This is going to be a quick post, but it's something that hit me as I was walking out of a meeting, and I have learned that I need to write them down before I forget.
I was having a conversation with Kyle Wood (a 5th grade teacher who is awesome, and you need to check his stuff out), about video making. My kids have tried to do all iterations of videos: with puppets and without; making video SparkNotes of chapters in Of Mice and Men and videos about How To Fix Your Terrible Grammar. And they are largely mediocre, if we're being perfectly honest. There are funny moments and instructive moments, but it has proven very difficult to be both entertaining and to communicate concrete concepts. For example, they have grammar videos that teach the concept well, but are kind of dry and dull; they also have videos that are entertaining, but at the same time, people watch their videos, laugh, and don't learn the concept they were supposed to learn. The lede is buried.
There are so many "non-academic" skills they need to be successful in this type of video production. They need to be able to shoot clear videos and edit them. They need to be competent puppeteers. They need to be able to write engaging scripts that communicate personalities.
Oh, and they need to understand their content well enough to communicate it to others. Which, in many cases, forces them to step up their research skills as well.
The issue is this: how much time do we need to spend allowing them to revise their original videos? How well do the videos need to be revised before they are made available to a public audience? Is the process the point, even if the videos don't all succeed in doing what they claim to do?
And how much time do we need to spend giving them space to learn video editing skills, etc? Or is this a try/fail/do it again, but with a different project? Maybe it's better to just get on to the next project.
I am struggling with this (and finding time for ALL OF THE THINGS). If you have any ideas, please share on Twitter or in the comments.
I was having a conversation with Kyle Wood (a 5th grade teacher who is awesome, and you need to check his stuff out), about video making. My kids have tried to do all iterations of videos: with puppets and without; making video SparkNotes of chapters in Of Mice and Men and videos about How To Fix Your Terrible Grammar. And they are largely mediocre, if we're being perfectly honest. There are funny moments and instructive moments, but it has proven very difficult to be both entertaining and to communicate concrete concepts. For example, they have grammar videos that teach the concept well, but are kind of dry and dull; they also have videos that are entertaining, but at the same time, people watch their videos, laugh, and don't learn the concept they were supposed to learn. The lede is buried.
There are so many "non-academic" skills they need to be successful in this type of video production. They need to be able to shoot clear videos and edit them. They need to be competent puppeteers. They need to be able to write engaging scripts that communicate personalities.
Oh, and they need to understand their content well enough to communicate it to others. Which, in many cases, forces them to step up their research skills as well.
The issue is this: how much time do we need to spend allowing them to revise their original videos? How well do the videos need to be revised before they are made available to a public audience? Is the process the point, even if the videos don't all succeed in doing what they claim to do?
And how much time do we need to spend giving them space to learn video editing skills, etc? Or is this a try/fail/do it again, but with a different project? Maybe it's better to just get on to the next project.
I am struggling with this (and finding time for ALL OF THE THINGS). If you have any ideas, please share on Twitter or in the comments.
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