BHS Students Get Creative with Video Tools

BHS students across the curriculum are using video tools to creatively demonstrate their learning. Teachers have students using a variety of apps and devices for recording and editing video that allow them to exercise their creativity.

WeVideo, a Chrome app, is one great tool for creating video. It lets users record, upload, and edit video projects which can then be saved directly to Google Drive or shared via a link. Students in Laura Beaver’s foods class used WeVideo to film a short video highlighting their understanding of equipment, cooking terms, and measurement. The students demonstrated each of these skills in their video, which also allowed them to practice their communication and public speaking abilities. Check out one great example below:

In Shannon Lumley’s biology class, students used iPads to record and create a music video comparing and contrasting mitosis and meiosis. Working in small groups, the students collaborated to write lyrics describing and explaining the phases of each of the cellular processes. Some students edited their videos using the iPads, some used WeVideo and their Chromebooks to do the editing, and some used their knowledge of more advanced video editing software to craft professional-looking projects (see one of them below!). A future project in Mrs. Lumley’s classroom will have students using video again to film a TED Talk-style presentation. Students are not only learning important scientific concepts, but also how to communicate these concepts to others. To see more great student examples, visit Mrs. Lumley’s YouTube page.

Another great video creation tool in use at BHS is Animoto. Students in Jim Fitzgerald’s Introduction to Agriculture class used this web-based tool as one way to showcase the meaning of the FFA creed. The project helps students to memorize the creed as they represent it symbolically, moving toward deeper levels of understanding. Students helped each other learn to use the technology, and the results were some fantastic videos demonstrating their understanding.

For more information on having your students create videos, take a look at this pdf resource from Richard Byrne's FreeTech4Teachers page on six styles of classroom video projects.