Implementation of ‘Advertisements – the Past, Present and Future’ (SOI-HR-462)
Introduction
The learning scenario Advertisements – the Past, Present and Future deals with a topic of special interest to students, both in their personal lives and future profession. Numerous and diverse techniques used by advertisers also fall within the scope of media literacy, as students should be aware of the way that consumers are manipulated. In addition, students involved in the implementation of this learning scenario are in the hotel and tourism programme in a vocational school, so leaning about marketing strategies will be of importance in their future work. They will have to be able to create good commercials and ads to promote various tourist destinations and various events, to attract as many different groups of tourists as possible.
In the initial discussion about the topic of advertising, students talked about their favourite ads, the amount of advertising they are exposed to constantly, as well as the types of media where they find ads. As expected, the number of ads they are served on a daily basis is alarming, especially if they are not aware of the hidden strategies behind these ads. Therefore, the implementation of this learning scenario encourages critical thinking and develops students’ media literacy skills, as well as their digital literacy skills.
The story was implemented during English lessons with a class of 18 first-grade students, aged 15. The time needed for the implementation and additional project work was 3 school lessons, each lasting 45 minutes. As students are slightly older than those with whom the original learning scenario was implemented, I created a presentation which, apart from links to Europeana resources used in the original learning scenario, introduced them to various types of advertising techniques, 5 main types of purchase motives and ‘ingredients’ of a good ad. With that in mind, students had to create their own ads and explain the motive they used to encourage the buyers to buy their product.
Stages of Implementation
I created a presentation in which I kept the links to the resources on Europeana from the original learning scenario, and added a few more complex elements, as my students are slightly older from those with whom the original learning scenario was implemented.
The time needed to complete the tasks was 3 school lessons, each lasting 45 minutes. As some students did not manage to complete the task at school, they were given some additional time to complete it at home and post their work on Digipad.
Lesson 1
Introduction
We discussed students’ favourite ads and commercials, and we analysed some images of old-fashioned ads on Europeana – for example, Ozozo skin cream. They compared them to the modern ads and tried to identify similarities and differences.
Students analysing ads found on Europeana
By analysing the material (https://rocketium.com/academy/advertisements-past-present-future/) suggested in the original learning scenario, students were able to see how advertising has changed over the years and how changes in technology also changed the world of advertising.
Students discussed what it is that an ad or a commercial should have that would encourage them to buy the product. We talked about the images, the slogan, the packaging and humour.
‘Ingredients’ of a Good Ad
In the following stage we analysed the elements of a good ad, which were included in the presentation:
Elements of a good ad
After that, we analysed different ways and media of advertising – social media, guerilla advertising, commercials on TV, etc.
Purchase Motives
Students also mentioned things that ‘help’ them decide to buy something – for example, saving (buy 1 and get a free product), packaging, etc. I included 5 most important purchase motives in the presentation, and we discussed them:
Purchase motives
The Language of Ads
We also discussed the language used in advertising in general, and covered some linguistic aspects:
Language used in advertising
Students were encouraged to use the suggested language items in their own ads as well.
Project Task
Students were given the task to design a digital ad for a product of their own choice and to use the elements of a good ad, a purchase motive and any of the suggested language items.
Students designing their ads
Process of designing an ad
Lessons 2 and 3
Students designed their ads and posted them on the Digipad (https://digipad.app/p/706572/0672e8f4320bb) I had created for this purpose. We analysed the ads and discussed whether they meet all the given criteria.
Outcomes
The implementation of the learning scenario helped students achieve several outcomes. They improved their critical thinking and media literacy skills by analysing how advertising turns us into good consumers and how we can easily be manipulated. They also analysed their own consumer habits along the way, and mentioned their impact on the environment. Their English language skills were developed by revising some grammar aspects (like comparison of adjectives) and applying them in the real context. Their digital literacy skills were developed while they were designing their in Canva and sharing them on the Digipad. They assessed their own work and work of their peers. Students became aware of many things they need to take into account when designing advertisements, which will be very important in their future profession in the field of tourism, where competition is intense. Also, the task introduces them to the world of entrepreneurship, where creativity is of utmost importance.
From the teacher’s point of view, the topic was interesting enough to engage students in a lively discussion on something they are exposed to on an everyday basis. They used English freely, speaking about the topics interesting to them. They compared the way in which ads were designed in the past with the modern ads. Students also read the material about the changes in the world of advertising influenced by numerous changes in technology and drew their own conclusions about the ways we are being constantly manipulated. They could also easily put themselves into the shoes of entrepreneurs and into the shoes of consumers and think critically. The old ads we found on Europeana were excellent discussion topics – students thought some of them could also be attractive nowadays, with some minor changes. The ads were easy to find and served as a good starting point for students’ projects. 3 lessons were enough to complete the task and to asses the work done by students.
Link to the learning scenario implemented: Advertisements – the Past, Present and Future (LS-MK-359) – Teaching With Europeana (eun.org)
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PDM 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Deutsche Fotothek.