the works of Shakespeare) are culturally invaluable, and methods of writing (e.g. literary analysis papers, personal narratives, etc.) are important types of communication for students to learn, educators must strive to focus on what new kinds of skills students will most benefit from as they enter the world as young adults. Instead of going “back to basics” we must determine ways of incorporating the new into the old. While the names of the basic Language Arts courses have evolved from “English” to “Communications,” they are still based in a very traditional and old-fashioned sense of what constitutes reading and writing. And this tradition does not meet the changing needs of our students.

Today’s students are bombarded by a myriad of messages from their cell phones, computers, televisions, billboards, radios, ipods, teachers, parents, and friends. Media plays a central role in all our lives and students need to be able to understand, interpret, analyze and respond to these messages in a variety of mediums and formats. They need to be skilled perspective takers and having an understanding of where messages come from, and why they are delivered is crucial to this success. Students need to be able to make connections between various texts and become better critical thinkers and problem solvers.

While I’m not arguing that “skills” are unimportant, they can be embedded in a rich and engaging curriculum that involves things that are relevant to their lives and experiences. I don’t just want my students to have a better understanding of certain texts and writing practices, I want them to be able to critically evaluate all messages and develop an understanding of their own roles in the world as well as their potential to change it. We need not abandon traditional literacies, but rather we need to broaden our notions of reading and writing.

Students are automatically more engaged when various forms of media are incorporated into the class. So why not build off of this intrinsic enjoyment to help enhance and advance their learning? I wonder if part of why a “back to basics” approach is encouraged by many parents, administrators and teachers is simply because that’s how it was when they were in school rather than evaluating the importance and relevancy of new literacies. What is truly in the best interest of young students? The issue is not simply one of “engagement,” but rather one of building knowledge. Students will be entering a world that not only uses new literacies, but relies on them. If we want our students to be active, positive contributors to society, then we must help them to develop a framework for using and understanding these means of communication in effective ways.

Reading Response for Thursday June 4

Reading Beach’s chapter, “Goals for Media Literacy Instruction,” helped me to put the negative perception of media instruction in secondary classrooms into some perspective. I’ve always viewed various forms of media (music, films etc) as especially engaging and enlightening, but I know that this is not necessarily the dominant view and developing a solid, rational justification for using these kinds of texts in the classroom will be useful as I prepare to enter the “real world” of secondary education.

Because of my background in film (an undergrad degree and then a career), I am sometimes surprised to find that some people still view media use in the classroom as non-academic and/or unimportant. I have a difficult time understand how viewing a film is somehow less constructive than the of reading a novel. True, they are very different mediums, and they require different skills and have different benefits, but ultimately they are both extremely valuable tools for educating students. Both mediums 1) are capable of sparking lively classroom debate about the subjets/themes, 2) can be examined for specific literary or filmic devices and techniques, 3) can be examined for their influence on and by other works 4) can be tied to current events in the world…the list could go on and on. While I in now way would argue that books should not be taught, they are only one part of a bigger picture. And while the school where I student taught has taken some steps to meet this changing world (9th and 10th graders don’t take “English” or “Language Arts,” they take “Communications”), there is still a tremendous emphasis on more traditional texts and means of writing in these classes.

One argument against films (and in favor of novels) that I’ve heard is that movies do “all the work” for viewers because they don’t allow the audience to “create a picture of the story in their minds.” Honestly…is creating their own “picture” of the story the central thing we want students to be able to get out of reading a novel? It seems perfectly ridiculous to me. What I want my students to get out of a text (be it a song/movie/novel/poem/website etc) is an ability to think about these messages in a critical way that allows for them to better understand, interpret, and respond to future messages they receive. I don’t just want my students to be able to answer the question, “What is this text saying?” but more importantly, “WHY is it being said?”

I think that one of the major problems with viewing films in classes may be that many teachers don’t know how to engage students in the same kinds of discussions/critical thinking because their own academic backgrounds have not prepared them to do so. So watching a movie becomes a break for the teacher and a break for the class. Movie viewing can be passive if we let it be (but really, so can reading). It’s not the medium that is less valuable, but rather the method in which it is too often used in the classroom.

In one of my classes last year (5007?) we read an article that made the argument that a “back to basics” style of teaching prepares students for a 20th century world, rather than the media rich world that they will actually be entering. Many of the media hybrid texts that students encounter online “involve complex reading strategies” that help them to learn “to communicate in multimodal ways that combine print with visual, sound, and tactile new media texts,” (Beach p3). If these are the kinds of communication that students will be engaged in in their future social, academic, and work lives, educators should be working to help students to create a framework that they can then build off of.