I’ve been meaning to make this film for ages. It’s a simple time-lapse of a day in my classroom. My camera was mounted on a tripod and I used a fisheye lens to capture the whole room. The 700 photos were batch resized in seconds using an Apple Automator script and the film was made instantly in Quick Time Pro. I added the music in iMovie.
The day started with a free period, so I’m on the computer doing some SEN reviews. I taught a lesson on floods to my year 7, then it’s break. Afterwards it’s my GCSE class doing a case study of Darfur, followed by Year 8s looking at different volcanoes. Lunch time is spent with the camera club then it’s registration and a final year 7 lesson.
Here’s my entry for the One World Film competition organized by the ring leader of the particpatory geography movement in UK secondary schools Dan Raven-Ellison. Not a great production by any means, but I loved the concept of 60 second films to explain a point, and would really like to to get more of my students making short films for their own (and the wider community’s) benefit. Although I made the film several months ago, I can finally show it in a lesson since Year 11 are about to embark on a coasts topic.
Some Year 10 students showed some short films they’d made about Dubai today. I was really pleased to see how far their editing skills have progressed since Year 9. I noticed that some of the students had discovered BBC Motion Gallery independently, though no-one had actually done any original filming. How I would love a few Flip DV cameras for my classroom!
David Rayner has recently explained on the SLN site that the BBC News School Report represents a great opportunity for KS3 Geography students to develop their investigative and reporting skills. What better motivation to get students into short film making?
and you if don’t get a chance to catch up with Mapping News, the article can be downloaded directly from here. One error – I am not an Education Consultant, as the article claims!
Surely the long awaited moment when video can be embedded in Google Earth placemarks is almost upon us? Click this link and then the placemark balloon to see video of a lightning strike on the Empire State Building.
Digital Urban demonstrated this new feature of Google My Maps; more information can be found at Google Maps. I’m looking forward to seeing students creating their personal geographies via multimedia Google Maps.
Ed Parsons likes the “2.5D” rendering of buildings in Google Maps, sadly not happening for the UK any time soon!
It was great to see SLN user Melanie Richards using the photographs of my Year 7 homework to inspire her own students. This is precisely why I continue with the whole blogging lark! Melanie posted an excellent video on You Tube. Her blog Gorgeous Geography is here.
Another example of the potential of web cams in the classroom. In the video a year 7 student explains how she created her model river. In doing so she reveals her creativity, resourcefulness and geographical understanding.
The implications are fairly obvious; students can edit a short film as a homework assignment without requiring video editing software. Teachers can provide suitable source material. Audio clips and various effects can be added and the resulting movies tagged and shared via email, or embedded in websites. The BBC Creative Archive has been withdrawn at the end of its trial period while they consider the implications of the service. Hopefully it will be back soon.
Jumpcut is another sign that the day of a PC with zero applications installed, apart from a web browser, is approaching. Read My Uninstalled Life for more!
Recent Comments