Urban and Rural Communities in video!

Below are the videos of three Grade 3 student groups!

Stage 3 & 4 Lab work

The students learned to upload their image and audio files onto the computer. By organizing the files in one folder, they systematically viewed and listened to each file, deleting those that were considered not useful and renaming files that they selected to save.

During two lab sessions the students were very grateful for the assistance of Gord Fong, from Media Services, as he taught them how to use Audacity, an audio editing software. The students learned to clip unwanted audio sections in their file and how to record new audio files. They also learned to how to upload their image and audio files to Movie Maker, the video creation software. At this point they used teamwork to sequence their images and audio files into a field trip recount or persuasive documentary. This post-production work took many days that required great perseverance on behalf of the students!

The students wrote scripts for new audio recordings to complement the voice recordings of on-site interviews. Their greatest challenge was to organize the separate pieces of information into one voice for the documentation of their learning. As they completed the sequence and digital videos, they each came to new understandings about the different communities that they visited. Their final products communicate their new found understandings.

Research Tools

The students will use the digital voice recorder and camera identified in the images on the right menu bar. The one other research tool will be a storyboard, upon which the third group member will document the audio recording times and a sketch of the corresponding image. This will be the basis of the sequence for the slideshow, to coordinate the audio and visual raw footage. Above is a sample storyboard.

Student Learning

Based on the planning by the classroom teachers, Teacher-Librarian and the Instructional Leader, the students will be involved in a 3-4 week process surrounding the Digital Field Trip.

Initially, the classroom teacher will lead the students through Stage 1 of the Research Process. (See the related link on the right hand menu of the blog.) They will develop questions for the field trip, based on their in-class learning about Urban and Rural Communities.
Next will be the technology skills lessons, to teach the correct use of the digital voice recorder and the effective use of a digital camera for this task. Following this, the students and teachers will have time to practise the use of the technology and to rehearse oral recordings. The students will be expected to accurately pronounce and use the related vocabulary. A lesson on storyboarding, as a tool for documentation of the audio and visual components, will be conducted. These three elements will be the responsibility of a trio group during the field trip, for use during interviews and the bus and walking trip. With this preparation the students will be ready for Stage 2, Access Resources.

Digital Field Trips

The goal of this learning activity is to engage students and teachers in hands-on activities before, during and after a field trip in order to heighten their learning with the use of both primary and secondary sources. The use of voice recorders allows for the capture of first-hand testimony from 'experts' in the field, such as local citizens of the urban and rural communities we visit. The use of digital cameras allows for the capture of images of the communities. The final product for students will be a slide show of their audiovisual documentation, a ‘Guided Tour’ saved on CD. Students will upload the digital data, sequence it in slide show software, edit and revise the slide show with added text and features to complete a documentary of their research findings. The student groups will share their slide shows with other members of the school community.