Integrating Video Production in Career & Technical Education

Blog 6 Using Digital Video Production in Career & Technical Education

In Bremer and Clark?s article ?Filming Compassion?, they explore integrating video production as it can be integrated into service learning.  Students are asked to produce a video for use as a promotion tool or as an informational tool for nonprofit agencies.  We once again see the theory of constructionism at work, learning by doing.  Although this article is concerned with an actual video production class, I believe this concept can be broadened and applied to all Career and Technical Education classes.

There is a common misconception that students cannot pursue this type of project due to the expense of the equipment.  But, as this equipment is not for an actual video production class, I can see the concept working with some digital video cameras purchased for around $1000.00, some microphones extensions, lighting equipment and cabling.  There maybe a need from some computer equipment, but in all likelihood, current computers would probably just require a memory upgrade.  In terms of the software required to edit the video, there's plenty of free software.  Software available free of charge includes Windows Movie Maker (available on Win XP products), Avid FreeDV from www.avid.com/freedv, VirtualDub at www.virtualdub.org, and Wax at http://www.debugmode.com/was.  In addition, for $10.00, Serif Movie Plus 1.0 is available for download at www.serif.com.

In terms of grading the students? submissions, Bremer and Clark provide a rubric in their article which can be distributed to the participants to ensure they understand the requirements.  During the creation process, storyboarding, filming, editing etc., student projects would need to be evaluated to determine strong and weak areas of the projects.  I envision this almost like a research paper project for English class where things like note cards, outlines and drafts are evaluated by the teacher while the research and writing process takes place.

The types of projects I envision kids participating in vary by subject area.  However, all have the purpose of being informative.  An example would be a project for an Agriculture class would be to create an informative video targeted at elementary school kids that explain the correct process of planting and caring for various plants.  These plants could be those commonly planted in gardens or ones they might see in their own yards.  The high school students could include interviews with their teachers, local feed store individuals, community folks etc.  The whole idea is to get the kids to learn more about what they are trying to teach the elementary school kids. 

We have Health Occupations classes that could use this concept to create informative videos for certain sectors of the population, such as the elderly to be given away at the Senior Center, regarding health issues.  The main point for any of these projects is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the kids regarding their subject matter.  The additional benefits are exposure for the CTE classes and increased efficiency in writing, planning and in using the required equipment.

Within the Business and Marketing Education Curriculum, video production could be easily integrated.  The Sports and Entertainment Marketing Class could create promotional videos for the various sports teams on the high school campus as well as for community events such as our local Apple Festival.  The Business Department instructors could work together with local businesses to allow students to create promotional videos for those businesses to be shown on the school?s internal video system.  The students get a project they enjoy and learn from and the local business gets free advertising for a segment of the population, teenagers, they don?t normally reach with other types of advertising.  Students would need to understand marketing concepts, business goals and how to reach their peer audience. 

Creating informative videos is a cost-effective way to enhance student learning for Career & Technical Education Students.

Posted at 06:09AM Nov 07, 2006 by BISHOP, KIMBERLY in General  |  Comments[2]