Source: Adapted from Puentedura, 2014.
Figure I.2: The SAMR model.
Conclusion
For this series, Meg Ormiston brought several writing teams together to develop lesson collections that support teachers from kindergarten through high school. Our team, which worked together through challenging schedules, puppies, families of all ages, students, teachers, and even a new baby, comes from three different school districts in the Chicagoland area. To better collaborate and learn from each other throughout this writing journey, we created our own personal learning network (PLN). PLNs have many different variations, but this explanation from Karla Gutierrez (2016) best describes how ours worked:
Your PLN is where you gather, collect, communicate, create and also share knowledge and experience with a group of connected people, anywhere at any time. It is developed largely through social media, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and blogs, helping us form connections, grow our knowledge base and develop ourselves professionally through continual learning.
CONNECT WITH US ON TWITTER
Meg Ormiston:
@megormi
Lauren Slanker:
@MsSlanker307
Jennifer Lehotsky:
@JennyLehotsky
Megan K. Flaherty:
@D60WestviewIMC
Janice Conboy:
@Mrs_Conboy
Whitney Cavanagh:
@MrsCavanagh8
Our own PLN served as the glue that kept us connected throughout our work together. You can follow it on Twitter @NowClassrooms or using the #NOWClassrooms hashtag. You can also follow us individually on Twitter by following the accounts listed on this page. Finally, you can keep up with our work on our blog (http://nowclassrooms.com/blog). We know that technology tools will change after this book goes to press, so we want to share and continue to learn with you on our blog and through social media. Think of our team as your personal professional development network.
This book sets up paths for you and your students to have a journey of discovery that helps all learners embrace student voice and choice. This journey is just beginning, and we hope you will share with us on Twitter and at our blog some of the amazing work that your own students create, build, and share using digital tools. You have endless possibilities, and soon you will have students who feel empowered to share their new skills with the world. Whatever path you go down, please enjoy every moment of the learning!
CHAPTER
1
Embracing Creativity
Content creation is essential to the learning process. Using text, photos, audio, and video, students can easily express themselves and produce awe-inspiring work. Projects that include photos, illustrations, and diagrams capture the imagination and engage the viewer. When students have an opportunity to create a product using multiple media formats with video and audio elements to demonstrate classroom-acquired knowledge, their engagement in the task skyrockets, their interaction with the content deepens, and their learning gets enhanced. This brings their learning up to the modification level of the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2012).
In 2015, Common Sense Media—a nonprofit organization that aims to provide resources for students, families, and educators that help them thrive in the world of media and technology—conducted a study on teenage media use. It names four ways teens use technology: they (1) passively consume it, (2) interactively consume it, (3) communicate with it, and (4) create content with it. The study finds, “Only 3% of tweens’ and teens’ digital media time is spent on content creation” (Common Sense Media, 2015, p. 22).
To truly integrate technology and redefine learning with it, teachers must move students beyond content consumption and into content creation that shows their thinking and spreads their ideas. The tools exist to make this possible, but students still need teachers to facilitate these experiences and opportunities so that students see the possibilities at their disposal.
To effectively produce and publish work in the 21st century, students need to understand the many ways they can use media to demonstrate their learning and make their thinking visible. In its Standards for Students, ISTE (2016) calls students with these skills empowered learners and creative communicators. These students know how to communicate complex ideas through original work that allows them to creatively express themselves and publish to a global audience.
We designed this chapter’s lessons to give you the knowledge and tools to provide students with opportunities to become creative communicators in a world of passive consumers. When students learn how to use tools for utilizing green screens and creating podcasts, screencasts, and app-smashed projects, they learn that they can manipulate multiple pieces of media to creatively communicate their own unique message. Engaging students with this chapter’s lessons creates in them a mindset shift from passive consumption to ownership.
Before we engage in these lessons, we share four tips here to support you in developing your creative classroom.
1. Do not be afraid to let students take the lead: You probably already have an expert, or even multiple experts, sitting in front of you. Take advantage of this.
2. Allow students to have choice in the way they show their learning: It may not engage all students to use the same tool or create a product in the same medium. One student may best show his or her learning in a blog or podcast, while another excels at using a green screen or screencasting. Expose them to options, and let them choose.
3. Stay open to a variety of outcomes: When you try something new in your classroom, it can seem unclear how it will turn out. Taking smart risks is good. Model risk taking for students by trying new things. Even if the products fail or don’t turn out how you expected, learning still takes place; growth still occurs.
4. Persevere through problems: When issues arise, use every resource at your disposal to figure out how to make it work. Don’t give up.
This chapter covers three different categories of content creation—(1) imagery, (2) moviemaking, and (3) audio recording. It ends with a NOW lesson set on creating products that combine these skills. Exposing students to the lessons in this chapter will empower them with tools to creatively communicate their learning and deepen their interaction with technology at an appropriate level for grades 6–8 students. This chapter aims to allow grades 6–8 students to engage in content creation beyond the estimated 3 percent of their digital media time they spend as content creators. All students deserve to embrace their creativity by becoming content creators instead of remaining passive content consumers.
Creating Experiences Through Imagery
In these NOW lessons, students will learn the many ways they can use images (including pictures or photographs) to enhance the quality of their projects and presentations and their understanding of the classroom content’s core concepts and ideas. Students will create products using images and share them with an authentic audience beyond the walls of the classroom. These skills will transfer to all types of multimedia projects. Grades 6–8 students need to develop their skills beyond simple photography by developing more complex skills in picture and photo editing. For example, by the end of eighth grade, students should be able to include images that convey meaning without text. They should also be able to utilize various camera angles, shot types, filters, and depth-of-field techniques to enhance projects.