Erin Thompson

@artcrimeprof

Department of Art and Music

Faculty Development Day 8/24/16

Workshop: Rich Media Assignments in the Online Course

Resources

Rich Media Assignment Ideas/Examples

-informal video introductions

-demonstrate class concepts for a K-12 audiencein publically-available videos

-argue for policy advocacy

-explain articles

-video diaries (especially for a language course)

-interviews for oral/family/social groups histories

-observation/documentation NYC events

-produce mini-documentaries about historical events

-perform a work – read a monologue, enact dialogue, read a poem, etc.

-create a Tumblr or Instagram “online exhibit” of text and images

-create or edit a Wikipedia entry

-create a podcast

Rich Media Assignment Best Practices

-Give clear guidelines for the content of the project and the technology students should use to create it; e.g., specify that a video must be 3-4 minutes long and contain opening and closing credits, voiceover, background music, photos, and video footage, and be created in either MovieMaker (Windows) or iMovie (Macintosh)

-Establish guidelines for the time students should expect to spend on the making and editing of the project

-Consider creating scaffolding assignments that align with the steps of making a rich media project, including:

  • Generating main idea
  • Researching and writing script and storyboard
  • Planning shoot/recording and gathering equipment
  • Shooting footage/recording sound
  • Creating/gatheringother elements, like images, soundtrack, and narration
  • Editing

-Consider creating a low-stakes preliminary assignment, such as a 30 second video

-Consider requiring students to give feedback on each other’s assignments

-Consider including a written component, such as a reflection essay

-Instruct students on how to include citations (see Purdue OWL guides, e.g.,ALA styleand MLA stylefor citing non-print sources like photos, interviews, and videos. Usually, instructors either ask students to include these citations come at the end of the video or to overlay a citation on each image/clip.

-Instruct students on followingFair Use guidelines when using outside material

-If students are going to post projects publicly, consider having any interviewees sign release forms likethis one from Dartmouth (and discuss any relevant privacy, ethics, and professionalism concerns)

-Specify how students should turn in the final product; options include submitting through Blackboard, posting on YouYube or Vimeo, and uploading to a free media sharing site like Google Drive (in which case you should specify format, like mp4)

-Create a rubric that specifies what weight will be given to which components of the assignment, so students can know what importance you place on technical proficiency

-Improve your assignment by asking students for feedback (e.g. in an anonymous ungraded Blackboard survey)

Tutorials

  • Youtube has a comprehensive set of tutorials, e.g. for uploading videos
  • Blackboard has tutorials on uploading YouTube videos to Blackboard posts and assignments for instructors and for students
  • iMovie also has a comprehensive set of tutorials broken down into simple steps, like starting a new project, adding media, adding titles, creating transitions, and adding a soundtrack
  • Vimeo has tutorials that address more creative aspects of video-making, e.g., tips for shooting live music performances
  • Let your students know that they can find their own tutorials on almost anything computer-related by searching YouTube for tutorial + product name or specific task (e.g., “tutorial Word doublespace”)

John Jay Resources

-Information about what software is available on John Jay computer lab equipment and how students can borrow laptops from the Laptop Loan Center (L2.72.00 NB)

-Robin Davis, Emerging Technologies & Online Learning Librarian, Lloyd Sealy Library

-I will be leading a CAT workshop on rich media assignments on March 23, 2017

Image Resources (Sources and Tools)

-4FreePhotos(high quality stock images, public domain)

-Wikimedia Commons(images, audio and video files)

-MorgueFile(free high-resolution photos & images organized by category)

-Stock.Xchng(more than 150,000 photos)

-Flickr - Creative Commons

-Flickr - Library of Congress

-Flickr - The Commons

-Pics4Learning(copyright-friendly images for education)

-Library of Congress(you might also check out theLOC Teachers page)

-picnik.com(free online image editor)

Audio Resources

-Finding Legal Music for Videos(from CreativeCommons.org)

-Sound Jay

-MusOpen(classical instrumental and vocal music)

-PublicDomain4U(vintage recordings)

-Soungle(sound effects in .wav format)

-Jamendo.com(creative commons)

-Free Music Archive(creative commons)

-ccMixter(creative commons)

-Opsound.org(creative commons)

-TheRecordist.com(free sound effects)

-Library of Congress