[icon name="fa-send"] STANDARD 1: facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
John Keisker approached the Learning Technology Office looking for ideas to engage his Individuals and Societies students with their study of the Song Dynasty. Thanks to John’s passion for photography and video, we were able to compose an assignment in which the students could experiment with the school’s new green screen.
Students used a variety of skills to complete the project:
- Students researched the knowledge needed for their video.
- Students needed to write a script in which they reinterpreted and summarized information.
- Students gained presenting and speaking practice.
When students wrote their scripts, they had to identify the big ideas associated with the topic and talked around the ideas instead of copying text from the reading material. This helped students learn the concepts instead of simply learning facts.
Through the project, all students showed increased engagement; especially those on camera. After watching the videos of themselves, many students wanted to do a retake to make them even better.
A class set of recordings on a given topic could be put into a playlist and shared with students to be used as a study tool, or review materials for the end of a unit.
See John’s How-to-Use-Final-Cut-Pro Videos
Points to consider when using a green screen
- Will you make subtitles for students who do not speak loudly or clearly?
- How will you engage students who are not on camera?
- Have students leave computer with teacher so they can make a copy of the recording directly to their computer when they are done. This was the SD cards stay in circulation and there should always be one ready for the camera.
- Prepare 3-4 SD cards so there is a healthy supply to go around.
What are some other ways to use the green screen?
- Virtual tours
- Talk show
- Historical interviews
- Music videos
- News programs
- See how elementary students at International School of Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) created a short, news announcement about different learning tools.