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ICritique: digital video in the classroom reaches critical mass
By Stephen O'Hear, NESTA Fellow |
BACKGROUND
Much is being made of the digital revolution and its democratising influence on the learner. Digital technology has the potential to really transform learning, and one area where there is particular excitement is in the use of Digital Video (DV) in the classroom. Through the availability of cheap DV camcorders and powerful yet easy to use editing software such as Apple's iMovie, it is possible for both teachers and students to create learning opportunities using DV.
From October 2001 to March 2002, Becta ran a DV pilot scheme which involved putting the technology into 50 schools across the UK. Evidence from the pilot shows that the integration of DV into teaching and learning has the potential to increase pupil engagement with the curriculum, promote and develop a range of learning styles, and motivate and engage a wider range of pupils than traditional teaching methods.
Not surprisingly, DV in the classroom also stimulates and supports the development of other skills, such as problem solving, negotiation, thinking, reasoning and risk-taking, and the high-quality work produced showed a greater attention to the uniqueness of the 'language' of the moving image.
An important factor in the success of DV in the classroom is that students benefit from a sense of audience, and are able to give and receive critical feedback. As John Davitt writes in the Guardian:
"It's vital to put in place systems that allow finished work to be broadcast on the school network or the internet or shown on the big screen. Without an audience, using DV might just be the expensive digital equivalent of writing for the wastepaper bin."
In considering this problem, I proposed developing a tool that:
- simplifies the publication of DV work online
- facilitates feedback and discussion from peer learners, teachers and a wider audience
- supports a model of a learning community.
INTRODUCING iCRITIQUE
Publish and browse media
iCritique is a web application that allows for the creation of an online community of viewers. Put simply, it's an online tool that streamlines the process of publishing and viewing DV work on the internet, and that easily enables online discussions of the work published.
A relational approach
At the heart of iCritique is the application's ability to centrally organise and categorise media into a database, and automatically create asynchronous discussion areas that are directly linked to individual media assets. This 'relational' approach helps to focus dialogue between users and encourage discussions that do not stray 'off topic'. This also works to counteract one of the challenges teachers face when using the web as part of a lesson: the hyperlinked nature of the web (while offering huge educational advantages) means students are just one mouse click or Google search away from leaving the curriculum!
A learning community
iCritique uses a community model in the way it manages users: before interacting with iCritique, users are asked to sign up by creating an account, which involves choosing a username, optionally writing a brief passage about themselves, and adding a website address if they have a homepage. This approach ensures that users build up a history of contributions to iCritique discussions, and over time, create a virtual identity within this bounded community. To further add to this sense of community, iCritique includes a general discussion area where users can discuss non-media specific topics and share technical support. In addition, the iCritique administrator has the option of making community announcements via a central mailing list of all members.
REAL WORLD USE
During development from beta to version 2.0, iCritique was piloted exclusively with Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, UK. The college has approximately 1,700 full-time students, most of which are taking A levels. Around 600 pursue courses within the media department, 450 taking AS or A2 Media Studies and 150 AS or A2 Film Studies.
Within a few weeks of 'going live' we had over 100 students and educators signed up and just over 40 videos online. Currently there are more than 600 members and over 100 videos.
Working alongside the Head of Media, Pete Fraser, and his staff and students I was able to continually develop iCritique based on feedback and suggestions that came out of everyday use, as well as fix minor bugs and design faults. This led to improvements including the design of a better media browser, the setting up of a general discussion area, and the addition of the ability to customise media categories. The advantages gained by working so closely with educators and students when developing learning tools are invaluable.
Future uses for iCritique
Following a successful pilot, Long Road plans to introduce this year's students to iCritique earlier in the curriculum and feels that they are now in a stronger position to fully exploit the learning opportunities it represents. However, the model has potential uses beyond just working with DV. I am currently in discussions with educators from South Africa about the possibility of adapting iCritique to allow schools in rural districts to share and critique original audio documentaries and other educational content.
It is impossible to predict the many possible future uses for tools like iCritique but what is clear is that software which supports the publication and dissemination of 'learner produced' content will encourage a more complete approach to exploiting the internet and digital technology.
Register your interest in iCritique - www.icritique.net
View the iCritique pilot in action - www.longroadmedia.com
About the author - www.ohear.net
November 2003
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