NOW Classrooms, Grades 6-8. Meg Ormiston

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      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.