Alan November, the guru of ICT in education has long preached the importance of learning that can take place outside of the classroom, of breaking down walls, either physical or virtual and looking for opportunities to extend education above and beyond the restrictive confines of the traditional school environment. Having been fortunate enough to have been visited by Mr November one wintry day earlier in the year, and attended a head teachers’ conference hosted by the same I decided to take steps to provide my own students with a few more extra-mural learning opportunities themselves.
There are of course, many ways in which students can be given possession of their own learning outside the classroom, but one way which I have found very effective and particularly attractive to teenage learners is through the use of digital video. DV can be used in a variety of ways, which supports the learning that goes on in the classroom, whilst providing original and challenging tasks for students that are truly extension exercises and not something else that they need to do.
My initial concerns about handing over costly, delicate digital equipment to enthusiastic, but occasionally clumsy, youngsters were quickly dispelled when I discovered a range of mini digital cameras marketed by Mustek. The Mustek DV 5000 can record short film clips (up to roughly three minutes in length without a memory card), audio clips, take still photos, serve as an MP3 player and 32Mb memory stick all for £58.
At 3.1 mega pixels the camera resolution is good and video quality compares very favourably with much more expensive digital video equipment currently on the market. For long-distance work you can use the 4x digital zoom, but make sure your subject is well lit, and you can also alter exposure according to the lighting conditions you find yourself in.
With the cameras retailing at such relatively low prices I was able to purchase a handful of units for use with small groups of students, extending use right across the class to different types of learners. Although I would have been disappointed if one of the cameras had been damaged or lost, an initial outlay of just over £50 compared with several hundreds of pounds for a Sony Handycam, meant that the impact on the school insurance policy was greatly limited.
One of the great selling points of the Mustek range is their accessibility. They are simple to pick up and use by staff and students alike. Files can be downloaded onto a computer hard disk via the USB portal in seconds and edited. The Mustek comes with its own software (ULead Video Studio 6), but I simply saved files to my computer and edited with MovieMaker. The broad range of functions offered by the cameras is also a winner. The Mustek can be used either as moving or stills camera, MP3 player or memory disk, or a mixture of all of these. Lower school students enjoy using the film clip facility, while more self-conscious sixth formers have preferred to use still photography and audio to produce interactive PowerPoint or Photostory presentations. Music for film clips can also be stored and transferred using the cameras MP3 facility.
By purchasing a handful of cameras my original aim was to allow students to taker greater control of their own learning and record experiences that are difficult to achieve inside the classroom. To this end they were highly successful. To site a few examples; during the general election campaign my form held a mock election and took the cameras home to record their own party political broadcasts; year 7 students made short films about revision tips in the run up to their exams; year 8 students corresponding with Japanese pen pals produced a video message to send overseas and my Year 12 Politics students even created a film advertising the merits of studying the subject as part of a taster day for outside visitors. Our school SENCO has even used the cameras to record interviews with Year 6 students, to help acquaint staff with their needs during development days.
All in all the project has been a great success, and because of their relatively low cost, there are still a few pennies left in the kitty for investment in other enterprises, be they of an ICT nature or not!
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Mustek DV 5000
Cost: from £57.90 plus P&P at
www.ebuyer.co.uk
Resolution: 31 mega pixels
Connection: USB or AV (so you can plug & play on your TV)
Facilities: inbuilt zoom, microphone & flash
Set also includes: driver and editing software, tripod, carry case and batteries (though it is worth forking out for rechargeable batteries to reduce running costs)
Musteq
www.musteq.co.uk
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