Welcome to my cocktail party!

• You could have dressed up a bit but never mind…

• Please take a drink and mingle…

Freeze for a moment…

At cocktail parties, to stop people from cliquing with their friends and to make sure nobody is isolated, this happens…

Belinda, let me introduce Bernard. He’s

in radio too

Oh how interesting. Where are you based?

Well…funny you should ask because…

I will now give you a piece of information about our new

course

• You have 2 minutes to learn it. Keep it somewhere to refer to if you get stuck but don’t hold it and read it to anyone once we begin

• Now mingle again, this time sharing your info and then introducing them to someone else, like this…

Example!Keep moving and introducing until you have all the info. Some of you will have the same info. This means you’ll have to look interested when you meet them because you’re too polite to tell them they’re boring…

Yes. It’s like this…

Lara, let me introduce Lewis. He’s got some information about how the exam is marked

Oh how interesting.

Unit G325: Critical Perspectives in Media

The examination module for A2 Media Studies50% of A2; 25% of total A-Level

2 hour exam; 2 equal sections; 100 marks

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production (50 marks, with the teacher you see twice a week)Section B: Contemporary Media Issues

(50 marks, with the teacher you see three times a week)

Section B: Contemporary Media Issues

• There are 6 different topics that schools could teach for this half of the exam, so you will need to find the right question to answer on your exam paper. There will be a choice of two questions for our chosen topic.

Our topic: Media in the Online Age

• As the title of this half of the module suggests, it is about issues, so the question will involve you coming up with an argument and proving it with case studies.

• You will be expected to frame your argument inside the big media theories we will study – you need to be very familiar with these.

• Within Media in the Online Age there are many more choices of topic which you can write about in the exam. We will broadly study all of them to begin with, then you will individually concentrate on three. The exam question will always state: ‘refer to at least two different media sectors in your answer’.

Topics within Media In The Online Age

• Music downloading and distribution

• The Film Industry and the internet

• Online Television

• Online Gaming

• Online news provision

• Media production by the public

What you’ll be assessed on

• You will be assessed on how various media have adapted to the online age. We will therefore study the past, present and future of these areas.

• The topic is open to debate so there will be an argument (and possibly counter-argument) in your answer.

• The piece is written as a traditional essay format, with a plan to generate your ideas and essay structure, an introduction that answers the question, points backed up by evidence and detail, and a concluding section.

• There are certain prompts that need to be covered for each of the media within the Online Age section.

What you’ll be assessed on

• The mark scheme is similar to the AS exam in that it is out of 50 for each half of the exam, has 4 levels, and the three ‘skill areas’ are the same.

• Explanation / Analysis / Argument (20 marks)• Use of examples (20 marks)• Use of terminology (10 marks)

The Prompts / QuestionsFor every topic, we’ll cover the questions:

• How have online media developed?

• What has been the impact of the internet on media production?

• How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past?

• To what extent has convergence transformed the media?

Advice

• If you miss any lessons, for any reason, it is up to you to catch up.

• Later in the module there is a great deal of independent work which you must be organised and self-motivated for.

• We expect you to keep quality notes in a well-organised folder. This is your responsibility and you should ensure you have a good basis from which to revise!

Also…

• This module, more than almost any other, lends itself to mindmapping.

• It is too big to revise at the end in the last week or so – you will fail if you try

• So, we want you to keep a PREZI for this module, which you can update every week or so…

Instructions1. Go to PREZI.COM

2. Sign Up (If you use ntlp email to sign up, not only is it easier to do at school but also you get the $5 per month version free! This is because ntlp is a registered education account.

Click this if you have ntlp

Now…• Experiment using Prezi by summarising

what you learned at today’s cocktail party about this part of the exam.

• We will go through the information at the end to make sure everyone got all the information but feel free to ask one another for their info again to help you.