Reviews for Mediacology

The average rating for Mediacology based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-09-09 00:00:00 Fichera Alfio Merges theory, pop culture references, and permaculture in order to make a case for how we need to rethink how we teach media literacy. No longer good enough to disparage our media-saturated culture -- time to recognize how the decentralized nature can actually work for us. The author takes the idea of permaculture (literally, planting a garden that is harmonious to the environment, such as planting drought-tolerant plants in the desert...duh...) and makes a case for how digital media needs to be a form of permaculture. In the midst of all this, there is a clever analysis of the show "Lost" and very insightful comparisons between Native American culture and non-Native culture, including references to modern Native American philosophers, which I know nothing about but would now like to read about. Annoying things in the book include a short list of made-up words that the author feels he absolutely must use, because no current word suffices, and, unfortunately, typos. The unfortunate mistake of using "pubic" when he means "public" shows up once, and there are missing words here and there.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-01-12 00:00:00 Forrest Folks This book was terrible. Absolutely terrible. You know that person you know, that has a huge chip on their shoulder and overcompensates in the area where they are deficient? And their overcompensation is really douchey and they are clearly just trying to impress some PhD somewhere by inventing terms like "HoloGrok" and "mediasphere?" Oh wait, it's just me? I wish I could have tossed this to the "can't finish" pile after page #1. I suffered through it since I had signed up to submit a review to Green Teacher magazine. Thank you Goodreads friends, for giving me a place to share my true thoughts on this book. Here is my edited and not so mean review that I just submitted to GT: Antonio Lopez coins the word “Mediacology” among many other inventive terms in this book to describe and advocate for what he feels is a necessary shift in the way educators help their students understand, navigate and respond to new and traditional media in the 21st century. Lopez’s principal recommendation is to not only deconstruct media in the classroom, but to also allow students the opportunity to reconstruct and recreate their own media contributions, empowering students to actively engage in media rather than demonizing it as a corporate invention. Through exhaustively copious literature review and imaginative allegories, Lopez explores media comprehension through traditional Native American cultural beliefs, parallels to the ecological “systems thinking” approach, and even an in-depth analysis of the popular television show LOST. This is a very dense volume, and many readers may find the language and academic writing style a bit hard to digest. The core ideas in the book are expressed most clearly and accessibly in the later chapters, so if readers can persevere through the end, they will be rewarded with challenging perspectives on creatively rethinking media education methods through the prism of sustainability and permaculture.