Week 8 Video Project and Video in the Classroom

Through out the entire PSA project, I was pretty excited.  During the prep class, I was fascinated with all the cool ways you could manipulate video and sound.  At the same time, I was suprised with the amount of work that goes into editing.  Our group worked really well together.  Prior to the filming & editing class, we communicated real well and constructed a strategy.  Initially I was hesitant of the storyboards, I questioned how useful they would be, but while filming and editing, I found them to be VERY valuable.  Our initial planning and preparing of our storyboards helped us to stay on track, take specific video & to focus on our message.  During filming, our individual personalities complimented one another, from our actress, to our videographer and the producer.  The software was completely new to 2 members of our group, and yet we all had an opportunity to edit and work our video into the great finished project that we envisioned.  I think one could spend a ton of time playing and tweaking in Moviemaker, in that respect it's kind fun but kind of challenging since the goal was to finish the project in 1 class.  We had a great piece of music at our disposal, in just a few minutes time we used Audacity to speed it up to match our video, a little repeat at the end and viola...good java tunes.  If only the music would have imported into our video without frustration, I'd say there were no issues.  I'm excited to see the complete finished project.

With respect to video in the classroom, I do think it has value.  There is value in making learning fun, and children LOVE to see themselves in video.  Creating a video also teaches responsibility to portray the facts accurately & it can serve as a motivator to conduct research prior to creating a video.  Furthermore, through video, a shy child can gain confidence and can shine in the classroom. 

What does it teach students?  I think for students creating a video, they see a different avenue for learning and documenting information other than paper and pencil.  I think it encourages interaction and engagement in the subject at hand.  It also allows them to showcase their creativity.  Also, when I reflect on the Educause readings, specifically, the part about kids believing what they read on the internet even if it's not from a creditable source, I also think kids believe what they see in video and on tv.  When students create a video, they can see how you can be truthful, and well informed and create a video that is factual, and on the flip side, they can see how you could do just the opposite.  Perhaps, in doing so, students would start to question the validity of what they see and read.

Once concern I have about incorporating video in the classroom is the editing component.  There's a lot of work that goes into editing such a small clip.  I'm wondering how possible it is to have students produce and edit video, with the time constraints that exist in the curriculum.  Perhaps I will need to do most of the editing or the degree to which their videos are edited will be different from what we did in our PSA project.  I guess this would be the challenge I may face in doing the video project.  In my classroom I would use video to make the learning authentic.  For example, if we're discussing seasons and changes in fall, I could have students capture video of a change they witness.  Perhaps a student would film some Canadian Geese.  That student could then find some interesting facts about that animal and create a video.  He/she may address migration, the resident population, geography and temperature changes etc, these would be the learner outcomes.  These videos could be used as a learning center, so all students would circulate through and learn how other students captured the changes in the season.   Multiple disciplines, intelligences and levels of thinking would be incorporated into this project.  The student will work on language arts skills (researching, reading, writing, speaking), science (habitat, adaptations, migration, temperature), technology (filming and editing), social sciences etc.

Week 6: Educause Reading

On one hand, I thought the Net Geners would really embrace a lot of technology in their learning environment.  However, when given more thought, I was not surprised by some of the data.   Specifically the Net Gen's requirements for tech in the classroom;  technology needs to be engaging and applicable, not just "be there".  Also, I constantly have the social nature of the Net Geners in my thoughts.  We have read that this generation is very social, they don't view technology as technology, but rather a way of doing things and communicating.  For that reason, if technology enhances their learning experience, then that is great.  If the technology does not enhance their learning experience, their attention is lost.  The learning experience takes advantage of the professor and his/her level of expertise.  It makes sense that certain majors would expect more technology in their classroom than others, such as engineering.  What did surprise me however was the "underrating" of skills.  The reading suggested that although students believe themselves to be skilled in certain applications, in fact, they have just basic skills.  They do not utilize the advanced functions of their applications, and therefore, more IT skills need to be developed at the university level.  In addition, the expectations of technology may hinder the Net Geners ability to methodically work through challenges and thus affect their problem solving abilities.  Additional questions I would include in the survey...good question.  I guess I 'd be interested to know what types of learning experiences they think they would benefit from that incorporated technology. 

Week 6 Copyright

Copyright for teachers??? It seems a bit scary to me, because it is so grey & so very new to me.  It also pushes me outside of my comfort zone because legal writing can be so difficult to understand, and when consequences are attached to "not knowing" it is a scary thing.  I will absolutly need to become more educated and more aware of materials that I am choosing to use.  When I completed my undergrad. I do not ever recall hearing about copyright infringement in the classroom, we simply attached a works cited document, used materials we needed in class and went on with it.  What I have walked away with is a greater appreciation and respect for copyrighted materials.  I cannot copy something without permission and use it over a long term period.  I need to be deligent of fair use, watch how much of the copyrighted material I use and how I use it.  I need to be aware of changes that I make, and how much choices affect the market place.  It appears that "for educational purposes"  lessens the stress level somewhat but not totally. 
I don't know ways that copyright laws have been violated in schools, I know movies are shown, but I don't know if permission was requested prior to the showing.  I would imagine if a substitute pops in a movie, permission likely was not requested.  Perhaps modifying the lyrics to a popular tune, to aid in the learning/memory process, would have been an infringement.  Out of schools, again, I don't know if permission was requested, but I've been in churches that also show movies for kid's night or show clips during Sunday school. 
I absolutly believe it is my job to teach copyright respect to my students and I think the best way to do that is to lead by example.  This could be sticky at times.  It's like telling your toddler to never lie to mommy, but then you get caught in a white lie...life is not always black and white, so why do I wish copyright was a little less grey ?!?!?!  I would not teach my students copyright respect by pointing out everytime I use something that is or is not copyright protected, but rather on occassion toss it out there and remind them to also be respectful.  When addressing assessments, part of the rubric could specifically address copyrighted material.  Researching materials, and creating presentations would be a good time to work with students on copyrighted materials that they may wish to incorporate into their graded projects.  NET-S standard Digital Citizenship addressess copyright issues, specificially 5.a. "Students advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology."