your_voice on Vimeo.
Movie about the use of cameras in the science classroom by Kaki McLachlan.
Google Earth / Picasa presentation
gallery show installation
download the kmz <google earth presentation> final project
Photography was introduced as a formal activity of the program within the first 2 classes. The goal was to ensure students were collecting the images they would need for the planned media project. Photography may have also in some cases helped in focusing students on material they were studying and encouraged them to investigate more thoroughly. Attention was paid when using cameras to focus and isolating subject, experimenting with different points of view and the storytelling device of a sequence of images.
PROCESS:
The final media project took place in the West Marin School media lab. The process took 2 classes in the 2nd trimester and 3 classes in the 3rd trimester. Content was catalogued and subjects areas were assigned to groups of 2. This allowed for the full range of the trimester’s content to be covered by the class. A storyboarding activity, off the computer, allowed students to plan their presentations and write a narrative flow. Students managed and edited images in iphoto, and used free online software, Picasa and Google maps, for the final presentation. Students learnt how to manage their workflow using these 3 software tools, how to upload and organize images and how to publish them and geo-tag them on a web-based platform. I extracted a Google Earth file from each presentation to publish as one “my places” layer in Google Earth. By breaking the media production process down into simple steps and a manageable workflow, students were able to create short slideshow presentations using writing and photography, online software and mapping, without becoming overwhelmed by the media tools, content or the creative process. The process was exciting, challenging and for these electives, experimental. The project process was also successful as a review activity, allowing students to revisit the content and clarify their understandings. Students presented their slideshows to the incoming elective and staff. My overall observation was the students enjoyed using the tools and enjoyed creating and presenting the presentations, although most tended towards reporting rather than storytelling. Given the time available for this part of the elective, this may be expected. Most students are adept at using the computer, but planning and using a storyboard seemed to be a new process for most. It was encouraging to see the effectiveness of this approach. Through this project we see what and how students understood and hear their own voices explain an awareness and connection to their local watershed and watershed concepts as taught in the B-WET program.
Screen grab from AIS-BWET 2009 presentation shown in Google Earth / Picasa
Screen grab from AIS-BWET 2009 presentation shown in picasa. User can toggle between licas and google earth to view albums of images (picasa) or view the mapped images (google earth).
