Checking out my Google Reader feed, I saw this really powerful video of someone sharing the process of moving to Germany and learning the language:
This is what it looks like to learn a language in one year. from Mickey Mangan on Vimeo.
As I watched this and thought about our “Digital Portfolio Project” with Parkland School Division, I wondered how often do we actually have students film themselves and create videos over time of their learning. If you watched the video, the camera used was probably lesss than $200, but, with the power of editing, was able to create something powerful.
I have been a big advocate of actually showcasing the learning process, and through videos like Google’s “Dear Sophie“, you can see the power of documenting growth over time. As provided in the “Lernen To Talk Show”, the process of learning should be shared a lot more than it is currently. For example, you hear about things like “Genius Hour” and “Innovation Week” but rarely do you see students actually documenting through video, or other multimedia, the process of learning. It is not only valuable in what we can learn, but what we can inspire (while also teaching students the valuable skill of telling stories through multimedia).
If anyone was planning on taking this on, I would actually suggest giving power to the students and put the camera into their hands, have them document over time, and maybe even do some type of “movie trailer” of their learning. It might not tell the whole story, but could tell some of it. Instead of them simply putting all of the video together and having a long version that hardly anyone will watch all of the way through, make something short, powerful, that showcases the learning. The video shared above should give someone a good start.
If you have anything like this that you have done in your schools, I would really appreciate you sharing it in the comments below. I would love to see more examples of this coming from students in the work that they do in school.
