Picture Day- using video in education
PICTURE DAY, was created by Steve Bognar and the students of Tussing elementary school. One student operated the camera while another student stood in front of the camera acting. Bognar worked with students as interviewers and camera operators. For example, the student operating the camera moved in front of the camera to act while the next student in line operated the camera. This conveyer-belt system allowed every student an opportunity to both operate the camera and act while being filmed. “Picture Day” featured 601 of the school’s students individually posing for the camera with a soundtrack of students discussing the meaning of photographs. Later, the final version of “Picture Day” was edited by Bognar.
After watching “Picture Day,” by Steve Bogner and the children from Tussing Elementary School I would like to tackle these questions with a PMI chart- but since my table formatting abilities are rubbish I will do it as a list.
Plus:
- Student engagement and empowerment
- Constructivist approach
- Integration of technology
- Critical thinking employed if students were involved in developing the Qs and while answering them (analysis and evaluation)-range of Bloom’s taxonomy and De Bono’s thinking hats employed which enabled all students to participate (in essence a differentiated task)
- Self-satisfaction
- Inclusion and freedom of expression
- It looked FUN!
- Use of expert-apprentice
- Being involved in part of a bigger project
- Introduction (perhaps) to using more modern types of ET for teachers
- Opportunities for metacognition post-production
Minus:
- Was likely expert driven- how much did the students really do?
- Time taken to complete such a project is often a luxury in schools not a reality
- Did ALL students really get a chance to be actor and film-maker?
- Very low level use of technology (yes I know, it was 1998!)
Interesting:
- Great to see all of the editing and tricks (wonder if the students were taught how to do this?)
- I wonder if the interviews were audio/video recorded
- How long did it take to compelte?
- Did the teachers start using more modern versions of ET as a result of this project
- How involved were the teachers- really?
- Opportunities to explore the human condition and use the project as a lead in to so many other educational experiences
o A lead in to crating “A day in the life of ….. video”
o Facebook comparison
o The tyranny of photography
o History of photography and it’s implications (war, evidence of crimes of humanities)
o Links to the past- family history- sociology/philosophy
o Human curiosity
o Comparison- how would children in another country react to this project (critical thinking- pen pal project)
My experience with video
ü Claymation
ü Discrepent events- filmed and inserted into PPTs for Science
ü Student ePortfolios
ü Moviemaker Photostories with video clips
ü Travel EXPO presentations
ü Can I make a better….? Innovation/invention videos used for The Apprentice type project