Around the Same Table During Media Literacy Week

“Not everyone plays sports or practices religion…but everyone eats!” This is the message behind “Around the Same Table,” one of nine student-produced 360˚ films screened at the United Nations General Assembly in September as part of MY World 360˚, a partnership between Digital Promise Global, Oculus, and the UN SDG Action Campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/oculus360challenge/videos/746168512481370/

For educator Andrea DeGette and student filmmakers, Charles Bunker and Justus Alder, farming was a great way to spread a message about their community’s commitment to sustainability practices that reflect both modern and traditional farming. “Around the Same Table,” their first 360˚ video, takes viewers to two local farms, Anathoth, a nonprofit farm that grows and distributes organic produce to the community, and Queen B Farms, a farm where animals have “full access to sunshine, fresh air, and fresh water” on green pastures and works with a local distribution center to collect unused food to feed their cows.

Through the message of the “Around the Same Table”, DeGette and her students are creating conversations between groups that might not otherwise connect. This Media Literacy Week 2019, they will host live events on October 25 at two local high schools, Cedar Ridge High School and Orange High School, inviting everyone to join conversations on community and sustainability.

The Cedar Ridge High School’s video club will capture 360˚ footage of students discussing local farming and how their city can come together as a community. Focusing on Climate Action and Reducing Inequalities (the Sustainable Development Goals featured in the most recent MY World 360˚ playlist), students will reflect on what links people in the same community, what defines media for a purpose, how to create an inclusive school climate, and sustainable development goals for their community.

“Media projects such as Around the Same Table get students talking about subjects they feel passionate about and they begin to see what they have in common.” – Andrea DeGette

In early 2019, Digital Promise Global announced a global call for MY World 360˚ story pitch submissions from schools and youth organizations around the world to create immersive media to share their perspectives and inspire action on the Sustainable Development Goals. The video club at Cedar Ridge High School received one of a limited number of 360˚ media production kits to bring their story of sustainable farming to life.

For DeGette, who is an experimental filmmaker as well as an educator, the opportunity to connect her students with 360˚ video was an exciting challenge. “New formats such as 360 bring fresh interest in and new ways of looking at ideas and concepts,” DeGette says. “We need this immersive technology to bring urgency to issues faced by our local and global communities.”

Get involved

Ready to become a MY World 360˚ creator? Join us and become part of a growing global network of educators and young people using immersive storytelling to inspire positive action.

About Media Literacy Week:
This year the U.S. Media Literacy Week (October 21 – 25) is being hosted in partnership with the Global Media and Information Literacy Week (October 24 – 31). Check out the full list of Global Media and Information Literacy Week events page for online and offline events and activities related to Media Information Literacy around the world, including a Free Facilitated Online Course for Teachers on Finding & Evaluating Information in partnership with PBS and KQED, offering media literacy micro-credentials for educators via the Digital Promise platform.