TeacherasFilmmaker-MichiganStateUniversity.docVIP

Teacher as Filmmaker: iVideos, Technology Education, and Professional Development David Wong, Punya Mishra, and Matthew Koehler Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan Sharman Siebenthal Adams University of Michigan, Flint Flint, Michigan Abstract In our Masters program in Educational Technology at Michigan State University, K-12 teachers create “iVideos” – short, two-minute, digital videos designed to evoke powerful experiences about educative ideas. For example, an iVideo might enable viewers to experience the vastness of space, the interconnection between people and their environment, the timeless themes in great literature, and other compelling subject-matter ideas. How might these teacher-made iVideos serve as catalysts for teacher technology education and professional development? We describe the conceptual foundation of iVideos by building on the metaphor of teacher as filmmaker - an idea that highlights how teachers and filmmakers both strive to create powerful experiences for their audiences. In doing so, we argue that teachers are enabled to transform ideas and practice by immersing themselves in deep pedagogical consideration of subject-matter, significance, audience, learning, epistemology, and aesthetics. We also discuss how this approach develops teachers’ competency and efficacy with technology. In our Masters program in Educational Technology at Michigan State University, K-12 teachers create “iVideos” – short, two-minute, digital videos designed to evoke powerful experiences about educative ideas. For example, an iVideo might enable viewers to experience the vastness of space, the interconnection between people and their environment, the timeless themes in great literature, and other compelling subject-matter ideas. In a way, an iVideo is like a television commercial that promotes an important idea. Such well-crafted “advertisements” can advert (not avert) our attention and inspire us to see the world with new eyes. They are made compelli