Ninety minutes. Camera. Tripod. Two AA batteries. SD Card. Paper. Popsicle sticks. Markers. More markers. Scissors. More paper. An ipod for writing the script. Many laughs. Collaboration.
Making a
common craft video is fun. A lot of work, especially in such a short time period, but definitely fun. During our last Technology and Education class, a group of four of us, given the task to create a common craft video, quickly picked (too big of) a topic - the plot of Up - and got to work. One writing the script. Three drawing and cutting furiously. We ran out of time, and showed the second take to the class. Not perfect by any means, but definitely fun. (Not linked here, simply because I don't have a copy...)
This exercise started me thinking about the different ways I could use common craft in my own classroom. In previous blog posts, I've discussed one of the benefits of technology as being student engagement. Engaging this form of technology myself, as a student, gives me the ability to see the way that students could be drawn into this project. Students (I am thinking of the junior grades now) can exercise their imagination and creativity, not only in creating a script but also in developing the characters for it.
A project like this will exercise various literacy skills (viewing, representing, speaking listening, reading, writing) in a new way. It will also incorporate a new literacy - that of technology, using and operating different equipment.
This new literacy of technology is becoming more and more prevalent in the classroom and in everyday life. That second aspect makes the first one important. If daily life is requiring students to interact with technology more and more, then school - the preparatory grounds for life - ought to reflect that. While I do not advocate for an entirely technological approach in the classroom, I do believe that the presence of technology in this century must be something that is thought about and engaged by educators, in order to help students work well in this new digital age.
Common craft videos, the use of GoogleDocs for collaboration, digital art and media projects, and the simple use of a word processor for written work are all ways that teachers can help develop a responsible sense of technological literacy in their class.
Great post - I really like the idea of using Common Craft Videos in the classroom. It makes perfect sense really as most children have already been making videos of themselves and their friends on their ipads and iphones. I also love the idea of making education fun again! I think that students would really enjoy putting together these videos and it will teach them (as you said) technological literacy but also how to work together as a team.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts, Sarah! I also enjoyed creating a common craft video. For primary students, this will be a great way to teach about various subjects! I think becoming technologically literate is so important for a teacher. We need to become literate so that we can share these new technologies with colleagues and with our students. Thanks for your thoughts!
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