Someone on FB asked me about this line from the #flipclass diary
blog, so i thought i would make it into an entry: “spent the next day refining skills and learning the practicalities of codecs and embedding video”
I am not sure how to classify this one. It is a little bit of constructivist education, it was made possible by the #flipclass format that allowed students to move at a faster pace in the classroom, and it is a great shot of #BYOT in action.
The students were using the Microsoft Training Courses to learn some of the features of Office 2010. We have started using these as supplemental material since it allows students to self-pace and gives them another learning option. Almost all of the students skipped the first few lessons (create a slide, add text, etc.). At one point, midway through the class, almost every student was working on adding videos.
Student A: Where do I get some videos to add? You Tube?
Student B: No, youtube is different you need a file.
Student A: Mr. Ferries-Rowe, where could we get video?
Me: I don’t know. Where could you get video from? If only there were some device in this classroom that could take video. What a wonderful world that would be.
Student C: (picking up on my sarcasm): Ooh! my phone can capture video!
Student D: Mine too!
Student E: Oh Yeah!
Student F: Siri, can you take video? [editor’s note: there is no student F]
(pause for film goodness)
Student A: ok, now what?
Me: you tell me.
Student A: I have video but it has to be on this computer in order to put it in the PowerPoint.
Me: True.
Student A: I don’t have my cord
Me: If only there were a convenient way to transfer files from one device to another...as if through a cloud.
Student C: You could email it.
Student G: No, the flip video. He talked about Dropbox
Student A: I have that app on my phone!
Student H: there is an app?
Student I: Yeah, I have it to...
(Pause for App downloading, account registration, etc.)
(Pause for Transferring files to dropbox and retrieving it from the web)
(Pause while student inserts video to power point)
[Editor’s note: see how much pausing there is? it’s awesome]
Student H: it worked!
Student K: mine too!
Student A (poor student A): Mine says there is a codec error
Me: What’s a codec?
Student I-don’t-remember: Instructions. Like a language. (someone watched the flip)
Student C: We need a program to translate it. I use AVI
Me: but the mean techs at school won’t let you install programs. Next?
Student C: is there a web-based translator?
…
By the end of the class, students had real-world problem solving experience. Understood (to some degree) the issues presented by different codecs and (to a greater degree) how to work around them. They had used a variety of tools, cloud-based and personal, to enhance presentations, and worked collaboratively to solve problems.
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