- To model excellent student work
- To share dates, information and announcements
- To provide links to PowerPoints
- To give suggestions for wider reading
- To provide cover work if a teacher is sick
- To allow students to catch up from home if necessary
- To reduce the carbon footprint of the college by using as a substitute for worksheets
- To establish a revision resource that anyone from any institution, student or teacher can use
There are now hundreds of published articles on the A-level media studies blog. While there's lots of good stuff on the blog, finding it requires a bit of insider knowledge. Below you will find six tips for how to use this blog, and what resources are available to you anytime you need it.
Tip one - use the blog archive before you do anything else!
The blog archive can be found to the right, just below the key resources. The blog archive is the easiest and fastest way to find an article that has been published in the last few months. If the article you want to find is not just sitting at the top of the page, the blog archive should be your first port of call.
Tip two - keep checking the key resources
Key resources are articles and applications that you will use time and time again over the course. Some of them are so important we ask you to open them every lesson (for example the textual analysis toolkit) and some will come in useful at certain times of year (like the camera booking form)
Tip three - use the search bar to find something specific
If you know the name of the article you want, or you are looking for something very specific, you can use the search bar in the top right. Let's say you want to revise the music video for Riptide. Searching for Riptide will take you here. Then all you need to do is scroll a little bit to find this awesome post.
Please note, the search bar only works if the article has the exact word you are searching for. In many cases, you are better off using the labels bar.
Tip four - use the labels bar to search for something general
If you want to revise the newspaper industry, click the newspaper tab. Want to look up the industries that appear on component one? Click component one. Labels are pretty self-explanatory, and are excellent at quickly filtering out articles to find general information.
Tip five - use the revision guide to revise
Sorry to sound condescending, but this is a pretty important tip. The revision guide collects key information from the blog, but most importantly it contains EVERY POSSIBLE QUESTION THAT COULD COME UP IN THE EXAM. It's even got a tick box type-thing, so you can print it out and tick it off to help your revision.
Tip six - if you miss a lesson, you can catch up with PowerPoints
We're not going to list every resource that this blog has, and you would do well to explore it yourself. But one thing that students mentioned time and time again in surveys when the blog was being constructed was the availability of PowerPoints, So, you will find PowerPoints for every lesson taught here. Just remember that while these presentations ask many questions, they're often missing the answers, so make sure to use them to supplement your own notes.
The A-level media studies blog is constantly being updated, and we rely on your contributions in class and your ideas for improvement. If there is anything you would like to see on the A-level media studies blog, or if you wish to contribute an article about anything media related, please let your teacher know.