Throughout my studies in COM561, I sought to use this platform as a means to tell the story of how the internet and technology are changing the landscape of the 21st century learner, particularly in the elementary and middle schools of a Southern California public charter school organization.
Oxford Preparatory Academy, or OPA as it is called by its students and faculty, has embarked on an exciting journey over the course of the 2014-15 academic year as they implemented their 1:1 Chromebook program. Starting from scratch, the three different K-8 campuses of this organization have brought technology to the head of the class and students have begun learning in new ways.
One to One at Oxford Preparatory Academy
A Premiere Video Documentary
Real-time collaboration on documents in Google Drive occur simultaneously as infographics are designed to explain higher level thinking. No, this is not the peer-to-peer efforts of employees at a Fortune 500 company. It is the class work of students at Oxford Preparatory Academy as they learn in new ways through this K-8 charter school’s innovative one to one Chromebook program.
Although I have only had the privilege of working at Oxford Preparatory Academy for a little over a year, I have been able to witness first-hand a drastic change in the makeup of our school’s classrooms as well as the way students are learning. I attempted to capture some of this excitement in the two and a half minute narrative story segment as seen above.
Keeping in mind the 5-shot method, I aimed to capture the subject, action, and setting of my stories from several different angles. These included medium, close-ups, low angle, high angle, wide and over the shoulder shots. Learning this technique beforehand benefitted me in the pre-production process and I was fully prepared to capture film as soon as entered each classroom.
The students were excited to be a part of the project and it was fun to spend time in the classrooms with them to witness technology being used in such a positive and engaging way. At some point, I would love the opportunity to share what I have learned this semester in more detail at one of OPA’s M.A.J.O.R.S. classes. Being able to tell stories with video is a 21st Century Learning skill that will prove useful for any student – OPA and WSU alike. Fortunately, Oxford’s Champions have the technology at their fingertips to be able to do so!
Technology Packs a Punch
An Audition Narrative
Music by: DoKashiteru / CC BY-NC 3.0
Weighing in at less than five pounds and standing only 10 inches tall, the Chromebook has packed a mighty punch in the classrooms of a Southern California charter school. After only one year, this technology has had quite an impact on the way students are learning. Let’s take a minute to hear how…
Although my roots run deep in radio, it has been a very long time since I have had to pull together a multimedia project using only audio. After this course section, I realized just how heavily I have depended on photography, graphic design, and video to communicate an idea. This project was a very eye-opening experience to that effect.
For this segment of our course, I aimed to bring two voices to the forefront. Jack and Delaney (a freshman and sixth grader) were kind enough to spend a few minutes with me to share their personal experiences with Chromebooks at school. To me, their perspective is important, as they have been a part of the first generation that has grown up with the Internet as a part of their everyday lives. Not only that, but they are encouraged to log in and utilize some pretty powerful devices that have the potential to teach them anything they could possibly want for.
One to One
An Illustrator Vector Logo
Inspiration first struck for my logo assignment while, not surprisingly, sitting at my computer and waiting for inspiration to strike at an unusually loud Starbucks. While resisting the urge to grab another coffee, check my email, or hop on a social network, my gaze wandered to the top right corner of my laptop where I noticed the wifi icon.
It was then that it dawned on me… with all that is happening in this time of technologically-infused education, one certainty remains constant – students are no longer tethered to a stationary device or required to stay within the walls of a classroom to learn. Although it can require some filtering, knowledge of virtually any subject matter is at the fingertips of these “Digital Natives” and is being brought to them wirelessly.
My goals for this assignment were to create a flat vector logo design that can be easily translated onto a t-shirt, email campaign, website, or otherwise. A hybrid of my first ad final draft was chosen by OPA for use in their Standards, Format, Technology campaign and this logo can be seen throughout our campuses on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the professors and staff wear their new shirts.
The Times, They Are Changin’
A Photoshop Collage
When I initially began gathering my thoughts on this Photoshop collage assignment, my vision was to express to my audience that the youth of today are participating in learning so much differently than the generations before them. What has been true in regard to the standard method of learning in the decades (perhaps century) past is now archaic.
This collage features two images that make use of various blend mode techniques and a white stroke layer style with a drop shadow. The first photo is of a teacher, presumably from decades past, using a globe to explain a lesson. What follows is an image of a teacher assisting her students as they navigate digital devices on their own. As one of my classmates so eloquently put it, the educator on the left is the “sage on the stage” while the one on the right is the “guide on the side.”
Image Credits:
My Life Graphic/Shutterstock.com Image ID: 111650024
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com Image ID: 141207379
Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com Image ID: 92359057
Artgraphixel.com/Shutterstock.com Image ID: 148015268
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