Wednesday, 4 March 2009

New Media in Action



To continue a theme raised in the previous post on 'The Creative Economy' I thought it might be a good idea to look at a recent relevant example of creativity in action. Miss Piwko has worked with two year eight students and their Geography teacher to produce a wonderful film on the Kobe earthquake.

The film is obviously fantastic, but as well as enjoying it, it might be worth thinking about the process that made it. Firstly we had a teacher who encouraged students to explore a range of ways of demonstrating and extending their understanding. Secondly we had staff who were keen to share good practice and explore news ways of working and liaise to make the film happen. Lastly we had a way of working that was great fun, totally engaging and produced something that people can share and use again and again.

What would happen if more students had the expertise and access to technology that helped make this film? What impact would it have on motivation and student independence and self-esteem? How would the school benefit from students being able to share their work with peers and future students in such a fresh and effective way?

Congratulations to Dayo and Unathi, Miss Piwko and Mr Greig for a fantastic example of what can be achieved.

Mr. Hawes

1 comment:

Jon said...

What I love most about this film is the way the boys have played around with the conventions of broadcast news journalism to re-present their knowledge and understanding of a particular event. The range of skills used in the creation of this film is extraordinary and it's a fantastic example of media literacy in action. The challenge for us is how to make experiences like this accessible to more students. This will require a combination of vision, resources (human and technological) and a flexible curriculum with time and space for extended learning experiences.