Week 13

The process of filming a movie is so much more intense and difficult than you think it is before you start. You think, oh I'll just film a few scenes and then just stick them together. But the mose sense it makes in your head, the less sense it makes when you start to film. I suppose it's different for kids, because obviously they aren't expected to produce Spielberg, but it still takes a lot of planning beforehand in order to avoid gaps in reasoning. Concerns with using video in the classroom are pretty much the same as with any activity. Teachers need to make sure that students are staying on task when they are off filming on their own and make sure that they are safe in whatever they are doing. Keeping it appropriate is also a problem when you are giving kids a camera to film their actions, especially in the older grades. However, an assignment involving filming a movie is still great for kids of all ages. It allows them to be creative and really take charge of their assignment. They work on everything from time management to group work and get to use media materials, which, for most students, is probably a rarity. Lacking anything else, I think video making it just a good opportunity for students who have little other opportunity to learn in that manner.
I liked the reading this week because it makes way, almost gives permission, to use fun and creativity in the classroom, even for the more "serious" subjects. Many times projects like videos are deemed as purely fun with no real educational merit; but as this reading proves and explains, it's not so difficult to make a real lesson plan with a video project. Obviously, there needs to be a good basis for the lesson with a true educational purpose and a clear area of information to be learned/expressed. I remember freshman year of high school we had to film a video of a modern day interpretation of a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Our group picked the shortest scene possible and spent more time on costumes than anything else and then someone decided we needed to spend $100 to have it professionally edited. A worthless experience, all in all, and perfect example of how not to do a video project. On the flip side, in another project from school, our groups were given the option of doing a video. The topic was more refined and pointed and guidelines were more strict for a better outcome. Students who did videos concentrated more on the idea rather than the process, which ended in actual education. I suppose this is just a long winded way of saying that the way the Scot/Harding article is layed out helps teachers have a better idea of how to impliment a video project in a helpful manner.

Week 12

I was surprised, mostly, by how unaccessible most of the information was. For something that effects so many people, teachers across the country, it sure was difficult to decipher concrete rules and regulations regarding fair use and copyright. The information, even on sites that I looked up on my own, was very legal and murky, almost more confusing than nothing at all.
I always figured that fair use and copyright and the like were less important for teachers. We use worksheets, and charts and information and movies for educational use in the classroom, and while most teachers have a "who's gunna know" mentality, it could still get us in trouble at some point and that is an important fact to remember.
I remember hearing about a teacher who was sued by Disney because she had a unit dedicated to Disney with her young elementary students. It made my skin crawl because I love using Disney in the classroom and I've done it many times! But I always assumed that showing or discussing a movie in the classroom would not be a big deal. I looked up the story and could find no proof that this actually happened, but it's still always made me think.
I wish I knew more about specific copyright law and fair use law. Like the deal with showing movies and using things solely in the classroom.

Making the movie in the classroom was a fun experience, but at the same time it was terribly stressful. It was really hard to get all the information we needed and all the scenes we wanted for it to make sense and also keep it under 2 minutes. Add to that fact that I hate seeing myself on video more than almost anything else in the world, and it made for quite a stressful day! But the movie filming option has always seemed like a good one for students, to me. It gives students a chance to be creative and find a fun way to learn. If students are having fun then they're going to absorb and retain more. Using video also gives them a larger range of education. Instead of just learning about, say, desert animals, they are also learning about video equipment, filming, computer programs, etc. Teachers just have to make sure the assignment is disgestable.

Week 10

Student created video projects information:


http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=6758

This site is great because it's specifically a teacher's guide to making student movies. Scholastic is always a great site to work from and this article is exceptional in that capacity. A teacher who has actually done student video projects in her classroom gives step by step guides, examples and student handouts so other teachers can duplicate her success. There is a great list of resources and project ideas that give basically any information any teacher would need, including links to tutorials. So, even if a teacher has no idea what they are doing, they can figure it out before they have their kids do it. I would highly recommend this site for teachers doing video projects, in fact, I'm bookmarking it myself for future use!



http://www.needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog/?p=220

This site focuses more on the "why" rather than the "how" of integrating student created video projects into the classroom. I think that this information is just as important as how to do it because there's no point in having students do something and neither the teacher nor the students knows why they are doing it, and to what end. There are five reasons explained in more detail: student engagement, student achievement, higher level thinking (ding ding ding!), media literacy, and closing the digital divide. It also talks of creating life long learners.


http://www.apple.com/education/digitalauthoring/ilife.html

This site is, obviously, slightly bias seeing as how it IS the Apple site talking about their own programs, but there is still good information there. This site discusses the new Apple iLife 08 which is suite of programs including iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD. Apparently, iLife has tools which support the newest ISTE tech standards for students. They also have information on the Escondido Union Elementary School District, and how test scores have supposedly gone up with the use of iLife. I thought that was interesting since it's so close to home and it seemed to be "proof" that these type of student created projects actually help students on many levels.

Week 9

http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/criteria/index.asp

This site is great because it compiles a lot of information in one place for teachers to have easy access. A lot of the information provided proves to be helpful because the lists are things that we know but at any given moment would never be able to remember. Obviously, a teacher will think about things like appropriateness and potential uses, but maybe technical aspects would slip their minds. (Although after this class, technical aspects will never again slip my mind!) The range of materials described is also a plus, because while many teachers may easily be able to tell if a book or a video is appropriate and useful for the class, webportals, video disks and annotating courseware might be new ideas.
In the classroom, or as a teacher rather, this would useful in that it would concentrate all the information I need to be thinking about, sort of like making a "to-do" list of figuring out academic appropriateness. It gives hints and lists and even forms to fill out, like Kathy Schrock's evaluation form and the SIIA Checklist. This information would almost be more useful at a school or district level in order to evaluate components for whole schools rather than putting all the pressure towards teachers on an individual level. I suppose they already have a system similar to that in regards to a lot of their materials, but on a completely different note than this site, budget allowing, schools should pre-approve more materials for teachers to use so that when the time comes to use something teachers already have a good idea of what to use.