Digital Video in School

Hoffenberg, H., and Handler, M. (2001). Digital Video Goes to School. Learning & Leading With Technology, 29, 10-15.

1. The skills students are developing in the process of making a video are:
- the technical skills involved in making and editing a video,
- visual literacy skills,
- and, the higher-level thinking skills of analyzing and synthesizing the information
they want to present as they come up with a point or focus for their work and as they decide what details to include in their videos.

2. The types of video formats that fit well as a culminating activity are:
- video newscasts,
- documentaries,
- infomercials,
- and video clips for a Web page or multimedia presentation.

3. Curriculum characteristics that make sense for a video are:
- emotion,
- heritage or culture (the story and the storyteller),
- memorable experiences,
- change over time,
- a process,
- a phenomenon in nature,
- and a process slowed to view frame by frame to better understand it.

4. The guidelines for video use are:
- planning ahead by choosing a familiar subject, considering audience and purpose and planning a storyboard, and thinking about shots that will best convey the videographer’s message, etc.,
- shooting the film,
- and editing.