Excerpted from Video in the Classroom.com
1. Student engagement. Too many students in urban cities are dropping out. Engaging students early and providing positive experiences with school can help to hook these students before they leave.
2. Student achievement. Every classroom has a few students who are below grade level. Traditional teaching is not working for these students. These students need teaching that appeals to different learning modalities. Teaching as usual is not working.
3. Higher level thinking.The revised Bloom’s Taxonomy puts creating at the highest level. Most traditional teaching asks students to memorize and recall information whereas filmmaking asks students to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources, decide how to illustrate that information, and make decisions about presentation.
4. Media literacy. I would say that filmmaking is the language of the 21st Century but truly it’s the language of the 20th Century and schools are just now catching up. Students are exposed to media images on increasingly smaller technology devices and are given very few tools in traditional schools to comprehend and think critically about these images. By creating media, students understand exactly what goes into constructing media messages by constructing them themselves.
5. Closing the digital divide. Lower income students, in particular, have more limited access to technology and technology teaching which asks them to use the computer in ways which are not simply remedial. “Economically disadvantaged students who often use the computer for remediation and basic skills, learn to do what the computer tells them, while more affluent students, who use it to learn programming and tool applications, learn to tell the computer what to do.†(Neuman in Conte 1997)
Is There Any Evidence of This?
Yes. Please see research done with Project Live in Escondido Unified (note: this link has gone offline, it may or may not work) which found an increase in standardized testing scores as a result of infusing curriculum with teacher and student produced media in a one to one laptop program.
In addition Mathew Needleman has traced increased fluency speeds to his work in a one computer classroom in which students create films.
Matt
This chart is helpful and thoughtful for folks considering the use of video.
I still wish that the production was easier (although it does get easier as more and more tools become available). I think that hurdle stops a lot of teachers from moving into video production.
Your site and resources are a good step in the right direction.
Peace
Kevin
Have you noticed that the kids creating videos better understand the media they themselves consume? I think this is crucial for teaching tomorrow’s achievers. Some still believe you can become literate by just reading… you need the writing part too. The same goes for video… the only way to be media literate is to experience media, but also create it.
Matt- I discovered your blog via a comment you left on Bob Sprankle’s post http://bobsprankle.com/bitbybit_wordpress/?p=330
This is an excellent resource. I teach elementary music here in Seattle and recently got a flip video to use in with our kids for a new state legislated Classroom Based Performance Assessment for all the arts here in WA state. Thank you for reminding us to turn over the technology tools to the kids.
The advent of digital video and programs such as Garageband and even the new iMovie 08 (yes- i teach at a Mac school) make access to video production a snap for our kids.
I look forward to reading more posts from your blog via RSS. You’ve given us elementary blokes down in the trenches some great encouragement-i’ll be blogging about your site later today at http://mystro2b.wordpress.com
-Ken in Seattle
-Ken
http://mystro2b.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/digital-video-and-web-site-review-a-post-about-posts/
Thanks for the information. I teach at risk kids and use video and podcasting in my instruction. It has transformed my classroom. If we don’t get creative, we do lose them.
Sue Palmer
Matt,
When we get back to school, my students are going to create video montages. Of course they’ll have to teach me how to do this because I don’t have a clue. Surprisingly , to me at least, when I suggested we do this no one thought there might be a problem, no that is but me. I’m in for a steep learning curve come Monday.
My daughter is severely dyslexic and was miserable in school until she discovered video in Grade 7. Here is a video she created at 14 for a class assignment even though her teacher refused her request to do the video instead of an essay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oAzUE9TwxA
Teachers rarely let her do videos and they took a lot more of her time than essays but when they let her make videos she really was able to demonstrate what she knew. In this case, she wanted to say something about the nameless character of Curly’s wife.
Thanks Deidre for visiting the blog and for sharing your daughter’s video project. By reflecting upon and extending Steinbeck’s novel, your daughter has reached higher levels on Bloom’s Taxonomy than she might have if not given the chance.
What I like about film making is that it incorporates so many different talents that it allows students and teachers to discover skill areas they might not otherwise discover in a traditional classroom.
Mathew, you have just become one of my best friends. I needed a link like the one you gave to prove increased test scores. I am working on a grant to do something extremely similar, and this will be just the thing I need. Thanks so much. By the way, if you are on Twitter, I am WOScholar. Love to have you follow me so I can follow you as well.
regarding media literacy, teachers should teach the students the positive and negative sides of the media and how they will respond to them.. Media are the powerful toos\ls for effective communication but there are certain abuse that greatly affect the viewers especially the youth, so there must be guidance
I’m a video editor and my wife’s a teacher. So guess what I get do do on my days off. Thats right, make support video’s for my wife. . . But the Kids love them, even a simple montage of stills with music and narrative just grabs their attention. If your working with kids you can do the same by using powerpoint (PC) or Keynote (MAC) – There both quick and easy to use and will bring new life to the class room – Have Fun
I have wanted to begin using videos with my students in elem. school. I am getting a lot of support from this blog and one I discovered by accident. They both talk about storyboarding and scene selection, not just doing a powerpoint. The other site is a kindergarten teacher doing some great things with her students and seeing great results. Put these two blogs together and I’m feeling the confidence to start. The other site is http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/2009/09/making-movies-with-students.html.