Ocotillo Spotlight on Instructional Technology
Note: The Ocotillo Spotlight is no longer published, but all previous issues will remain on this site.
spotlight for February 2002
The February 2002 Ocotillo Spotlight shines brightly on faculty and students at Mesa Community College who share their views and examples of using digitial video in teaching and learning.
Doug Sawyer
Ocotillo Faculty Chair
doug.sawyer@scmail.maricopa.edu
Digital Media for the Digital Generation: Spotlight on the Future
by Richard Effland, Cultural Sciences, Mesa Community College
reffland@mail.mc.maricopa.edu
I recently passed by another birthday and someone commented that I seemed much younger - while that was a nice compliment it did not get me past thinking back to the first time that I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.  It was a black on white television with a group of teenagers all huddled around doing what everyone did when you saw the Beatles for the first time. I wonder if any of our students have a black and white television these days?
We are talking about the "digital generation" aren't we? These are times that try men's souls in a way that some founding father who said that nearly two hundred and twenty years ago never envisioned. Keeping up with the changes in technology is enough to try one's soul - not to mention one's patience. We live in a frightening world where the idea of creating your own movie is not weird. We are not all Steve Spielberg or George Lucas but this is a time when we can create our own movies - without a Hollywood price tag!
A year ago, Mesa Community College funded some "innovative projects" proposed by faculty. This was my chance to be a movie producer so I requested a Sony digital video camera and an iMac. Why Sony? Well - Ken Costello said it had to be Sony because it was the most robust and versatile video camera. I trusted his experience and wisdom and we purchased a Sony model DCR-TRV20 camera. Why iMac? This was my choice. I have an iMac at home and had begun to explore the uses of a new Apple product called iMovie. The ease of use was clearly something that made iMovie very attractive. It did not take rocket science to figure out how it worked. I also realized that to exchange digital video from the camera to the computer was a matter of firewire - fast and easy. So the "innovative project" enabled us to acquire the resources and I was off to be a movie producer....oh what a dream. If I could only start over and be young again - I could be in Hollywood!
As I explored iMovie I realized how very easy it was. The first week I had the camera I took a trip to Montezuma's Castle and took video of the ruins. The purpose was to edit my first video for integration into a course on archaeology. It was a gorgeous day and the footage was great. I input it into my iMac at home and began editing. Importing the video was a snap. Putting in transitions between video segments was even easier. I even put a title on the video with ease. Man - we pay these people in Hollywood too much for this - this was easy. Then I was off on my second project.
This was a movie that would document Mesa's student exchanges to China and serve as a recruiting video for students who wanted to participate in this exchange in the future. I had hundreds of digital images that I sorted through and selected out the best images. I took some of the images that the Mark Jeffers had taken while participating in the exchange last May. I had Mark and Lisa Baldwin write comments and then record them with the help of Ken Costello. I had Becky Guo and Laura Zhang from Wuyi University in China write out some of their thoughts. With the help of Jenny Deng and Ken Costello, we recorded their comments as well. I wrote out a script of my own and recorded that using an application called Sound Studio.
Once all the pieces were together - images and sounds - I began to assemble the "movie". Two days later it was ready for release. I would lay in a sound file and then images over it. I could match the images to the message. I learned quickly that I could stretch out image length so matching images and content was more a matter of finding the right image than anything else. I downloaded the movie into a QuickTime movie for CD quality and for access on the Web. I also took it back out of the computer to a digital tape - again through firewire to the camera. From the camera, I could then take it to the Center for Teaching and Learning and produce multiple copies of VHS videotape for use in different contexts.
Having had a measure of success, I boldly announced to students that they too could take advantage of this technology and make their own movies for their creative projects. I had four takers. Karla Pagtakhan and Christina Hudson both produced movies using iMovie.
Two other students began to dabble in iMovie and then took other directions to produce their movies. One chose to use Final Cut Pro - a big and scarier version of iMovie. The other chose to use a Windows Media Player application to produce his movie. The new frontier was there in front of me. They not only produced movies but the impact on the classes was intriguing. Students applauded each movie and began to ask how the movie was made. The impact was to leave an impression on everyone in the room, but the pride of the students who had produced the movies was clearly something else. They were not only creative but pioneers and they seemed to recognize that.
The impact of digital video production is there in front of all of us. It is a matter of time before we all will find this new media something other than what we see in a theatre. It will be in our classrooms and we will be the creators. No wonder I feel old sometimes.
I would like to share the latest of the creations - my adventure into a market in Jiangmen China.
I shopped for food here almost on a daily basis while I was teaching at Wuyi University. It is a project that I dreamed of when I was there. I did not have the camera when I was there - so I took it back and captured the scenes I wanted. I think it does capture what I want to share with students and it was not that big a deal. Perhaps, I am glad to be younger than I really am in my mind and willing to try something that could intimidate anyone.
Words from Other Students and Faculty at Mesa Community College
Mark Jeffers, Student
"When I first decided to start to use iMovie I was apprehensive about it, because the idea of creating and producing my own movie with images and sound seemed to be a complex idea. I was amazed how easy it really was, the system is setup very straight forward. I had no previous experience and managed to create a movie with titles, narration and background music. After obtaining the instruction manual a few weeks later I discovered only a few more tricks that I didn't already know, the software is simple enough to teach yourself with out the manual with much thanks to a well designed help center."
Peggy Johnson, faculty, Life Science
I'm using digital video to demonstrate for students how to use the eqiupment
they have available to them for experiments in an online biology course. For
most of our on-campus and online laboratory classes, we pose a question,
students develop hypotheses to answer the question, and then they design an
experiment to gather evidence that will lead them to support or refute the
hypothesis they are testing.
In my online biology class students purchase supplies they use in the
experiments they conduct at home. However, they do not have the benefit of the usual demonstration we provide in the on-campus classes, where we show them how the equipment setup might work best. It's become apparent after several semesters of online instruction, that some students are unable to grasp how to use the supplies to conduct their desired experiment solely from text-based media. I am using digital video to create movies of me conducting the type of introduction I would do on campus. Students will access this on a CD-ROM as they encounter experimental designs that are confusing to them otherwise.
Karla Pagtakhan, Student
Creating the movie was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I not only educated myself with the topic I presented, but also learned the process of piecing together clips to compose the film. I honestly could say it was hard work and patience was necessary. I had to think a lot to fit it all together. Every piece had to fit in order to complete the "puzzle". Once the movie was completed, however, I realized that all of the work and patience was truly a huge payoff for me. I had learned a lot more than what I would have learned from just writing a paper on the topic.
Digital Video in Teaching and
Learning: In the Hands of Students
by Dennis Wilson, Life Science, Mesa Community College and Red Mountain
dennis.wilson@mcmail.maricopa.edu
Overwhelming research data shows that interactive video significantly improves student achievement outcomes relative to more traditional teaching approaches (do you need refs, I have many?). With the introduction of easy to use and inexpensive desktop video production hardware and software (most notably Apple's iMovie), students can participate and become involved in actually creating the interactive video content. Thus students make the huge leap of moving beyond passive recipients of information, to active participants in the creative synthesis of information and concepts, in an engaging, inspiring, and collaborative activity.
This semester I have included an iMovie project in a Bio 100 class. Students will develop a short movie on Evolution after spending several weeks of class studying the concepts of evolution. In addition to developing higher levels of content competency, students will develop the movie and benefit as follows:
| Process |
Benefits by Process |
Global Benefits |
| Project Planning & Brainstorm |
Organizational skills. Cooperative learning. |
- Work in groups
- Collaborative learning
- Creativity
- Technical competence
- Content expertise
- Engaging
- Motivational
- Interdisciplinary
|
| Writing Script & Organizing Content |
Writing, organizational and forward planning skills. Content expertise. |
| Shoot the video |
Technology proficiency, leadership & direction skills, interaction & group learning.
|
| Edit the footage
|
Creativity & technology competence, critical evaluation (receive and give)
|
| Watch the movie (VCR, DVD, CD-ROM, WEB) |
Self-referential reinforcement of content by seeing ones self and classmates in the movie.
|
Can students master the equipment and technology?
Yes. The Instruction Support lab in the Department of Education at ASU has run highly the successful summer Conexiones Project where middle school age students of migrant farmer workers have successfully mastered iMovie to create exceptional movies.
Have students show any early interest in the project?
Yes. Already students have approached me with ideas on how to illustrate some evolutionary concepts with video and volunteered other movie ideas.
How does this differ from having students watch video or learn by participation in other ways?
Self-referential reinforcement (seeing yourself or someone known to you in the video) is a powerful captivator of attention. Because students take part and develop the production they have ownership of the project and vested interest in its success. Research shows that interactive video falls more under the auspices of CBT (Computer Based Training) but maintains roots in traditional video education. Thus, the established synergy and benefits of both of these avenues are added to the value of learning by participation.
The Future of Digital Video For Teaching and Learning - As I See It
by Instructional Technologist, Center for Teaching and Learning
paul.hietter@mcmail.maricopa.edu
Any discussion of digital video must first start with the issue of how it is delivered-on-line, or via transportable media (such as a DVD). DVDs allow for much easier cueing up of particular parts of a program than do VHS tapes. Thus, once digital video recorders and DVD discs become more affordable they will replace VCRs and analog video tapes. Instead of popping in a video, instructors will instead play a DVD. A huge disadvantage of DVDs, however, resides in the efforts of content producers to virtually eliminate the lawful rights of content buyers to produce copies for personal use-or more important, at least as far as instructors are concerned, to copy limited portions of a DVD for use in teaching (For an argument against these efforts, see the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Post-Hearing Comments Requesting Exemption of DVDs from Section 1201(a)).
On-line or live digital video is still problematic, and barring any sensational technological innovation (which, of course, could very well occur), will probably remain so for awhile. Even with reasonably high-end computer equipment and a high bandwidth connection (such as cable or DSL), most viewers must still resort to viewing a small screen to get descent resolution. Therefore, any use of digital video nowadays should seek to achieve an explicit (and worthwhile) goal that cannot be accomplished in another way. Moreover, before investing in expensive video networking equipment it is incumbent upon institutions to outline precisely how it will be used. Does it solve a heretofore unsolvable teaching/learning/communication problem? Is it being used to meet the needs of an underused market? In addition, there is the question as to how it will be used for teaching. Currently, some college instructors are grappling with the challenge of making their courses focus more on active learning. Others are content with the standard lecture format-regardless of whether it is a 1, 2 or 3-hour course. On-line/live digital video could result in an incredibly rich and exciting learning experience if it is used in conjunction with teaching innovations that force students to be active learners. Or, it could simply be a ridiculously expensive way to deliver the same old talking head to more people.
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