Last semester, I had the opportunity to watch some fantastic videos created by Joel Helmer’s geography students. Following a visit to the Sandhills, Dr. Helmer asked his students to work in teams and develop an educational video using either Photostory 3 or iMovie. Dr. Helmer offered the following description of the project and its relationship to the course objective:
“My objective in this course (Geog 281 – Physical Geography and Geology) is to provide students the opportunity to learn in-depth about the physical geography of a region (the Sandhills) in class and then visit it to see and experience firsthand. I want students to gain experience collecting primary data while in the field and then use this information. This forces (encourages?) them to make connections between what they see and what they have learned and what they will ultimately share via their videos.”
Working in teams, the students created 5-7 minute videos that addressed different topics related to the physical geography of the Sandhills. Prior to creating the video, students were responsible for putting together pre-production storyboards, where they laid out their images, narration, and sources. The results were truly impressive, and it was obvious that the students really enjoyed the project, including its infusion of technology:
“I enjoyed this project in that I learned an enormous amount of information about interdunal wetlands that I would not have learned if I had not completed this project. Using technology like iMovie ’11 made interdunal wetlands that much more exciting to work with and observe as a finished project.
The benefits of using this type of technology are endless. Several benefits might include: possessing a digital copy of the presentation for future use, gaining familiarity of this movie-making technology to use personally or for other classes, presenting information in an effective way that caters to the visual needs of this digital generation, boosting the excitement of students about topics and information that might come off as boring at first, and bringing student groups closer through working together on an engaging project. Without a doubt, using iMovie ’11 for this project was one of the greatest experiences in my educational career.” -Ben Fisher
“What I really enjoyed about the project was that we were able to actually go out and see/experience the Sandhills, then put the project together from our pictures. It was a great experience as a class (growing together and getting to know one another) as well as individually (learning).
I think it’s always good to include technology in the classroom. It gives the students a chance to learn something new and work with programs they have never used before.” -Angela Fick
Ben Fisher, Stephen Kuske, Angela Fick, and Jessica O’Laughlin were kind enough to give me permission to share their videos with you. As you watch them, I encourage you to think about how you might integrate a similar project into your own course!
Interdunal Wetlands by Ben Fisher and Stephen Kuske (using iMovie ’11)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtBmG36h7-I]
Sandhills Journey by Angela Fick and Jessica O’Laughlin (using Photostory 3)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7CLghv8SnY]
