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.