Christina Crotty teaches art and filmmaking in a Dublin Secondary School. She is a former member of the Teachers Association for Media Education (tame) and a member of the organising committee of the first cross border conference between the Northern Ireland Media Education Association (NIMEA) and tame.
Christina’s students have had success in their filmmaking endeavours both nationally and internationally and her course is currently running as a compulsory half year module in the schools Transition Year Programme. Filmmaking Activity as a Mindtool in Education (FAME) is an online course supported by a motivational DVD designed by Christina and is underpinned by the theories of the Social /Constructivist and Constructionists. Dr. David Jonassen, Distinguished Professor, Learning Technologies and Educational Psychology, University of Missouri has written extensively on ‘Mindtools’ and has recently endorsed Christina’s work and idea of FAME as a Mindtool. Jonassen’s book Computers as Mindtools for schools:Engaging Critical Thinking (2000) explores the idea of computer-based tools and learning environments that have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learners in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning” (Jonassen,2000:p.9). The Abstract and Introduction pages below outline Christina’s work for her M.Sc.in I.T. in Education at Dublin University.Trinity College(2003-2004).
A b s t r a c t
‘Power to the Students’: Filmmaking Activity as a Mindtool in Education
This case study primarily probes into the idea of establishing Digital Filmmaking (DF) as a Mindtool[1]. The study is about the practical application of DF as a cognitive learning tool rather than an instructional media. An extensive search of data is conducted by the author to see if, and to what extent, the attributes of Mindtools can be found in DF. Findings show that they are present in abundance, therefore DF is a Mindtool and this purposeful activity can be used to engage students in critical thinking. Jonassen argues that we should invest the power of the technologies in the learners…. “Power to the people”, so to speak. (Jonassen, 1994:p.2). By investing the power of DF technology in students they are handed an ‘intellectual toolkit’[2] thus enabling them to construct their own knowledge and design their own learning. From this, they can learn to be writers rather than readers in this medium. The multimodal properties found in DF can stimulate more than one sense at a time consequently awakening the scientific, sympathetic and aesthetic instincts which are innate in all learners. Evidence suggests that technology knowledge and expertise creatively tailored to secondary school circumstances can be very empowering. Secondly the study researches the idea of developing an online DF course which both suggests criteria for evaluating the quality of the students’ DF work and which structures the teacher’s role in the creative process. Becta (British Educational Communications Technology Agency) reports state that where DF is used in school it is not “scaffolded”.Based on the idea of using Filmmaking Activity as a Mindtool in Education (FAME) and also on the need expressed by Becta for a “scaffolded course” the author develops a threefold technical artefact in the following form:
(i) a motivational documentary DVD aimed at teachers,parents and students, demonstrating why FAME should be used in schools. The DVD design,invites the audience to view constructivism / constructionism in practice. As FAME supports group work the Social Constructivist theories of Vygotsky are threaded throughout all the artefacts
(ii) an online filmmaking course for students and teachers is designed in sequential stages, outlining how FAME is used in a constructivist learning environment (CLE)
(iii) two data bases enable the students to register and record who is using FAME and how they evaluate it as a subject. The second data base records where the students intend to go on location and who will supervise them on these dates. All artefacts are built on an Activity Theory framework which has its roots in the German philosophy of Kant and Hegel.
FAME is a twelve week online filmmaking course. The course is tested by 83 female students aged 15 -16 years from a school in Dublin running over an academic school year.The findings suggest that FAME in the shape it is designed, is an effective Mindtool and that using FAME in second level education gives students the power to drive their own learning.
In particular FAME can:
§ stimulate more than one sense at a time developing critical, complex skills, and contextual knowledge and can also amplify students’ learning
§ direct the students towards similar studies at third level
§ increase the students’ self esteem and empower them to take their place in society, confidently
§ motivate parents and teachers to support this type of learning
§ inspire and engage a wider range of students than traditional teaching methods
§ assist students in detecting their academic strengths and stretch their interpersonal skills.
S E C T I O N 1
Introduction
“Genius without education is like silver in the mine”. Benjamin Franklin.
Presenting the conceptual framework for this study
This study primarily probes into the Mindtools concept of Jonassen (2000) and Kommers et al., (1996) in order to examine if DF has the same attributes as Mindtools thereby establishing DF as a Mindtool. The author discovers that the attributes of Mindtools are present in abundance in DF and therefore establishes FAME.
Secondly because the medium of DF which was formerly reserved for expert filmmakers is more accessible today with editing packages generic to most modern computers, the author sets about devising an online filmmaking course for secondary school students. The course is built on Jonassen’s Mindtool concept and recommendations from the Becta report ,(2003). This report suggests a need for a ‘scaffolded’ course in filmmaking which “both suggests criteria for evaluating the quality of the students film work and structures the teacher’s role in the creative process” Becta (2003).This ensures that the students are afforded the opportunity to immerse themselves in a ‘scaffolded’ filmmaking course using computers and filmmaking technology to learn with and not from. By using technology as a cognitive tool the traditional design and development processes are eradicated. “Rather than using technologies by educational communications specialists to constrain the learners' learning processes through prescribed communications and interactions, the technologies are taken away from the specialists and given to the learner to use as media for representing and expressing what they know… “Power to the Students” so to speak (Jonassen, 1994:p.2.).Today’s students spend a vast amount of their time watching films. The irony is however that students are not taught to express themselves in the medium which holds their interest most. Jonassen’s Mindtool concept which is buttressed by the educational theories of Social/Constructivism and Constructionism shows that computer technologies can be used as cognitive tools which represent a significant departure from traditional conceptions of technologies.
This type of computer usage could go a long way in answering some of the issues which arose in the OECD (Organisation for Economics Co-operation and Development) report delivered in February 2004 and which states that “major investment outlays over the past 20 years has brought modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into nearly every school in the most advanced OECD countries,but the extent to which computers are in day-to-day use in these schools remains disappointing”. Technological tools of instruction are employed as transporters of information, conveyors of knowledge, or tutors of students. The people who benefit most from the design process and the use of these tools are the designers, not the learners (Perkins,1986).However unless the power of these technologies is invested in students to provide them with the tools to design and construct their own knowledge and learning we will be training them to be “readers and not writers” in this medium (Posner et al., 1997).The need for a rethinking of how computers should be used in schools is well documented in a vast array of literature by educational theorist. The literature describing students’ usage of practical media is scant.
Sections 2 of this study looks at the literature which is a fusion of some of the research within the field of the task and which influences the design and implementation of the artefacts. The literature is drawn from the following theorist and educational experts, (Jonassen,1994,1999, 2000; Papert,1993; Kommers et al.,1996; De Corte et al., 2003; Buckingham 1996; Vygotsky,1978,1986; the Becta DV pilot project ,2002, 2003;the OECD report 2004,Read,1956;and Ferneding,2003;and Lorac,et al.,1981.).
These theorists support the idea of constructivism in practice, designing CLEs, (Constructivist Learning Environments),learning by doing, and areas concerning the teachers’ are reluctant to get involved in this type of learning.
For FAME to be implemented in secondary schools and to survive, it should accommodate and address the theories laid down by the aforementioned authors thereby adding value to the discipline.
Section 3 outlines the design and creation of the artefacts from conception through to realisation. This section maps out the theories which are implemented in the design and highlights at what point within the artefacts they need to be inserted. Also in section 3 an explanation as to why Activity Theory, which has its roots in the German philosophy of Kant and Hegel is deemed the most appropriate framework on which to build FAME. The artefact is threefold in the shape of a DVD which is made from clips of previously made students film work and which is aimed at promoting FAME by showing constructivism in practice. The design of the DVD is rooted in the theories of Social/Constructivism and Constructionism and is sequenced so as to relate to the viewer the ‘scaffolded’ structure of the on line course. The DVD is an endeavour to show teachers ,parents and students why FAME should be applied to a secondary school curriculum. The online course is designed based on the recommendations suggested in the Becta report (2003) and the author’s work from 1993 -2004. The course allows the student and teacher to explore how to use FAME and guides them through the course. The data bases are in the form of two SQL forms which are embedded in the FAME online course. The first data base is designed to record who is using FAME and also acts as an evaluation form. The second data base supplies the teacher with a record as to where the students intend to go on location and with whom.
The three sections above lead to the formation of the artefacts.
Section 4 describes the methodology, implementation of the research. This section shows where and with whom the research takes place. Eighty three female students aged between 15 and 16 years explore FAME. The school is situated in an isolated area in Dublin which is not serviced by public transport and which caters for seven hundred students. The teaching staff consists of a mixture of fifty fulltime and part time female and male teachers. Both a qualitative and quantitative approach to the evaluation of the artefacts was conducted by the author to identity their usefulness and to what extent FAME can be applied to the school curriculum. The analysis of this study is based on feedback from all stakeholders in this study, students,teachers,parents and three of the authors cited in the literature review, Jonassen, who writes about Mindtools and Parker and Reid two of the authors of the Becta report 2003.The feedback is presented by way of email, film footage and an online SQL database questionnaires which are embedded in the FAME online course. The findings are measured against the Iowa Integrated Thinking Model 1989.The model has three main components (see Figure1): content/basic thinking, critical thinking, and creative thinking. Complex thinking, the synthesis of content, critical and creative thinking, includes the “goal directed, multi-step,strategic processes, such as designing, decision making, and problem solving. This is the core essential core of higher order thinking ,the point at which thinking intersects with or impinges on action” (Iowa Department of Education,1989,p.7 cited in Jonassen2000:p.25). Section 5 discusses the findings. The findings show that FAME is a Mindtool and in particular it can:
§ stimulate more than one sense at a time developing critical, complex skills, contextual knowledge and amplify students’ learning
§ direct the students towards similar studies at third level
§ increase the students self esteem and empower them to take their place in society, confidently
§ motivate parents and teachers to support this type of learning
§ inspire and engage a wider range of students than traditional teaching methods
§ assist students in detecting their academic strengths and stretch their interpersonal skills.The evaluation section leads into Section 6 which is a discussion and conclusion of the work completed. The discussion analyses the findings and how they relate to the task and offers recommendations. The conclusion returns to the main aims of the task and sums up the entire task.
[1] “Mindtools are “computer-based tools and learning environments that have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learners in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher
order learning” (Jonassen, 2000:p.9
[2] Jonassen describes ‘Mindtools’ as an intellectual toolkit for engaging learners in constructive,critical thinking about whatever they are learning.(Jonassen, 2000: v.)