"Grading" an assignment is a judgement of how well the completed work met the requirements of the assignment. The background information provided with School Train states that the students needed to demonstrate they understood the concept of a metaphor. As a completed media piece, this work clearly shows an understanding of metaphors, with clear parallels being drawn between school and trains. However, without being present while the video was being created, I have some concerns that all students understand the concept. A large part of the effectiveness of this type of project comes from participation in the creation of the project. If the project was broken into smaller segments where each child could have meaningful interaction with the project prior to the project's assembly as a whole, then the success of the project increases.
Assessing Fox Becomes a Better Person is not as clear-cut. The objectives for the assignment are not provided, but I can see this project fulfilling several needs.
- Writing--creating an original book, including artwork
- Traditional storytelling--including public performance of the story
- Technology--blending the first two elements into something better than either element alone.
Assuming these criteria had been provided to Hannah ahead of time, assessing this piece becomes a joy. As the background images clearly demonstrate, Hannah understands the traditional print media version of a story. Her illustrations and text make a complete story. Her storytelling was wonderfully done, with expressive body language and voice. But it is her blending of the paper media and verbal storytelling that makes this video medium piece so effective.
Q: What impacts could the developments portrayed in epic2015 have on your classroom, particularly with respect to things like podcasting?
The main thrust of the epic2015 piece centers around where news will come from and how news will be available to people in the future. What is perhaps even more difficult to predict than the evolution of news media in the future is how young people will respond to new types of information delivery. Will personalized news cause students to be more interested in world events? Local events? What about events inside their own classroom? Indeed, the most intriguing idea brought up by this piece is the immediacy of how information can be delivered. Imagine the collaboration that becomes possible if two students can share information more effectively than if they were actually talking. One student could be struggling on a concept, post for help, and almost instantaneously get graphic, audio, or text help from other students--even remote students. If educators can harness the personalized collaborative technology predicted in epic2015, students may begin to receive truly personalized education.
Q: How might you use Sabrina’s piece as a model for something you would do with your own students?
SabrinaJourney does a wonderful job of demonstrating an introspective piece of video media. Her repeated questions set up a wonderful theme and cadence for the piece while showing how the same question can have many different answers. Conveniently, her piece surrounds questions in her life after high school, thus removing the temptation for a student to merely copy her work. I can see using her piece as a model for students on a reflective writing/media project. This could prove to be a very useful project for students who have not had much exposure to technology, as the self is a subject which everyone has ample information. Thus, the challenge of mastering a topic is removed somewhat as a new challenge (creating a multimedia piece) is introduced.
No comments:
Post a Comment