You might be noticing a pattern with these blog postings in that I am going to ask you once again to find an example of technology in use in the classroom. This week I want you to search for an example of digital video being used in a k-12 setting. Before I explain what I want you to look for in particular I would like to talk a bit about what we know about digital videos and education. There is plenty of research about how students are engaged by digital videos. The United Streaming site has several short reports they have compiled that essentially show that teachers enjoy using their particular videos and kids enjoy watching the videos. As educators, we tend to assume that if students are engaged there is a better chance that they are learning but we can't know this for sure without further investigation. I think that happens a lot with video and the trick, which really hasn't been done in the research, is to try and prove that kids actually learn as well or better from digital videos as they do from other more traditional forms of instruction.
This all has to do with kids watching digital videos but I would like to change course a bit and look at the educational impact of having kids create their own videos. As you might have guessed, there is a lack of research-based evidence that suggests students learn from the process of creating their own videos. Much like watching a video, they are engaged in the process of video production but what do they really learn? In response to this I would like you to do two things. First of all, search out an example of a student created video that, if possible, covers some content that you have to teach in your current position. Tell us where you found the video and take some time to reflect on what the students might have had to learn or know in order to make that particular video. As with previous weeks' discussions I would like you to talk about how you might assess students, and what you would hope they would learn from creating a video similar to the one you find and share with us.
The second thing I would like you to do is think about the curriculum you are required to cover and come up with an example of where a video would be a helpful tool to teach some part of that curriculum. This could be a video that either you create or have students create. Tell us why you think a video would be a helpful tool in this situation.
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I had a very hard time finding a student created video about science, so I had to turn to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=winsR7R80KY&mode=related&search= This link will take you to a student created video about Newton’s Three Laws. I believe in order to make this video these students had to know how to edit, import text and images, and record voices. The students also had to have a deep understanding of the laws because they acted out each law using themselves as the demonstrators. The theme of the video was silly because they sang out the laws to the Rocky theme song, however, these students will always remember that song now and will ultimately always remember Newton’s Laws also. If I had my students make a video of their own, my number one priority would be to grade them on the content. To me a video is pointless if the content it is distributing is incorrect. I would then grade them on the creativity of their video, as well as the video’s clarity. I would hope that my students would learn how to edit a video and make it visually pleasing. This may not seem like a big deal, however if the video doesn’t flow, the sound is fuzzy, or if it is boring than people will not want to watch it.
I currently use United Streaming in my classroom. I find it is great to use because I simply import the video directly into my PowerPoint presentations. I really find United Streaming useful because each video is broken up into small segments. I can choose to have my students watch the entire video, or just a 2 minute clip. An example of how I use videos in my classroom is when we were learning about the phases of the moon. In class we talked about the phases, I would show what the phases look like, and then I would show a 2 minute video from space showing what is taking place to cause the phases of the moon. I use videos as a reinforcement to our classroom discussions. Videos provide another strategy for learning and it is a good way to break-up class time so you are not constantly doing the same routine. One idea I had for integrating a video is during my career unit. I do a three week career unit that culminates with the students dressing up, being interviewed by 6th graders, and then writing a paper suggesting why they should be hired for the job. Instead of having my students do this, I could have them create commercials of themselves explaining who they are and why they should be hired. I think the students would enjoy the video more than writing a paper.
I did a yahoo search for "students create digital videos". I then chose the link kenton.k12.ky.us, the excerpt said something about students creating digital storytelling, so I click to find out more. To my surprise there were numerous links on how to create, incorporate, and use digital videos in education. I chose the "ilife" link which then led me to apple.com/education. You can choose a subject and there are several videos to choose from. I chose science as my subject. Students at all levels had examples of digital videos.
I was interested in the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, since my 3rd graders just studied butterflies and released painted ladies the last week of school.
The students did a nice job with the video and it would definitely be something I will show my students in the future and possible create one ourselves.
The students doing the video I think were able to use the information they learned about the monarch and reflected on it through out the video. While creating the video, if they did not know something or had forgotten information they thought would be useful in the production, then they could use research skills to find out further information or go back to notes in order to review.
Obviously, the students would need to know how to create the video and what tools were necessary. They would also need some adult assistance and/or guidance.
Having a rubric and/or guidelines of what is expected for a finished project would be useful in assessing the students. If I chose to do this kind of project, I would show several different examples along with having the guidelines. This sort of stuff would be very new to my students and they would have to be encouraged to "think outside the box" and not "copy" the examples.
I would hope that my students would learn that subjects and topics can be combined. Just because we are studying butterflies doesn't mean that we can't incorporate, music or technology, etc.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4KjLWTWJ--o
The above site is an example of kids learning material in order to use it in digital videos. I found this video last week while searching for podcasts, and thought it was very clever. Not only did these students have to figure out what Chaucer was saying in this particular tale, but they were able to find similar settings, music, and characters within a popular video game. They then applied what they understood of the story and had their characters act out the scene. While some parts are a bit dull, I think the premise and point were well delivered.
In Language and Literature it is fairly easy to bring in digital videos as an assessment of understanding, interpretation, and synthesis. In my experience, anytime I offer kids can opportunity to act out a portion of assigned reading, they get very involved, much more than they do in class discussions. Creating a video involves writing a script, which is often a learning activity in itself. Also, students must be able to visualize and understand what they are reading in order to blend it into their own environments to make sets, props, etc. This can be a very real learning activity because of all the creative thinking and depth of understanding involved. Likewise, when kids are able to view each other’s films, they are able to experience a story from other’s perspectives. In this sense, as well, I have found that digital videos can be very beneficial.
I had some trouble finding videos created by students. I did find videos for teachers in need of ideas, however. I decided to look at some of the sites I have viewed recently and found a video from a source I have cited before. The Sargent Park Middle School Mathzone Blogspot was where I ended up. From this site I found a Wiki that contained videos, podcasts, wikis, animations, and quizzes that were all graded student created projects covering the topic of fractions (http://spfractions.wikispaces.com). In viewing these, I found some more informative than others. In order to create these projects, students would need to have a clear understanding of what a fraction is and be able to define and give examples of types of fractions such as improper, mixed numbers, and equivalent fractions. They would need to be able to describe how to break apart improper fractions or mixed numbers and perhaps show an example using pictures or props. Props or pictures could also be used for equivalent fractions. A number of students did show pictures in the videos and other projects. There were some projects that were not as convincing as others, but overall I think the students were able to display an understanding of the concept through the various forms of media they used. I liked the rubric the teacher used on this wiki and think this might be a useful rubric for me to use in my math class. He chose to score students based on three criteria: Information...was it accurate and was there enough information to assist in solving questions using fractions: Veiwability...did the project keep the viewer interested and wanting to see it through to the end, and did it actually cover the topic appropriately? Effort... just enough work, average, or above and beyond. I hope that students who create a video would gain a better understanding of the topic covered by spending time finding ways to create something that is understandable and helpful to others. I think that when students are given an opportunity to be creative in their understanding of information, they tend to want to understand the information better so they can “show off” a little.
I think I would enjoy using video for geometry as it seems like a lot of areas could be covered in a very creative and colorful way. Identifying polygons and measurement might be something worth seeking out videos for. I think student created videos on any number of math concepts might be useful, as it is a creative way for students to show their understanding of a concept.
I have been corresponding with the technology person in my school district, recently. I found out that I am not allowed to create digital videos or podcasts with my students as the district cannot handle the amount of bandwidth used up for streaming video/audio. This is very frustrating to me and leaves me wondering what I will be able to do once the school year begins.
I had some trouble finding videos created by students. I did find videos for teachers in need of ideas, however. I decided to look at some of the sites I have viewed recently and found a video from a source I have cited before. The Sargent Park Middle School Mathzone Blogspot was where I ended up. From this site I found a Wiki that contained videos, podcasts, wikis, animations, and quizzes that were all graded student created projects covering the topic of fractions (http://spfractions.wikispaces.com). In viewing these, I found some more informative than others. In order to create these projects, students would need to have a clear understanding of what a fraction is and be able to define and give examples of types of fractions such as improper, mixed numbers, and equivalent fractions. They would need to be able to describe how to break apart improper fractions or mixed numbers and perhaps show an example using pictures or props. Props or pictures could also be used for equivalent fractions. A number of students did show pictures in the videos and other projects. There were some projects that were not as convincing as others, but overall I think the students were able to display an understanding of the concept through the various forms of media they used. I liked the rubric the teacher used on this wiki and think this might be a useful rubric for me to use in my math class. He chose to score students based on three criteria: Information...was it accurate and was there enough information to assist in solving questions using fractions: Veiwability...did the project keep the viewer interested and wanting to see it through to the end, and did it actually cover the topic appropriately? Effort... just enough work, average, or above and beyond. I hope that students who create a video would gain a better understanding of the topic covered by spending time finding ways to create something that is understandable and helpful to others. I think that when students are given an opportunity to be creative in their understanding of information, they tend to want to understand the information better so they can “show off” a little.
I think I would enjoy using video for geometry as it seems like a lot of areas could be covered in a very creative and colorful way. Identifying polygons and measurement might be something worth seeking out videos for. I think student created videos on any number of math concepts might be useful, as it is a creative way for students to show their understanding of a concept.
I have been corresponding with the technology person in my school district, recently. I found out that I am not allowed to create digital videos or podcasts with my students as the district cannot handle the amount of bandwidth used up for streaming video/audio. This is very frustrating to me and leaves me wondering what I will be able to do once the school year begins.
The following website, http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/p5/projects/explorers.html contains a fifth grade class and their video interviews of famous explorers. Since exploration is a topic covered in the beginning of fifth grade I could definitely see myself doing something of this nature. There are several things the students would have to know before creating this interview. First they would have to research the explorer and learn about his life, accomplishments and other important details. Next they would have to write a script to follow during the interview. They may use prior knowledge of newscasts and interview shows to model their interview after. Then they would have to create any props or scenery needed for the taping. Next they would need to learn how to use the video camera and finally be able to edit it if necessary. There are a couple ways this video could be assessed. A teacher could look at this video strictly for content and base their grade on the information presented and not the way in which it was presented. Another way it could be assessed is for content and well as use of technology. The teacher could watch the video, grade the content but also look at the way in which it was produced.
I liked the creativity that went into the project along with the important information they needed to learn. I can still remember doing a report on Christopher Columbus when I was in sixth grade because the teacher allowed us to create props and be in character for our presentation. I think this project, like my sixth grade report, will stay with students for a long time and really solidify the content they are learning. Aside from the digital videos, I encourage everyone to check out this site. It is a few years old because the teacher is now a consultant but he created some very interesting things with his class. For example they have interactive stories where you can choose what happens next, political cartoons and daily reports on the classroom’s happenings (all of which was done with a handheld and digital camera).
One thing we struggle to teach each year is geometry. Especially finding the area of geometric shapes. I think a video would be a great way to represent the process of finding area. Since geometry is such a hard subject for students I think it would be appropriate for myself to create the video. I believe by showing them the video as an introduction, they will have a better idea of finding area and the formulas may make more sense to them. Rather than just memorizing them, they would understand where they came from and why they work. I think at the end of the unit students could create a class video demonstrating area and how to find area of a geometric figure.
I have had the pleasure of using UnitedStreaming, which is a wonderful asset for any teacher. It is filled with educational videos, some of which are really creative. I was excited when I found the Jeff Corwin Experience available on UnitedStreaming. I have used those videos several times when teaching biomes. I think, not only do the students have a better understanding of what they are learning but they also learn additional interesting information. I encourage any educator who has access to use UnitedStreaming when applicable.
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/movie/geometry/index.html
The above website is about different geometric figures in the world around us. There are two imovies and the first movie uses only still pictures. The second movie uses digital video as well as still pictures. The students were asked to look for geometry in their local surrounding. Groups of students worked on this project and brought in pictures for the first imovie. Then the students used digital video for the next movie. It is obvious that students needed to know the geometric figures. They needed to know what lines, rays, and angles are. The students needed to know who to use a digital camera as well as video. They needed to know how to import pictures as well as sound. If I had students do a video like that I might step it up a notch and ask them to say why it is a line, ray or angle. they could maybe say what makes that figure a rectangle or triangle. Why they chose the curved monkey bars to be circles? And so on... I would definitely grade on the content of the video. I would give the students a rubric ahead of time so that they can know what exactly I am looking for and expect from them. I would want them to have logical reasoning behind each object they record and tell me why. I would also want the video to be organized and not have them start out with lines and move to circles and come back to lines and then to triangles and back to circles. I would also give them a grade on how clear the video is and how creative they were in picking out the objects to include in their videos. I would want my students to learn how to relate what they are learning in class to the real world. I always have students who tell me why do I need to know this? Or when do we ever use this? I want them to know that it's not only in the books but also all around them. I want to see evidence that they have a good understanding of what geometric shapes, patterns, lines, rays and angles are. also, this is the type of video that can be added to all year long and students can compare the video from the beginning of the year to that of the end of the year and see their growth. Not only their growth in geometry but also in technology.
I think that having students create a digital video when learning about the life cycle would be beneficial. A lot of classrooms bring in caterpillars that become butterflies and I think even if it when further than that and was all on digital video it would help. Maybe if the teacher or student recorded footages of the caterpillar moving through the different stages would be interesting to watch at the end. It could also be done with the water cycle. Different footages of condensation, evaporation, precipitation etc.. could be recorded and the students could watch their video at the end. A video would be a helpful tool in these situations because the children not only watch it but also do it. It becomes hands-on for them and they remember it better. They usually confuse the stages or forget them but doing a video anf watching it would benefit them.
Okay, I have a site that is not working. Here is the url it will connect you to a rubric for the wikispace site I spoke of in my double blog. :o)
http://spfractions.wikispaces.com/Scoring+Guide+Rubric
I hope this works. :o)
I want to start this blog by saying that I absolutely love United Streaming! I use United Streaming in my lessons quite often. I love the way United Streaming allows you to search by grade and subject for material you need. Nine out of ten times the videos are great. I mean they use the Discovery Channel as an added resource, you can’t go wrong with that (the Deadliest Catch and Shark Week rock! – I’m a big fan of the Discovery Channel)!
After searching the web, I really like the following website http://gmeadowelementary.blogspot.com/ . Look under their podcast section to find digital videos. Third grade students have created podcasts on famous African Americans – they looked really good. I would give the students’ performance a thumbs up. Students had to do research, write a report, and practice his/her script. Some students sounded pretty fluent, while others needed a little help. Similar to last week’s blog, this project really hits the language arts skills hard. It looks like the students had the opportunity to pick the person he/she wanted to research. This also increases student motivation.
I would have students create digital videos on fractions. Students would discuss numerator and denominator, model an example of a standard and improper fraction, model a mixed number, show how to convert a fraction into simplest form, and how to find an equivalent fraction. Students would make how to videos. I would bet that after creating a video, students would never forget fractions.
The only negative, I don’t think our technology is capable of pulling off student made digital videos. We would need a better camera, and most importantly – our computers to work right!
I found a number of interesting videos that were student created. All were found with a key word search on Google. The words I searched were elementary, video, created, student, Lewis, Clark, science, vidcast and different combinations there in.
Lewis & Clark Video
This is an awesome video that leaves me speechless. I could not determine the Sarah’s age, the film maker, but I would guess middle to high school due to the voice, production value and exceptionally high quality throughout.
This video could be used in any level history class as a brief overview of The Corp of Discovery and what they did. It could also be used as a superb example of top notch student work.
My review is brief because viewing Sarah’s video says it all. Her content is spot-on and the video is near professional grade. I would like to make a video that good. The only error, which is minuet, Sarah mispronounces Sacagawea, not even worth mentioning if I wasn’t into Lewis & Clark as much as I am. (William our new son’s name is William Meriwether Just. Taken from Meriwether Lewis and William Clark)
As a result I can not rave about this video enough.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-807734547602772711&q=lewis+clark+student&total=44&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
Katie’s 2007 Science Fair Project
Katie’s science fair project is a great video filmed via a web cam as Katie reads her paper. The technical aspects of the video are very good, fades, transitions, the Chemical Brothers sample are all nice. Having had to judge the mandatory grade 3-5 science fair at my school, this past year, Katie’s scientific method needs to be on the same level as her video. She rejects her hypothesis without any rational for its’ failure. This rejection makes concrete learning difficult for this assignment. What was learned besides Pop Rocks do not erupt like Mentos in Diet Coke?
I can not see a place in our curriculum where I could use this video except as an example of close but still lacking clarity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6nZB0v9pAM&mode=related&search=
Recycle Please!
Recycle Please!, is a student video on why people should recycle and what it means if we recycle various materials. It has good facts presented in the video and with captions, reiterating important points. Such as how many planes could be built from wasted cans. The video makes good use of sound effects and music, from the ILM “sound” at the beginning to the Superman them used for Recycling Boy.
It is a great video and would receive high marks due to the depth of the coverage and using tangible examples. The only issues that are apparent are that the video cuts off at 8:46 with minutes left and there is not a bibliography with sited sources of their facts.
This video educates and entertains will discussing recycling. Students and adults should gain a better understanding of how recycling can reduce the amount of new resources we consume and as a result, reducing our footprint on the earth. This makes it a fun video for GLCC where needed or informing student why we have those green recycling bins in our rooms.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5683393708152785155&q=fourth+grade+student+made&total=38&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
I too have used United Streaming but their lack of engaging videos as it related to colonial America was discouraging. The borrowing streams along with buffering issues made it necessary to download an preview, in detail, their content.
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=53c6311757004d8cbbba&page=13&viewtype=&category=mr
I found an interesting video on teachertube.com. I tried for hours to find students created digital videos, the ones I found would not open on my computer. Anyway, I found one made by high school students. It is an interpretation for the ending of Lois Lowry's The Giver. I may use the same idea but may have my students use still images and create their interpretation of the story the class read together. My students will have to be taken through all the steps of digital video making. As for finding images and saving them, I think fifth graders may be able to do it. If I have some students who can't do it, I will begin with finding the images and saving and then move on to creating a digital movie.In addition I will have to teach them how to save their soundtrack files and import on the digital video.
I may have students create digital video about 'How to do...'projects in different classes. For every unit my students do a culminating project. This would be a wonderful place for them to present all their learning in an organized and cohesive manner. I will assess their digital movie just like I assess their posters presentations.Generally, my students get graded on their speaking skills too when they present something to class. The best part in it is that they can record, erase and rerecord if they don't like something. This project gives them opportunity to fix their errors as well as catch their errors themselves first.
I found a website that was based in math, but had a student-created video about a rust science experiment. It is http://fcit.usf.edu/fcat5m/scimovie
/default.htm. In the video students talked about the experiment, describing each of the scientific processes. Students in this school are being taught common grade level lessons, but with the addition of the video production to document the process, the students were more enthused with their data and displaying their results. The teacher in the video explained that the students had to first learn how to input their data (into Excel) and determine what kind of graph would display their results better. When the experiment was complete, two students acted as the representatives, or reporters for their class. They used the video snippets that I think the teacher recorded. They had to add their own voice descriptions for their own video snippets. Their snippets of the experiment in action were well chosen and the voice overs were not perfect. They seemed more focused on what happened during the process of the experiment and not on the getting the voice over perfect. This lets me know that the teacher did not step in and ask for them to do it over because of a few mistakes. The students would have had to learn how to edit parts of the video or know how to put what parts of the video where. Overall, this video was a little more “rough around the edges” than other videos that I had seen that had claimed to be “student-created”. When there is a student created video, you expect to see and hear mistakes. It should not be polished to perfection. When the mistakes are left in the video and the students see what they produced, that would be the perfect time for them to reflect and analyze what they would want to change or add for the next video.
Assessment for the students who create a video like this one would be based on a rubric system. The criteria would be as follows: 1) Student understands and demonstrates the content of the lesson, 2) Student brainstorms ways of how technology could be used to enhance the lesson, 3) Student demonstrates knowledge of how to use technological tools, 4) Student reflects on the process and the product.
After viewing this student-created video, I saw that there was a Teacher Reflections video. This was important to me because teachers don’t get a chance to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t. In this video, a group of teachers talked about the benefit of the students making the video and how technology integration is pertinent in today’s classroom. They talked about how technology is a vehicle for cross-curricular lessons. They also talked about how technology allows students to instantly change and play around with their product, as opposed to them making changes by hand.
In EDT 510 I created a video that showed students different types of vehicles. I used this as an introduction to my transportation unit. I have read books to them that were photo essays, but this photo essay had their teacher’s voice in the movie! They seemed to be excited about that and sparked their interest more. They remembered the names of vehicles more and knew what they were used for. It was a good start to a unit that sometimes is introduced by the teacher using books or toy vehicles. If you go to my website you can click on the link that says Introduction Transportation Slide Show. It is http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/
~aleavy/techleavy/exhibits.html.
I found this video on the following site:
http://education.apple.com/education/ilife/project_template.php?project_id=90&subject_id=4
The students in this video were middle school science students completing a video about "Matter". In order to make this video, students would have had to know several things: 1. How to operate the equipment used to make the video.
2. They would have had to have some knowledge of editing.
3. They would have also need to know the content area well enough to display it in a fashion were others would learn simply by watching the video.
4. They would have needed to know how to do a lot of the things that I'm learning to do myself, like adding sound, pictures, background music, etc.
I could see myself using a video for a similar type of lesson. Maybe a lesson on Climate that involved students student climate changes. I think that it would good for me and the students to have a brief rubric detailing the material to be included in the video. Based on that I would assess the final project of the students. I'd use some of the same criterion listed previously such as content, creativity, length (too long or short), details, etc. Independent as well as group participation. I would want it to be an enjoyable experience for students initially. I think this type of hands-on adds to a creating a diverse learning experience for students, and thus, a better learner.
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