Anyone who has made a movie big or small knows it's great brain work--making a great movie demands the synergy of words, voice, image, movement, and sound in masterful ways.
The thought that goes into multimedia compositions like videos is a great teacher as you have to think about a concept with depth.
Last night I played with this notion as I made short animations related to fraction equivalency models and fraction vocabulary. I'd give my movies a 1/10 with 10 being the best. I have a long way to go, but I know my journey will be enriched once students start making their movies--they'll teach me things I haven't even dreamed of, and they'll bring their own voices, creativity, and questions to the process. As students and I work together, our synergy will boost the creations, our collective learning, and the learning of those we choose to share the videos with.
This is a good way for teachers to start with tech-ed integration. Try it yourself, create a simple exemplar, chart the steps, introduce, and then let students make the project their own--the unleashed synergy, excitement, and collective creativity will be amazing, I promise.
At this juncture in the road, I'm looking for ways to invigorate the learning in engaging tech-ed ways, and I know that movie making is one path in that direction.
The steps I used to make the movies are included on this Fraction Action Website. I welcome your ideas.
