Week 6 – iMovie… and some sage advice on internet safety.

 

This week we’re thinking about e-safety and it’s “Lights”… “Camera”… “Action”: we’re making a movie!

In “Week 4 – Exploring Coding with ScratchJr (and thinking about the attainment gap)”, I discussed the idea that modern children need to know not only how to practically operate technology but to understand how it works. Expanding on that point it is also vital that children are educated to understand the wider reaching implications and potential impacts of using digital technology. Never has human communication been so easy and so globally accessible. Modern humans use digital technologies to enable self-expression (Shtepura, 2018) with the rise of social media platforms being the most notable and currently influential. Porter (2004) proposed that “digital storytelling” would be seen in the future via the mediums of text, sound, video, music, animation and digital imagery. Fifteen years later and society (particularly children, teenagers and young adults) is immersed in the phenomenon of “YouTubers” and “Social Media Influencers”. These people really are Prensky’s “Digital Natives”; they have lived their lives with this element of social communication and social pressure which did not affect previous generations.

While children are so drawn to, and influenced by interacting with digital technologies, and particularly Social Media, it must be considered an essential part of education that they learn how to conduct their interactions safely. Cranmer et al (2009, p140) state that policy in school should focus on the “meaningful and grounded elements of children’s everyday ICT experiences.” However, Beauchamp (2012) proposes that it is necessary to look further and consider the lives of children in their home environment as well as in school. As educators, Beauchamp suggests that teaching e-safety should not be about placing arbitrary restrictions on technology but instead about teaching children how to be responsible for their own interactions. The importance of this is supported by Becta (2007, p.9) “…children engage with technology at an ever-younger age, and their knowledge and use of technological services, tools and devices can quickly outstrip that of their parents, carers and teachers.” Becta (2010, p.4) defines this concept of learning as “digital literacy” which consists of a combination of “functional technology skills; critical thinking; collaboration skills and social awareness.” Simpson and Toyn (2012, p.82) clarify this by stating that digital literacy is the skill of being able to evaluate appropriate ways in which to use ICT, how to work collaboratively, how to gather, evaluate and present information and how to use online media “…in a safe and sensible manner…”.

 

With this information in mind, working as a team, we opted to address this week’s task via the form of a YouTube video. As two members of the team can attest through their experience as parents, YouTube is a phenomenally successful platform in engaging young people. As such we decided that not only would this make it a good method of delivering our message but that it would also engage children as an activity in the classroom (GDPR constraints allowing). We invented our own “YouTuber”, “Grantus Maximus”, to make our video both identifiable and relevant to our chosen audience: Second Level. We opted to aim our message at Second Level children as those children are at the age where they are less likely to have parental supervision of time spent online; more likely to have their own mobile technology and more likely to be actively engaged with the concept of “Social Media Influencers”. We also considered that the “to the point” nature of our parting message was better suited to slightly older children.

Luckily our team contained a range of abilities and skills which allowed us to work well and efficiently together. Experience in the fields of acting, theatre production, screenwriting, and video editing made our team strong and capable without external input. However, had I had to attempt this task on my own it would have been a completely different matter. Reflecting on this I can see that for this project to be achieved successfully in the classroom extensive planning and organisation would be required. It is very unlikely that teams of school children would manage to co-operate as effectively as we did, and they would also require assistance with skills like formulating a script and managing the practicalities of filming. Despite these potential complications, it is still a project I would like to undertake as I can see how keen children would be to engage to enhance their learning using multimodal context to share their message, a theory supported by Jones and Hafner (2012).

Thanks to the technical know-how and acting abilities of our team we were able to complete the first part of the task timeously. We decided that as we were unable to access professional studio lighting and sound set-ups that professional YouTubers often use in producing their videos, we would instead use a technology which could be available to children making their own videos. The iPhone XR contains video making software which allows the subject to be placed in a variety of settings. We decided that this would add an engaging and fun element to our video. This provides another aspect to consider if attempting this project with a group. It is very unlikely that professional video recording equipment would be available, but children’s imagination is limitless and can be utilised to great effect to produce engaging content.

 

Editing the footage into our final video took the longest time. Thankfully one of our team is proficient in using the iMovie software so was able to take charge and instruct the rest of us as required. It was good to see the programme demonstrated by a capable tutor as I am very aware of my own limitations in interacting with this type of technology (particularly on an Apple platform). The drag and drop interface made the programme quite user-friendly and before long we had our finished product, of which we were all very proud!

So, how did it go?

The “Top Tips” nature of our message conveys information in a concise and child-friendly manner; encouraging individual responsibility while also reinforcing the idea that Adults and outside agencies exist to help. On reflection, I feel we should have included more specific information on outside agencies rather than just giving a quick mention to Childline. We consulted online resources to ensure our “Top Tips” were accurate and relevant so it seems a strange oversight not to have made more of this element of information. As Dunn (2017) agrees, the likelihood is that children will experience something inappropriate or upsetting through their use of digital technologies and they need to be as well-equipped as possible when navigating their way through their own digital journey.

Having considered this task as appropriate for Second Level Children, I decided the following E&Os would be appropriate:

• HWB 2-03a: “I understand that there are people I can talk to  and that there are a number of ways in which I can gain access to practical and emotional support to help me and others in a range of circumstances.“
• HWB 2-11a: “I make full use of and value the opportunities I am given to improve and manage my learning and, in turn, I can help to encourage learning and confidence in others.“
• HWB 2-12a: “Representing my class, school and/or wider community encourages my self-worth and confidence and allows me to contribute to and participate in society.“
• HWB 2-13a: “Through contributing my views, time and talents, I play a part in bringing about positive change in my school and wider community.“
• HWB 2-16a: “I am learning to assess and manage risk, to protect myself and others, and to reduce the potential for harm when possible.“
• HWB 2-17a: “I know and can demonstrate how to keep myself and others safe and how to respond in a range of emergency situations.“
• EXA 2-01a: “I have experienced the energy and excitement of presenting/ performing for audiences and being part of an audience for other people’s presentations/performances.“
• EXA 2-03a: “I can create and present work that shows developing skill in using the visual elements and components.“
• LIT 2-06a: ” I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.“
• LIT2-26a: “By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.“

And finally…

This week has been without a doubt my favourite stop on the journey. As a parent of teenaged children, I felt particularly able to relate to the topic. I have had a great experience working with my team and learning new skills. I am very proud of what we managed to produce! I can see that this would be a very successful way of working with children and that they would be really keen to engage, although it would require extensive planning and people-management skills. I think this would be a great way of presenting information to a whole school or as a presentation which could be shared with parents and the wider community, strengthening social links. I am glad to have strenghtened my capabilities in using and evaluating the use of digital technologies and I am keen to move forward to next week’s stop on the journey.

References

1. Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in Primary School from Pedagogy to Practice. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
2. Becta (2007) Signposts to safety: Teaching e-safety at Key Stages 1 and 2. London: Becta.
3. Becta (2010) Digital Literacy: Teaching critical thinking for our digital world. London: Becta.
4. Cranmer, S. (2009) Children and young people’s uses of the Internet for homework. Learning, Media and Technology. Vol. 31(3), pp.301-315.
5. Dunn, D. (2017) How to be an Outstanding Primary School Teacher. London: Bloomsbury.
6. Education Scotland (2019) Curriculum for Excellence. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf [Accessed: 15 February 2019].
7. Jones, R.H. and Hafner, C.A. (2012) Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. Oxon: Routledge.
8. Porter, B. (2004) Digi Tales: The Art of Telling Digital Stories. Bernajean Porter Publication.
9. Shtepura, A. (2018) The Impact of Digital Technology on Digital Natives’ Learning: American Outlook. Comparative Professional Pedagogy. 8(2), pp. 128-133.
10. Simpson, D. and Toyn, M. (eds) (2012) Primary ICT Across the Curriculum. London: Sage