As a busy teacher you may catch sight of an article about digital video and skip over it thinking that although this might be of interest to the media studies or IT teacher, in your subject it would simply be a luxury that you do not have the time or skills to use. But before you turn away, just for a moment, fantasise and consider “if only you did use video in your classroom”.

We all want the subject we teach to actively engage our students, to capture their imagination, to interest them in the issues, in the ideas, in the facts. We want our students to be motivated to do further study, to read on their own and to talk about it among themselves at break. So think about what sort of video the students could make with the content you’re teaching them, and after this “if only” fantasy, consider again if it really would be a luxury to put a video camera in the hands of your students, or if it just may be one of those vital ingredients that, as teachers, we are always looking for; subject engagement, interpretation of ideas, collaboration, good communication skills and motivation.

Engagement and understanding

Students creating videos on the technical level involves a number of activities from planning and storyboarding the video to directing and filming, even acting in role- plays or conducting interviews. Finally editing the footage into a coherent whole. They will need to have some familiarity with genre (documentary, drama, adverts, soap operas, news etc), and will also require camera technique, acting ability and clear diction. However, in order to achieve any of these largely technical skills, the most important thing a group of students making a video will need is to have a clear idea about what they want to do, know their subject matter well and organise these ideas in a clear, concise and meaningful way. Not only will they have to engage with the ideas they are going to communicate, but they will have to have something specific to say about them.

The Cold War: History Year 10

One group of sudents made a video clip to go in an online newspaper about the UK’s response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The video involves two students acting out an interview between a CND protestor and a reporter. The quality of discussion they have is sophisticated and interesting, looking at how the crisis affected peoples’ feelings about nuclear arms in general. The roleplay was rehearsed a number of times, but was unscripted. The group had written two articles, a main story and a leader about the crisis itself, and there had been a large amount of discussion on how people in the UK might respond. No script was needed because they had developed the material so well.

Interpretation

In writing an essay, students are asked to put across an argument, to look at different angles and to interpret texts. We want students to think for themselves, gathering data and deciding on their opinions. Creating a video needs to include an argument or storyline for the audience to follow. But a video is not a textbook and it can offer the personal views of the makers.

Twelfth Night: Englishdrama Year 9

Groups of five or six students working together chose part of a scene from Twelfth Night that they particularly liked. They were asked to consider how the characters in that scene might be feeling when they spoke those lines.

However, as plays are dynamic and open to interpretation, they were also asked to think of three different possible feelings for their characters and how the other characters would then respond. They filmed themselves acting these out before putting them on to a website where the user can choose how they would like to view the scene by clicking on the relevant video. Understanding this complexity of interpreting plays was certainly mediated by the video.

Collaboration

Deciding on a point of view needs a level of confidence and experience. Individual students can be helped to develop this by working in groups where they can share ideas with each other before deciding what they think themselves. Indeed it can be a safe place to play around with different ideas to see which one fits comfortably. Creating a video is a group activity. It requires the students to discuss their ideas, changing them as they go along, sharing, arguing, disagreeing, compromising, sticking to their guns, finding alternatives, moulding a number of people’s ideas into one short video that reflects the group identity.

Science Year 11

After viewing a film of a story around genetics, students were asked to make a response in a short video to include scientific content and ideas around genetics. Students spent preparatory lessons discussing the issues among themselves. The process of having to express these new ideas helped them lean them, “putting in their own words” and getting inside the information. The groups gained confidence from being able to work together and have joint responsibility for both their viewpoint and their video.

Communication

Videos have an audience, and fellow students are often keen to view each others’ work on film or the Web. Taking an audience into consideration requires students to make their information accurate, entertaining and varied to keep their audience’s attention.

Wanted women: history Year 9

Creating online “Wanted” posters, groups of students chose women from history who had been wanted for some reason, mostly for political activities. The “mug-shot” image on the poster would come to life as a video. To keep their audience’s attention students worked on using different types of techniques.

Based on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme, they used role-played news journalism, reconstructions of events and studio interviews.

Motivation

To be holding a pound;600 camera and sent away to film can have a profound effect on students. They enjoy filming and can be amazed at teachers trusting them with expensive equipment. To be in the situation where students do not want to go out for lunch or leave at the end of the day is rare, but both filming and editing seem to draw students into the activity.

During video editing groups of students can become intensely meticulous and perfectionist about their work, so that they must find the exact point in their film to add the specific bit of background music cutting to an image a student has drawn, with a voice-over explanation before fading into an interview with a member of the public.

Materials and machines: technology Year 8

These students visited the science museum with video cameras in hand. They were asked to look at exhibits around materials and machines and comment on them through creating a Web page with a short video as its main focus. The students began by exploring the exhibits and writing notes on what they wanted to say about them and what footage they wanted to film. They had some time away from the exhibit to discuss their perspective on it before returning to film. Questioning the students later, they were very enthusiastic about using cameras in the museum as two students from different groups commented: “It’s better going round with a camera because otherwise you’d just look at stuff and not really know where to go” “It makes you concentrate on really little things that you might not notice before” Using digital video is now a real possibility in the classroom with cheaper equipment and simple-to-use software. The technicalities do not need to get in the way, so it should be the subject specialists in charge, letting the curriculum run the show.