What should come first: the technology, or the need for it?
I have been kicking this question around in my head lately, but I'm not sure that there is a correct answer. Instead, what I'm really searching for is the logical response that I can buy into and support when I propose ideas or help to make decisions about technology purchases in my district. Understand that what I'm really looking for is a space to flesh out my own thinking in order to find a logical response to a question that requires an answer.
The question is simply this: Does the availability of technology in schools encourage the end users to put the technology to use (if you buy it, they will come), or is the purchase-upon-request model more likely to yield the greatest use of educationally focused tech?
Questions like this feel heavily philosophical, and they aren't often taken seriously by people who have the luxury of pondering the question and then flushing it from their minds. However, the moment my philosophical pondering of this question was faced with the reality of a financial purchasing decision that was influenced by the way I answered it, I found out that sometimes philosophy has palpable implications.
At the core of this question is really the issue of human motivation. Are educators, a collectively resourceful group by both nature and training, likely to utilize the technological tools if we provide access and adequate training (the latter of the two is the key, and often the most heavily overlooked element of any technology purchase)? Is access enough to motivate their curiosity or to spark their internal motivation to explore in the hopes of finding a more efficient or engaging way to teach? Can we "buy and train" our way to more engaging classroom instruction? The "buy it and they will come" model of purchasing educational technology is built upon a foundational belief that teachers will gravitate to and adopt the most effective and efficient educational tools if they are given access and exposure to them. It also leans heavily upon the belief that when hurdles, pitfalls, or perceived limitations are removed, people are more likely to explore, learn, and grow.
Alternatively, we can take the road more commonly traveled (well, I guess that depends where you teach). In this model, teachers make requests for some technological marvel that they believe can support learning in their classroom. The district accommodates and often leaves the teacher (or the small pod of teachers who requested the tech) to their own devices to put the technology to work. While the initial purchase may include some professional development dollars, these teachers are often left to fend for themselves, and to promote the "good word" to their colleagues if the grand experiment succeeds. This model subscribes to the belief that people are requesting due to an already present intrinsic motivation. Relevance is key here; the technology they request is somehow more relevant to their role as a classroom teacher, thus they are more likely to put the purchase to use immediately, appropriately, and for a longer duration of time. Of course, there are obvious procedural limitations placed upon staff members in this model. The "exploration" of the tech that exists is forced to take place outside of the school day (for most teachers), and those who are uninterested in participating in the exploration are far less likely to issue requests for technology.
By now, the downfalls to each should be fairly apparent.
In the open access model of tech purchasing, there is no guarantee of any return on investment. The purchases could become the next hot item at the school. It could also become another one of the dust collectors in the technology graveyard at your school. For this reason, visionary leadership and a sensitive pulse on the curriculum, teaching styles, and attitudes of the staff are essential qualities of the lead person making the purchasing decisions. Obviously, those aren't qualities that are easy standard in most people, especially many of the technologically savvy people that tend to head into the computer science field.
The other major issue with the model is the issue of justifying the funding. Many tech purchases are heavy financial decisions that need to be weighed (often by a panel of board members). Advocating for the purchase of expensive laptops or wireless infrastructure or the latest gadget is a tough sell when the proposal is littered with phrases like "we think," "we hope," and "ideally they will." This kind of blind faith in the sanity and vision of a district's technology leader takes time to develop between the board, the staff, the techies, the families, and the community. Without that kind of trusting relationship, this model of equipping our schools becomes a much tougher financial sell.
Even more apparent are the downfalls of the purchase-upon-request model. The statement, "You don't know what you don't know," has been made to me far too many times this year as I lead professional development sessions (I bristle at the statement; we live in a period where our surplus commodity is accessible information). This comment suggests to me that many educators feel victimized by the pace of change that accompanies the advancement of technology. In a time where cash flow is limited in schools, the logic of these teachers may go something like this: "Even if I'd like to try out that tool I heard about at the conference, the reality is that I don't know enough about it. With all that I'm expected to do to perform my job well, I don't have time to learn a whole lot about it, and I would hate to waste funds to buy something I'm really not sure about. I know I could use those funds to buy something for my classroom that I am sure about." The resulting action is inaction. They fail to make the request for new technology. In this model, there are no anecdotal stories and experiences from colleagues they trust to sell them on the value of an element of technology (and let's be honest...those anecdotal pieces are often the impetus for many of the technology purchases made in school districts; look to the interactive whiteboard craze for evidence of this).
Of course, this leads to the other major issue with this model: pockets of excellence and pockets of despair. Educators who are capable of identifying tech that will assist them or their students in the classroom are likely to be more dynamic teachers to begin with. This assertion stems from this group's general awareness of the technology that actually exists in the first place. That may be a result of their ability to research and sift through information, or their ability to network, connect with, and learn from others, but those educators with these skills are likely to be the ones advocating for themselves and their students regarding the request of technology. Any way we slice it, those submitting requests for technology are likely those who are motivated enough to put the technology to use. The other educators (those unwilling to submit requests for new technology) are not. This results in a greater disparity between the teachers who teach effectively with technology the teachers who avoid technology.
My underlying assumption here is that technology provides something to any learning environment that cannot be achieved without that technology. I understand all of the arguments that can be made suggesting that effective teaching and learning can happen without technology. I understand that meaningful education happens with or without technology. What I also understand, though, is that technology offers opportunities that are not present without the technology. Conversing with (and seeing) a group of students across the country during the regularly scheduled school day didn't regularly happen before Skype existed. Collaborating and collectively crafting presentations, articles, and projects without planning a face-to-face meeting time didn't happen before the days of wikis and learning management systems. For this reason, teachers that request and put technology to use in their classroom create opportunities for their students that other students lack as a result of lacking access to that same technology.
Perhaps the higher ground is to take a diversified approach to the technology purchasing strategy at any school. By maintaining a pulse on the wave of widely adopted/accepted technology, we can make reasonable predications about the technologies that have caught on and the technologies that are still kept at arms length by the general public. For instance, A crystal ball isn't necessary to see the trend in wireless technology. The expectation for most tech users is open access to the Internet. Outfitting our buildings and learning environments with the wireless infrastructure (complete with a guest network) is certainly a justifiable cost with most school boards. Providing a laptop/net book/tablet for each teacher is also one of those increasingly obvious purchases, primarily because the public has generally accepted these technologies as an element of workplace productivity. These are wise "infrastructural" investments because they open up possibilities for experimental adoption/trials of other less accepted technologies.
However, more controversial purchases, such as a 1:1 laptop initiative for each student, perhaps should be reserved, at least at first, to a per request purchase process. That kind of significant financial investment needs to see a legitimate return on investment. That means that teachers with the intrinsic motivation to use that technology regularly should be the ones to trial it first. First impressions matter, and when a school outfits its students with hundreds of iPads or net books, only to have many of them vastly under utilized, it becomes a tough pill for parents, taxpayers, and board members to swallow when the question of continued support of the program rears its head.
Non-negotiables exist in this conversation, though. Regardless of the model that any organization adopts, honesty, trust, and open communication must exist between those who purchase and support the technology, and those who put that technology to use. Tech departments that do not listen to and address the needs of classroom teachers and students invalidate the value of either purchasing model. When end users do not feel adequately supported, they are less likely to take risks in using new technologies. When end users don't feel trusted, they are less likely to form a working relationship with their tech department, thus decreasing the likelihood will engage in the meaningful communication that must exist between the two groups. Until both sides feel that they are working toward the same goals, meaningful experimentation cannot take place.
The last non-negotiable element is having a rock solid, consistently reliable technology infrastructure in place from the beginning. It is the foundation on which any technological advancements take place, so there is simply no room for inconsistent or unreliable performance. I equate this to the infrastructure of roads and bridges. Due to the reliability and consistency of this infrastructure, most Americans can focus on the type of vehicle that suits their personality or lifestyle, not on the type of vehicle that will allow them to travel through the terrain of their daily commute. End users should be able to depend on their tech infrastructure in the same way, allowing them to make decisions based upon goals or purpose, not based upon access or reliability.
I hope this rant has helped you think through the question I posed at the beginning. While a correct answer doesn't exist, a logical rationale in a district's tech purchasing model is an essential starting point.
Evidence of Moore's Law Right Under My Tree
If you don't know what Moore's Law is, it's time to figure it out. I'll save you the extra steps of going to Wikipedia yourself to learn about it...here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law
Understanding that Moore's Law relates to exponential growth of technology as time advances is one thing. Seeing your own children open Christmas gifts that truly display the effect of Moore's Law on our lives shifts it to a whole different level of importance for me.
I have a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Admittedly, these kids are both already playing with the iPad and both are getting more screen time than I did as a child at their age. They are not going to be technological misfits -- of that I am fairly certain! However, this Christmas I saw them open gifts that seem to be absolute game changers in the way of personal learning. And then to think about the gifts they received last year and to compare them completely demonstrated for me the true impact of exponential change in our lifetime.
Last year my older daughter received a Leap Frog device that had a keyboard and a mouse and software cartridges that plugged in. When it worked properly she learned some basic skills, such as the hand/eye coordination needed to maneuver the mouse, along with participating in some basic shape and color learning activities. It was impressive to see her work and adapt to the technology, but the technology wasn't mind blowing or even surprising. It was what I would have expected it to be.
This year, my younger daughter (only one) got an age-appropriate stuffed toy from Leap Frog, and it is completely knocking my socks off with possibilities. This little pooch plugs in to the computer via USB cable and customizes itself to say her name, play some music of our choosing, and do some other basic customizations. However, it is tied to her name and an email account. Every month, with a reconnect of the USB cable, the dog will upload information to the Leap Frog website, and I (and the grandma that was responsible for the purchase) will be getting an email that tracks what she is doing and learning in her interactions with the plush canine friend. Just think of the possibility of that kind of personalized learning and tracking. Just imagine what next year's toy for two and three-year-old children may be able to do.
My older daughter, now three, received Kinectimals, an interactive game for the Xbox Kinect platform where she interacts with her tiger cub, Atro (don't ask me where that name came from...when your three any sound that comes out of your mouth seems to be a perfectly suitable name for a pet, doll, or digital tiger cub...although I question why her dolly is named panther and her tiger cub is the one named Atro, but again, the logic will fail me every time). What amazed me was that she adapted to the onscreen interactions so quickly and so easily that I felt a bit embarrassed that my own onscreen interaction is so jumpy and unnatural. Only a year before she struggled for some time with the concepts of mouse and keyboard. This year she naturally saw the connection between the movement of her hand (without any additional sensor) to the movement of the onscreen hands that allowed her to interact with a digital creature. I know that developmentally this makes sense (she is far more ready for this kind of interaction at this age), but think about the impact of that kind of exposure at such a young age. I recently watched (with an audience full of adults) a video from Microsoft that demonstrated their vision of how we would work and interact with technology in the future. I know I was moved but questioned the possibility of some of the technologies displayed in the video. However, the reality is that my daughter (and all the other little ones exposed to this kind of technology during their lives) will expect the technology to be seamless and ever-present. My three-year-old is already reaching for my laptop screen and the television screen from time to time and trying to swipe icons or change channels by pressing the screen. Her exposure is minimal, but it is developing an expectation of the way we interact with these devices. It seems that the paradigm paralysis that so many of the adults struggle with in adopting the new technologies (the paralysis that has kept some of the technology at bay due to lack of serious adoption by a large percentage of the population) is also shifting to a period of exponential change as young people not only accept but expect this technology to be a part of their working and educational worlds.
I have long argued that the failure of our educational system to adapt and change to a model that holds relevance to our customers (the students that attend our schools and the parents that expect the best from our schools) places us in a position where one innovation may entirely invalidate the need for a public educational system. For several nights now I've laid in bed and marveled at the concept that my children received gifts that may be one or two generations away from being the tools that make public education entirely irrelevant, primarily because these tools are entirely customizable to the individual and because they can be accessed at any time or any place. These are the things we know our public schools need to do to advance, but it is the paradigm paralysis of the adults that forces us closer and closer to the edge of extinction, while young, innocent children are introduced to the tools that will educate them in the future. It is almost eerie to consider!
Hopefully some key players in education also had a similar experience this holiday season and are starting to see the writing on the wall. Perhaps we'll come back to 2011 invigorated and motivated to actually do something about making our educational system once again relevant.
A message to my current and former students (from Mr. Yearling)
I needed to make everything official before I passed this on to anyone, but I wanted to let you know that I won't be returning to Fort Atkinson in the fall. I've accepted a position in the Waukesha School District as an Instructional Technology Coordinator. Put simply, I'll become a mentor of teachers, encouraging and coaching them to utilize technology to improve the quality of their instruction. Ultimately, I hope this leads to a meaningful change in the way teachers educate students on a greater scale than I could ever have had in my own classroom.
So, there it is -- my big announcement.
My time in Fort has been nothing but positive and I truly have enjoyed working with all of you. I want to thank you for allowing me to connect with so many of you in such unique ways. I feel fortunate to have been a part of your lives. I have learned much from my time spent with you, and I carry those lessons and memories with me. The hardest part of this change is knowing that I won't have the opportunity to work with students on a daily basis in the same way I worked with so many of you. That is what makes teaching such a special job. I will miss that and I will miss so many of you!
Feel free to contact me any time with updates on life, questions about this change or what I'm up to, or just a request for advice. You know that I am always up for a thoughtful response to even life's toughest challenges. :) Reach me at brianyearling@gmail.com if you want to be assured of reaching me (I like technology, but this Facebook thing freaks me out a bit...you kids and your zany technology).
Thank you to all of you for being such an important of my life. It has been an incredible journey.
Mr. Y (or B.Y. depending on your era, or Y-dawg for those less formal students, or The Mighty Lumberjack for Dalton and those he has influenced).
Episode 10: Collaboration is Invigorating
Recently I finished my first attempt at teaching a masters level course in the use of multimedia in teaching and learning. It was truly a great experience and the students were engaging, accepting, open-minded, and thought provoking in their response to the technology that was introduced throughout the class.
The letdown at the end of the class, however, is that the collaborative energy that is generated as we work with other motivated professionals has also come to an end. This got me thinking: how can we sustain this important energy and enthusiasm in our professional lives without having to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to colleges and programs? The reality is that it isn't as tough as it seems, but it takes a commitment to making it happen. Listen to the podcast to hear just some of my ideas about how you can practically make it happen.
Just a suggestion: DO IT NOW! Now most educators have a moment to breathe. Set up your collaboration teams early in the summer! Wait too long and summer will pass before your eyes. Wait until fall and it will likely not happen. How quickly we forget that the second that first bell rings we hold our breath and wait for a chance to breathe again; that next breath is generally not available until summer.
As always, we would love to hear from you. Find us on Twitter, @brianyearling, and email us at gettingtechintoed@gmail.com .
Thanks for visiting and listening.
Brian
Adopting educational technology: The journey to full integration
What I love most about my professional learning network (PLN) is the continuous opportunities it has provided me for reflection on my professional practice. It never fails to inspire me when I'm in a funk, teach me something new when I least expect it, or provide insight that I would not have come to on my own. My PLN has been particularly helpful lately as I've experienced incredible frustration with the sluggish pace of educational reform.
Recently while fumbling between an Ed Tech Talk podcast, reviewing some of the recent Tweets I missed, and I was thinking about comments I heard a recent tech committee meeting at our school. I was specifically stuck on a comment made by one person that suggested that the district needed to provide both quality educational experiences and experiences utilizing technology. The suggestion that the two could not work in tandem reminded me that everyone at the table was at a very different place regarding their conceptual understanding of the role technology could play in changing the way we teach students.
Through the combination of it all I was reminded of just how much I've grown in my understanding of the ways that technology can transform and enhance educational delivery and instructional practice for educators willing to embrace it. It wasn't really so long ago when I was the one scoffing at some of the very same ideas I now promote in these meetings. I, too, probably wondered how we could find enough time in the day to teach all of the regular curriculum and then add new "technology specific skills" to the list. The epiphany that technology can alter what education looks like probably never struck me when I was just beginning to grasp the concepts I fully accept now. That is a realization one has to come to as we allow these concepts to roll around for a while.
This strikes me as an important revelation to hold on to when I experience the frustration that comes with trying to move the juggernaut of education at anything faster than a snail's pace.
While seeing can be believing within the world of educational technology (and thus doing is adopting???), there is no substitute for the time needed to allow the innovative ideas of this movement/pedagogy/practice to really take hold and transform the thoughts/beliefs/practices of those on the journey to adoption and integration of instructional technology principles. Those of us that have made a habit of drinking the koolaid have to remember that. Most of us needed that time to adjust as well. It just happened that so many of us, as early adopters, were so far ahead of the wave that there was no pressure to adopt these ideas overnight. Too often I find myself wanting to push the masses of educators just arriving to these concepts in a direction that they are not mentally prepared to accept. I feel like that little kid who has been in the cave hundreds of times; now I just need my friends to trust me enough to follow me blindly into the darkness. Fortunately, these professionals value their students and their profession enough to step cautiously when entering the darkness. They are not going to follow blindly. The result: I'm left to search for new and better ways to urge these educators along on the path to adoption and integration of educational technology more quickly than I came to the same full acceptance I want them to achieve.
One of the best ways that I can think of to help them achieve this growth and adoption more quickly is to take full advantage of something I was skeptical of during my journey: developing a high quality PLN. For me my Twitter, Teachers 2.0, podcast, and personal networks serve as an ongoing source of ideas that help me to uncover new ideas, explore new terrain, and reflect on my practice.(you see, of course, the circular reasoning of this post...I end in the same place that I started). My PLN serves as the ongoing backdrop of professional conversations that keep me focused on the areas of interest to me. If I had the benefit of these conversations earlier in my educational technology adoption journey, perhaps I would have started to accept these ideas/practices more quickly.
Therefore, I'm going to begin suggesting to those that I would like to see move along more quickly in their instructional technology adoption that they form a network of influential thinkers that may help keep them focused on the task at hand: using technology to transform education. Of course, this suggesting will best be served with a side of mentoring as to how to actually achieve this(do you remember how hard it was to start developing a high quality PLN?). By the way, this is a heck of a way to start gaining even more followers and growing my virtual ego to an even greater extent.
Getting Tech Into Ed - The Podcast Returns
What has changed? Well, to begin with, our family has welcomed another member: Sophie Grace. With our oldest daughter Ella keeping us constantly on our toes, and our bubbly little Sophia biding for our attention, that has been the primary change that has filled our lives.
However, passion is a tough element to suppress. Educational technology has truly become a passion and a mission for me over the past few years, and I truly enjoy the opportunity to share new ideas and thoughts with you.
Another new element has been added to the show. My wife, Stacy, has agreed to step into the world of Getting Tech Into Ed. Stacy is a marvelous school psychologist with an upbeat, energetic passion for her work, a solid understanding and focus on literacy, experience with K-8 students/teachers, a limitless well of innovative ideas, and a wide array of interventions and techniques to help struggling and special education students. Having her to assist me as we explore technological innovation and share our findings with you will certainly increase the depth and bredth of the topics we cover in the show.
Also, mobile podcasting has finally found GTIE. I am now using an iPod Touch to record some of my podcasts. One of the primary hang-ups for me is finding the time to get in the studio and record and edit new material. Using the iPod Touch and an app called iPodcaStudio to record shows while on the go, I am able to overcome that issue. One of the hangups at this point is a drop in sound quality, but I'm exploring ways to fix that with a new cable and a lapelle microphone. I'll let you know how that experiment goes for me. I am doing my best to take some of the road noise and "tininess" out of the mobile recordings, but that is definitely a work in progress.
What's in this episode?
In this episode I am recording in the car. I have been eagerly anticipating attending the WEMTA conference for quite some time. However, I began to think about the irony of my growing enthusiasm for attending this conference. What is most exhilarating about attending a conference is sharing your ideas and taking new ideas from people at the conference. However, these people are often complete strangers that we do not work with. I questioned why I don't find this same enthusiasm to share ideas with my colleagues in my own department/building/district.
This show is my rambling thoughts on that issue. It does provide some motivation and some ideas as to why I don't feel excited to share with my colleagues on a daily basis. Perhaps in identifying why I do not attempt to share often (and I am as honest as I can be about the issue), I can begin to change that pattern to allow my closest colleagues to become a trusted part of my personal/professional learning network. As I conclude in the show, in doing so, maybe I will find even greater satistfaction daily if I can begin to count on the people I work with to actively participate in the journey of integrating technology into their/our classroom instruction together.
Sign off
I want to thank you for your time in reading/listening and sharing this site/podcast with others. I also want to encourage you to share your own ideas and reflections with Stacy and I. Please email comments, show ideas, or feedback to gettingtechintoed@gmail.com.
Here's to being back in the podcasting game! You'll hear from us again soon.
Brian and Stacy Yearling
Getting Tech Into Ed co-hosts
Episode 7: Managing digital video projects
Digital video projects can add levels of digital literacy to a classroom that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. This show gives some suggestions for making the integration of digital video projects in your classroom more manageable.
I've experimented in my classroom with digital video since my rookie year as a teacher. In fact, it was a first year video project that began to turn me on to the field of educational technology. For me, digital video is a transformational technology that educators can employ to explore new learning outcomes that were not even possible before video and home video editing was so readily available to consumers/educators.
However, it is clear that many educators do not feel comfortable with the concept of digital video shooting and editing, and it is understandable to hear educators admit they are intimidated by the technology and by the process. Today's show isn't going to work miracles for anyone in the audience. The first step to bringing digital video projects into your classroom is accepting the challenge to try something new, knowing that the process to becoming proficient in this skill area is a bumpy one with pitfalls along the way. If that doesn't sound too much like a pep talk, that's because it isn't. The ability to shoot video and create video projects isn't an unattainable skill. It just requires that teachers accept the reality that they may not know everything right away, and that they may have to rely on people and communities surrounding them to help them out (including students, who can, at times, be the greatest resource of all).
So, today's show is for those teachers who are willing to accept the challenge to accept digital video into your classroom and who are ready to jump head first into the deep end of the pool (I promise you, once you start, you will realize it isn't nearly as scary as you thought). It is also for those who are tinkering or who have worked with digital video for a while, yet are looking for some new tips to try out to make digital video projects even more successful in your classroom.
By listening to the show, you will get a brief mention on a series of tips that I've come up with to make digital video projects smoother and more efficient in their use of class time. The links from the show below will provide a brief synopsis of those tips.
Links from the Show
Pre-planning:
- Do an inventory on what equipment you have available to you
- If you do not have digital video cameras, digital cameras with video can work well.
- Find out what video editing program is available on the computer already
- Two common programs: Windows Movie Maker (pc) or IMovie (Mac)
- Based on your personal skill level, locate online tutorials matched to your ability level
- Examine your curriculum and determine what learning objectives MUST be demonstrated
- If you don't know what they are supposed to show you, how will they know?
- Engage your tech support network at this point and allow them to provide support to you
Before the shooting/editing begins:
- Clearly communicate your learning objectives immediately, in writing and verbally
- Provide a grading rubric before any planning begins
- Force students to actively engage in a rigorous pre-planning/storyboarding process
- This will allow you to avoid major errors before the hard/tedious work begins.
- If you are doing group work, take an ability/skills inventory of your students
- Create groups based on varied abilities and skills that will be needed
- Make sure you've got a "tech" or "video" person, a write, and actors in each group
- Provide just enough camera and software training without going into overkill mode
- Students are more capable with cameras than most adults...they use them daily
- Students will need an introduction into the layout of the video editing software
- Keep your expectations and the students ideas in the realm of realistic
- Feature films take thousands of man hours and lots of expensive equipment to create
- Setting realistic goals will make the end product more fulfilling and less intimidating
- Spend time teaching or showing kids various types of shots that can be done on cameras
- Interesting videos can be created by creatively thinking about the shots included
- Spend more time on this than on camera basics or software tutorials
- Give yourself more time than you think you need. I always overshoot by one week
Lights, Camera, Action: During shooting and editing
- While shooting in class may be fun, encourage students to do acting/shooting at home
- Acting/shooting can take a lot of valuable class time...keep that for the editing needs
- Save, save, save...and remind your students to do so as well
- Editing can use lots of computer resources that cause computers to crash
- Regular saving can help students to avoid "losing it all"
- Encourage students to keep files organized and in one common place
- If in groups, make sure all group members know how to access those files
- Constantly reiterate the learning objectives for the project
- Have "background" work that can be done at the same time as video editing
- While these are labor intensive projects, you will have completion at different times
- This will also help to keep kids on task and working toward finishing their project
- Maintain open communication between group members
- Dominant group members can kill the collaborative spirit...keep them at bay
- Encourage all students to utilize their skill set (they've identified) to contribute
Finishing the project and screening it
- Each video program has a procedure for "finishing" the movie (combining files into one file)
- Review that process with your students regularly
- Before the movie is finished and burned to CD/DVD, have the group review the movie
- Give them a copy of the rubric and have them score their project
- This will encourage them to make changes instead of saying, "Good enough!"
- Announce a screening day that will allow the whole class to view the projects
- Set a date for a pre-screening day "run through"
- This is where you check to make sure the files/cds/dvds all work on your computer
- This encourages students to finish on time and makes screening day flow better
- Stick to the standards set forth in your rubric -- beautiful movies that do not demonstrate learning should not be given a pass because they look nice
Final Tips
- Keep students focused and remind them they are not Hollywood producers
- Students tend to focus on details that do not impact the big picture of the movie
- Guide them through this by encouraging them to come back to it at the end
- Encourage students to do the editing at school
- While sometimes unavoidable, if the editing is done at one person's home, then they will be doing most of the work
- Digital video projects are powerful when the group is involved
- Be understanding...accidents happen and issues come up. Be flexible when you can.
- Start small -- big projects take lots of resources and lots of time
- For the beginner to succeed, starting small is an absolute ke
Tech Trial - Storyboard Pro:
This digital/electronic storyboarding software is a free program that allows students to do their storyboarding work on the computer. It provides the flexibility to move shots and scenes around, but it also encourages the directors to be incredibly detailed before they begin shooting. A sharp little program
Tech Trial - Teach with Video:
Steven Katz has put together a nice resource for teachers to come to for resources and ideas to improve their digital video projects. Steven has an impressive podcast, great ideas, and some useful resources on the website. This isn't geared to solely beginners or to experienced movie editors. There are a wide range of ideas and resources that visitors can utilize. Check it out, and make sure you check out his podcast.
If you've got questions, comments, ideas, suggestions, or want to share your use of non-linear PowerPoints with me, send it to: gettingtechintoed@gmail.com
Thanks for listening.
Brian Yearling
Host and Instructional Technology Enthusiast