Multimedia and Media Literacy
The multimedia design process is much like the process we teach students when tackling a problem or writing a story. The preproduction phase involves the planning-what are the key ideas. Students should have the opportunity to identify individual thoughts first before proceeding to small group discussion. If students write their ideas, all students are then able to share. Small groups can then be formed to clarify and cumulate ideas. The whole group can then solidify and articulate the key ideas. Storyboards are a great tool to put the ideas on paper. An introduction, script to expand the ideas, and a conclusion shows that the ideas have been communicated-much the same as writing a story, but now students get to use multimedia. The production phase typically engages students even more. Students should plan for extra footage before and after the desired action. Filming can be corrected using movie software. The postproduction phase involves previewing, critiquing and distributing. Previewing involves analyzing and planning for the presentation introduction, lighting and sound. The decision must also be made about format and how the movie will be used.
I see tremendous potential for multimedia in the classroom. Students in my class could do a movie presentation to introduce incoming 6th graders to the middle school. It could include student and teacher interviews about things to look forward to, address concerns or questions. They could talk about after school activities and some of the differences between elementary and middle school. We could post it on our web site and make it available to parents or people thinking about moving to the area.
My concern and reason I have not tackled a movie project is my own lack of knowledge and experience. I have tried to learn a couple different programs and found it to be time consuming and at times difficult. We don’t have a lot of equipment, and I wonder how to involve an entire class in a project, keep it meaningful and keep them all on task.
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Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI agree, it does take time to learn the program that you choose to use, but it's worth it. Kids love to see themselves on the TV when the project is completed. Depending on the computers you have, Windows Movie Maker is pretty easy to use. If you have Macs, I hear iMovie operates fairly similarly. The biggest headache I've had is making sure the video format is supported by the program. However, most cameras come with software that ensures you don't have to have such worries. Available equipment is difficult. I have the same issues here. To have then entire class working on a project, everyone could shoot the video at different stages, but then edit at the same time if you have enough computers, which could ensure that all are busy with the assignment.
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteJust as Bryan stated, multimedia projects are so much fun for students to do--they really get into learning the material because they are excited to demonstrate their learning through video, narration, music etc. We use iMovie and it is fairly easy is you use simple directions and not give all the details! you can also do a digital storytelling project using pictures and narration--Microsoft's PhotoStory on the web. My students report that it is easy to use. Remember that you do not need to know everything about an application. Have small teams learn to use the programs and then divide these experts into your working teams.
Give it a try! You will find the excitement is contagious!
Joan