Student Video Projects

For this week's blog assignment, I viewed the student videos posted at :

http://web.li.gatech.edu/~rdrury/600/oral/video/dictionary.html
and at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8So6nTogjho

These projects have merit.  The students who produced them had to negotiate meaning and to create a lot of authentic language to complet their projects.  The results may not be impressive to a batuve English speaker, but I' m sure the students involved increased their meaningful output.

I think it could be possible to have the students in the class I observed create videos as simple as the ones I viewed.  Students could  use their telephones and/or cameras to record themselves. They could share equipment and use class time to complete their projects.  I'm certain the students I observed would enjoy the chance to creat their own videos and that they have the necessary skills.  Many of the students in the class I observed were bored, under-challenged and in need of ownership of their language learning.  They seem distracted and tired of filling out worksheets and supplying rote answers.  If they were to create videos that illustrate the grammatical rules they are learning, the students who talk out in class would have a chance to shine and receive praise and attention for legitimate language production.

If I were trying to use a video project in this class, I would put students in groups of four. I would assign jobs that the students would divide among them: 1. Script writer 2. Videographer 3. & 4 the actors.  I would ask the students to create videos that illustrate two or more examples of verb tense -- something they must master in order to pass their fluency tests.  All students in each group would help revise the script and create the stage directions.  Their scripts would have to be approved by the instructor for accuracy before production.