| Project
Videopaper in the classroom
The videopaper enables its author to effectively annotate video
footage in a way that is currently not widely available to
computer users of average experience and ability. Originally
conceived through a National Science Foundation grant entitled
"Bridging Research and Practice," the videopaper technology was
designed to allow researchers to share their findings with
practitioners through an accessible medium that was engaging and
relevant to both parties. This medium offers the author a chance
to record, edit, and annotate classroom activities, student
behavior, teacher strategies and more. The commentary that the
author then offers to the reader is necessarily closely linked to
the footage that has been recorded. Treating the video as a "text"
itself, the author's written reflections arise from those same
video clips to which the viewer also has access. This primary
source becomes a basis for discussion. The video footage is
supplemented by the use of still images captured either from the
video itself (notes from the board, a student's facial
expression), scanned content (student work, teacher handout), or
digital images either original or downloaded from the web (logos,
graphics). Through the exchange of videopapers and the ensuing
dialogue, educators thus have a means to observe each other's
classrooms and to discuss their responses both to the videos and
to the author's reflections.
Teachers Presenting to Teachers
Unlike the numerous professionally produced teacher development
videos one sees advertised in countless direct mailings, the
videopaper can be produced and distributed locally within schools
or across neighboring districts. It can be shot and edited by the
teachers themselves, for use by one another. The video clips
contain images of educators teaching students from the community
itself. The context for the filming is immediate and the
strategies it illustrates are applicable to the intended audience.
The voice and message of the author is trusted; it speaks from a
common experience. The authenticity of this voice earns it
recognition and regard not often accorded the professional
development "expert" who is typically invited to address an
unknown audience of teachers. As a vehicle for presenting useful
strategies to his/her colleagues, the videopaper provides its
author with an equally significant opportunity to reflect on
his/her own teaching. Just as a student's learning is greatly
enhanced when he or she is asked to present their work to their
peers, the need to explain fully the theory and practice of their
teaching techniques requires that the teacher have a profound
knowledge of his or her own content. The act of creating a videopaper
thus becomes a process of professional
self-development.
The technology
The finished videopaper is easily viewable on a Mac or a PC using
an Internet browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator. The user simply inserts the CD and double-clicks on the
file within the videopaper folder. Whether Mac or PC, the computer
must have the Quicktime Player software (free download) in order
to view the video. Videopapers of moderate size (containing videos
of five to ten minutes) are small enough in file size to fit
fifteen to twenty on a single CD. The CD can easily be reproduced
and made widely available. As Internet bandwidth increases, the
videopapers will be made available via the Internet.
The technology skills required for videopaper are easy to learn
and useful in many other contexts. Videopapers are divided into
essentially three distinct sections: video, text, and image. The
process for shooting and editing the video requires that the
author become familiar with digital video cameras and learn how to
use the Mac iMovie software. For the novice, learning how to
transfer and edit digital video will take approximately one hour.
Once they have learned this skill, they may find many additional
opportunities to make use of digital video in their teaching.
The text section of the videopaper can be produced in a word
processor and saved in .html format. In learning how to create a
videopaper, a user will also be learning many of the same skills
that are required of web page authors. The images that will be
used in the slides that are synchronized to the video can be
captured as stills from the video itself, or as scanned images of
handouts, student work, photographs or other two-dimensional
representations. Assembling these images teaches the author to use
a scanner, as well as basic functions in Adobe Photoshop (or
equivalent image-editing software) to manipulate the size and
dimensions of the image.
Learn more about Videopaper in the Classroom:
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