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Real World Example

    The video clip above was created using NewsBooth in the Apple Store.  Green screen technology is all the rage but the easiest way to put kids in front of the camera without having any technology ability is this app which superimposes the title headers onto video.  

   Throughout the year one of our enrichment activities was the creation of hoax news stories. The stories were either done as a creative exercise or were aligned to historical prompts. For example when writing on Mesopotamia students were asked to create a short story based on a student who created a time machine for the science fair and went back to ancient Iraq. Another popular prompt included students writing about finding a specific ancient artifact in the school yard and then infusing their tale with the history. In the video above students were asked to create a video for a school-wide anti-bullying campaign.

Pros

1. The process is cheap because you only need one recording device for the class.

2. Every part of the project is created by the students.

3. It is easy to align the videos to specific standards if you use a prompt.

 Cons

1. You will have to train students to work cooperatively because without it your extrovert students will dominate the technology.

Rolling out the Technology (Beginners)

The best way to have students work on a project like this is through cooperative learning. It is important to have the script done before you begin creating the video. By giving students a voice or platform for different talents you can create cooperative learning groups based on skills.

   In one position it was not possible to immediately jump into cooperative learning; that was okay because it meant I needed buy-in from a majority of the classroom.  My way to engage my class was by hand-selecting students who showed an interest and then helping direct them as everyone else was finishing up regular “busy work.” By the time we were finished with the end product the interest of the rest of the class had peaked. In the end it was easier for me to introduce the value of cooperative learning and roles. Using an old beat-up iphone I was able to have students create their videos during recess and outside of precious instructional time.