Working on my script for my 90 second video reminded me of how many, many, MANY details go into even the smallest piece of film. Through, twists and turns that are difficult to explain in a blog, my class and I were filmed for a year for a documentary that is coming out soon. The amount of equipment required for this simple shoot was astounding. For even a simple 90 second spot, you've got to include a ton of different elements to make sure that you get your message across. Looking at all the examples, reminded me how very quickly 90 seconds can go past. I tried t keep some really important elements in mind.
1. Audience
I wanted to stay focused on my audience. My capstone project, like most, is aimed toward teachers. Teachers have to attend a lot of training and watch a lot of presentations. They are usually pressed for time. I wanted to draw my audience in by making my script dynamic and less a presentation with dull facts. In short, I aim to provide them with a picture of what my entire capstone.
2. Purpose
It is essential to stay on target and keep your purpose in your sight line. If the purpose of my video is to cause those who experience to look more closely at my capstone project, then my aim must be to cause curiosity. As I worked on my various drafts of script, it was this that I tried to keep in mind. I kept asking myself, "What words, images and explanations would cause a teacher to want to learn more about gamification?"
3. Creativity
This was really important to me as I worked on my drafts. Everyone has had to sit through presentation after presentation, and I am hoping to make my video a bit more creative. I want it to be interesting and informative. I am hoping that my finished product will be unique but still including all the essential elements of the assignment. I am hoping that if it is creative enough, it will be a focal point that draws people to the website, and even more importantly, pushes them to consider utilizing gamification in their classrooms. I will be using WeVideo because I am familiar with it. I have already made three videos for my students this year with it. Whenever I launch a new quest for my students, I create a video launch. I love the way you can edit multiple layers of both sound and film in WeVideo, and how easy it is to incorporate green screen elements whenever necessary. I also consider Adobe Spark, as I love all the elements you can use with it, but wanted to focus on making my video, not on how to make a video. I plan on exploring Adobe Spark more in the future.
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Spending the last four years at a school that includes not only a high level of second language learners, but a high level of children living in poverty, has forced me to look closely at the issues of transliteracy. The basic learning experiences that I would expect to students to have had before coming to my classroom do not exist for many of my students. Understanding can be the biggest barrior to their success. It is important, then, to find ways to bridge those gaps in understanding. We cannot simply hand them a book or give them a vocabulary list. For true understanding to take place, we have to find multiple ways to bridge connections.
In my own classroom, when encountering new words with my students, I would often also teach them the American Sign Language for that same word, hoping that the brain/body connection would improve their retention and understanding. I used the website: https://www.signingsavvy.com. I have strongly argued for the inclusion of students' own technology whenever possible. Students who have phones (there are fewer on our campus than more afluent schools) use them as their strongest means of communication and understanding. It would be beneficial then, to include those phones in our classrooms. Flipggrid is a great way to do that. As it stands now, I try to include videos that students can rewatch when introducing new concepts to my students. For example, when we begin to tackle html/CSS, I have them access the instructional videos at Khan Academy, Code School, and Code.org to help support every learner. While some of my students respond tothe very straightforward approach of Khan Academy others find the game-style approach of Code School to be more understandable.
All of this is very important for me to consider when building my capstone project. Creating a custom-made game framework for my class involved a great deal of thought and programming. I spent much of my summer trying to find the perfect way to create the game, and finally found a fantastic previously formatted spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is very complex, and most people become intimidated when looking at it. This is very important for me to remember when thinking about how to share this information with other teachers. I was already attempting to create my own spreadsheet when I stumbled upon the premade one. Few teachers already know how to use spreadsheets and create formulas within them, and if I were to show the spreadsheet to them, they might just turn away and never attempt to gamify their class or unit. When I built my game, I used the step-by-step video tutorials to ensure that I was building it correctly. This was far more effective for me than simply reading the instructions. I have found that providing a simple screencast or video for teachers who are new or even fearful of technology is a really great way to support them. I recently started holding Appy Hours at my campus, so that teachers can just drop by my classroom and try out some new apps or websites. This type of relaxed and nonthreatening learning environment is meant to encourage even the tech-reluctant to try some new approaches in their classroom. My capstone project needs to have this same awareness and delicate approach to teachers, who would be part of my intended audience. How can I best draw in and support teachers who are reluctant to try technology? Will videos and screencast best support them? Would lists and step-by-step instructions be best? Would a simple script of written explanations be the most effective means of communication? My experience is that EVERY type of instruction is best. Allowing students, and teacher who are students, to choose the best method for themselves not only improves their understanding, but also their own sense of autonomy and agency. For example, when I taught freshman English I cam to discover that students' desire for autonomy could be used to my benefit. Instead of simply assigning a paper when we had compelted our reading of The Odyssey, I gave my students freedom of choice. "Figure out the best way that YOU communicate your understanding, and show me that you understand." I would point out to them that this was to be the equivalent of a paper or an exam on the topic, so they should put in the appropriate amount of effort. The results were extraordinary. One group of students banded together, built a puppet theater, made puppets and performed key scenes from the book for the class, one girl composed an original piece of music that expressed the various themes of the book, and another group recreated the story using stop-motion animation. Nearly every student put in a great deal more effort than I would have expected if the assignment had been a paper. They were allowed to communicate in the medium they felt they spoke best in -- film, music, or drama. Giving students the freedom to choose how they expressed themselves, allowed them to "speak" more clearly to me. Those few students who put little to no effort into the project were for the most part, the same ones who generally put little to no effort into paper writing, too, and while they didn't create their own meaningful project, they were exposed repeatedly to their classmates projects. This helped them build a better understanding of The Odyssey than any exam or paper could have. When thinking about transliteracy, it is important not only to consider the various ways that I can communicate to my students, teachers and parents, but also the many ways that students can communicate with us. Allowing students to choose how they communicated their understanding with me was risky, but the pay off way huge, when students were allowed to speak in their clearest, and true voice. This was my first attempt at a logo design for my Capstone project. When I created it, my driving question was still firmly steeped in writing, researching and thinking about the impact of coding on critical thinking skills for students. I wanted to show something that represented the ways that technology can make connections as in synapses being formed and connections between individuals. I also tend to be drawn to clean graphics and therefore generally prefer sans serif over serif. This was my second attemp at the logo, and once I created it, I really like the way it turned out. I liked the simplicity of it both in black, here, and in white with a black blackground. Again, I found a way to represent the connections that can be made when persuing a stronger understanding of computer science. I also really liked the idea that the words "digital reality" imply not only making things that are digital real, but reshaping your own reality with your digital skills. Over the course of time, my driving question and design for my Capstone has shifted. I've recently gamified my entire course, and am enjoying learning and experiementing with that. I created this logo to reflect that shift. Again, I selected clean lines, and simple images. I find that logos that are crowded with images send unclear messages, and are really hard to replicate cleanly in print materials. I'm not completely settled on this logo, or even this title. I'm still in the experimental phases of this process. I would really like calling my project: Ready Player One, but that would a copyright enfringement. I suppose that just goes to show how impactful that title is and that the author who created it knew what he was doing. My concerns for this particular title is that people will immediately think about the Everyone-gets-a-trophy mentality, which isn't what I mean at all. I was thinking about the importance of positivity and encouragement in the classroom, and creating a structure of gaming in the classroom that isn't solely competitive but also collaborative. Everybody wins because everybody learns, grows and develops. As I mentioned earlier, I am still working on it. For all of these attempts, I worked in google draw, and within Squarespace. I have a personal daily blog on squarespace, and thus have access to their really beautiful logo builder. Sometimes, I really appreciate their designs as is, but more often than not, use them as a starting point to guide my own vision for the logo. In all of these designs, I wanted my message to be visually effective. I wanted people to be able to glance at the logo and have some sense of what it is that I am creating. This was much more complex with the concept of Digital Reality - how do I successfully represent critical thinking, brain connections, and connections with your future goals? I also tend to rely on words, as it is the way that I learn and communicate most comfortably. However, I recognize that my students and the parents of my students might be limited in their understand as a result of language barriers. Using a more clear image, might help convey my message more effectively and draw students in more quickly. Most of my students and their parents, are VERY familiar with the game system image that I've included in my latest logo design. The familiarity of it might encourage students to participate. I recently created a logo for my class website (my curriculum for my K-5 technology course) and I have been surprised by how quickly students have come to associate that logo with our class. We included it on our school web page for students, and even my smallest students can find it and click on it to reach the website. I have really appreciated the way that an image can bring a clear connection. Some of my youngest students are newcomers who speak very little English, however, they can navigate to my website because they recognize the image. Here is the link to the website. My students use it daily and I built it over the process of the last four years. If you are interested, the code to access the Edtech Camp page is: phillipsFAM. This is my newest section of the website and intended to be a support to my fellow coworkers. It is only password protected in order to demonstrate to other teachers that you CAN password protect a portion of your website.
All of this reading about design, has led me to think deeply about the image I choose to represent my capstone project so that it conveys meaning to the greatest number of indivuals. If my intent is to reach as many people as possible, than I must be thoughtful in my approach. |