Screencasting in 7th Grade ELA

7th Grade ELA

Sam Fetters

Problem Identified: Students were not using the screencasts or lesson videos created by Bruder and I during HIVE upgrades.

Hypothesis: If I have students create screencasts and how to videos, then more students will use videos to upgrade assignments as measured by the amount of upgrades submitted.

Data Collection: I used observations of students creating the videos, and also showing videos to students in my intensive.

Actionable Step: After polling students and trying to get some videos made, I found that the process was too difficult for the students I polled. I opted to not choose the “highest” students, because I thought there work would feel out of reach for most students. Instead, I chose mid-range students to present their work. The videos they created were pretty unusable for other students, although I think it was a helpful activity for the students who made them.

Overall Findings/Impact: While the videos did not work out as planned, I did find that having students run “help circles” during intensives was very helpful for students who were working on upgrades.

My next step is to create videos where I narrate or “grade” exemplary student work on video. I think this will help to make sure the videos are focused on the things that are most important and be more useful for upgrades. It would also take me about 10 minutes to make this video, whereas it would take most students 20-30 minutes.