Learner Power and Online Learning

 

Learner Power is two websites, VID1a and VID1b. When used together VID1a and VID1b provide two semesters of a year long class called "intro to video production." Both websites are now free for all users.

 

Learner Power is intended to be a hybrid learning system used as a supplement to face-to-face teaching. There is no substitute for face-to-face teaching, and we do not believe that online learning is optimal. Learner Power has proven to be highly useful, however, and we are proud of how well students have done with it when online only learning is forced upon us. Teachers are encouraged to find ways that connect with students. Many teachers also find that the project tracker helps students monitor their own progress through the course. There is more detail about the project manager tool below.

 

What You'll Find in the VID1a and VIDb Websites

 

The tutorials on these websites cover 100% of Georgia’s AVTF I curriculum, in addition to about half of the SkillsUSA video blueprint. There are over 900 tutorials, 10 pre-tests, 10 tests, 2 final exams, rubrics, and related handouts. The third website is a simulation test to prepare for the Adobe Certified Associate EOPA, and the fourth website has just the 37 Premiere tutorials for quick reference. Those same Premiere tutorials are also integrated throughout the two main websites.

 

 

All of this material is free to use. PLEASE contact me with bug reports and questions about the websites.

 

In both Video 1 websites the objective units have a series of tutorials that end in a knowledge check and test. The knowledge check is a practice test, and when students miss a question it tells them which tutorial to go back and review. The knowledge checks are not graded, and students can do them in your classroom or at home. The actual tests intended to be taken once.

 

The subjective units are built around student projects, and are assessed with included rubrics.

 

Some teachers will just integrate a few objective units into their regular classroom workflow. But if you’d like to use ALL OF THE TUTORIALS and flip your classroom then please plan on using the complete website and the Project Manager.

 

The Project Manager is a shared Google Spreadsheet that allows students to set daily goals, track their progress, compare their progress to other students, find collaborators, and collect feedback on their work. I've made a tutorial for how to set up the project manager here.

 

I can’t make any guarantees that all materials will work in all browsers all of the time. All of these tools do comply with FERPA and CIPA, but they are not yet closed captioned for the hearing impaired. The websites should work equally well at school or at home. If something glitches please email me at pashasouvorin@yahoo.com or text me at 404-219-7380. If you really like these materials then please consider making a donation.

 

The Long Version

 

The website is designed to support a variety of classrooms, including a 100% flipped model. The site also includes class discussions, group projects, individual research projects, and presentations. These are included to support the Common Core standards that Georgia has adopted in the video pathway, and also to support the ISTE NETS which are internationally recognized instructional design standards.

 

 

Objective Units (that end in a KC and test)

 

VID1a Objective Units (end in a test)

 

VID1b Objective Units (end in a test)

 

VID1a Unit 1 is about working skills

 

VID1a Unit 6 is an introduction to video production

 

VID1a Unit 7 is about shots and camera movements

 

VID1a Unit 8 is about pre-production

 

VID1a Unit 9 is about production

 

VID1b Unit 1 is about technologies and standards

 

VID1b Unit 2 is about broadcast journalism

 

VID1b Unit 3 is media literacy and mass communication history

 

VID1b Unit 6 is about video shooting rules

 

VID1b Unit 8 is about live television production

 

 

The Project Manager

The Project Manager is a Google Sheet (spreadsheet) that is shared by all students and the teacher

 

Most teachers don’t use it, so consider this optional. It’s a tool for students and you to manage everyone’s progress through the course.

 

It’s stored in the cloud, saves itself automatically, requires sign-in by each student, and allows the whole class to type into it at the same time

 

You won’t need to do much to it - just make a copy of it for your classroom.

 

The first page of the project manager tells you how to do that.

 

The Course Setup Part 2 section of the VID1a website will teach students (and you) how to set up and use the Project Manager.

 

Project manager features:

 

main page shows every student’s progress so far (and updates automatically in real time)

 

main page also allows for daily goal setting and reflection

 

in addition each student has his or her own page to monitor their own progress and collect written feedback from peers and the teacher

 

can be shared with parents, giving them a real time window into their children’s progress

 

should be monitored closely by the teacher, since all students will have editing privileges on this public document

 

if a student types anything inappropriate on the project manager it’s easy for the teacher to identify them using the document history

 

But if you create an atmosphere of trust and emphasize how the project manager prepares them for the kind of collaborative online document sharing used in the professional world then it really help.

 

It's NOT a gradebook (so there's no privacy issue)

 

Once students have set up the project manager it usually goes smoothly. The directions for setting it up are on the first page of the project manager. In the VID1b website there is a set of 28 tutorials that walk students through the process of setting up their part of it. You only have to share it with them - they do the rest of the work. There's a tutorial in CS 1 that tells them to ask you to share it with them. But if you have any trouble please let me know. It's easy for you to share the project manager with me and then call me at 404-219-7380. I can set it up for you remotely while we talk on the phone. Once you get over the learning curve you will probably love the project manager. I've been refining it for six years, and it's a pretty sophisticated instrument now. Students usually love it, too (once they get used to it).

 

 

Full Description of VID1a Website

 

The Getting Started section just makes sure students have the basic computer skills they will need. Most students find it to be very easy

 

The Course Setup section does several things:

 

has them print and sign a learner power agreement sheet that covers FERPA and CIPA requirements

 

has a research approval form that they should not sign (it’s only for my students who are part of a research project)

 

gives them a link to the syllabus

 

teaches them how to use Google Docs

 

teaches them how to set up and use the Project Manager

 

has a pre-test to measure student knowledge before the semester (which is not an an official Georgia SPG). The pre-test has the exact same questions as the final exam, so it’s easy to calculate the student's’ growth from the pre-test to the final. Let me know if you need help calculating this.

 

Unit 1

 

should come first in the semester

 

covers employability skills and professionalism skills

 

contains all the safety lessons

 

ends in an objective test

 

Units 2-5 are the professionalism section

 

it is recommended that this section be done early in the semester

 

Unit 2 is a simple SkillsUSA treasure hunt. Teachers who host a Skills chapter will want to supplement this unit with their own materials.

 

Unit 3 is a whole class discussion of professionalism in a video classroom

 

Unit 4 is a careers research project with an individual component and a group component

 

In Unit 5 each group presents their careers research project and the teacher leads a whole class discussion

 

Units 6-9 are the knowledge section

 

they can be done in ANY ORDER and at ANY TIME IN THE SEMESTER

 

each unit ends in a pre-test and test

 

Unit 6 is an intro to video production

 

Unit 7 is about shots and camera movements

 

Unit 8 is about pre-production

 

Unit 9 is about production

 

note: students won’t learn about post-production until they have actually shot some video and are ready to edit it. They learn the basics of editing first in unit 10c after the studio test and then more deeply in unit 13 when they’ve finished shooting their video project.

 

Unit 10 is the two performance tests

 

part 1 teaches students all of the necessary studio skills

 

part 2 has students demonstrate their studio skills while the teacher grades their performance with an included rubric

 

part 3 teaches students how to edit video and ends with the teacher grading their edited video using an included rubric

 

parts 2 and 3 could be used as summative assessments or as the performance section of the final exam

 

Units 11-13 are the video project

 

teachers will assign the actual video project

 

some teachers might have students do many small projects, others might have 1 or 2 large ones

 

the included materials help students plan all manner of projects from two main categories: journalistic and narrative

 

Unit 11 walks students through the process of pre-planning an actual project, and includes lots of handouts such as storyboards and other planning documents

 

Unit 12 walks students through the shooting of their project

 

Unit 13 walks students through the process of editing their project

 

Unit 14 has students present their project, take the final exam, and finish the course

 

 

Full Description of VID1b Website

 

The Getting Started section helps them set up the project manager for the second semester

 

Unit 1 teaches a broad range of video technologies and standards and ends in a KC and test

 

Unit 2 teaches broadcast journalism. The unit 2 test has application questions that have them judge whether a given piece of journalism is objective, subjective, biased, etc.

 

Unit 3 teaches media literacy and a history of mass communications. It focuses on film and television history, but touches on related mass media as well. It ends in a KC and test. There are several parts of unit 3 that are blank. I do not have a timeline for when those will be complete. They will be optional units, and they are not covered by any tests.

 

Unit 4 is a research project

 

Unit 5 is a presentation and discussion

 

Unit 6 teaches 29 new shot types, and has over 150 sample videos that are tightly aligned to specific shooting scenarios

 

Unit 7 is a photography project where students shoot examples of the 29 new shot types. Then they learn basic Photoshop editing skills.

 

Unit 8 teaches live television production

 

Unit 9 is pre-planning for a live, multicamera television production

 

Unit 10 is the studio skills test for VID1b, called “give us your best shot”

 

Units 11-13 are for a major video project.

 

Unit 14 includes the final exam for VID1b

 

 

Why is This Free?

 

This might be a commercial product one day, but it’s not ready yet. I’m sharing it with you now because I need beta testers. I’ll be asking each of you to fill out a survey after you’ve finished beta testing the materials. It will be anonymous. That survey will also help me identify ways to improve these teaching materials. And obviously there is no guarantee, yet. During beta testing I can’t promise that the website will work every time in every browser. I might change or update modules during the beta period. There might be bugs, glitches, misspellings, or other problems with the materials as well. Please let me know any time problems come up, and I’ll do my best to stamp out the bugs as they appear. Thanks for helping me as a beta tester!

 

 

The Learner Power Curriculum

 

The curriculum page of the VID1a website shows the alignments with various local and national standards, including the Georgia GPS. All curricular elements that are not covered in VID1a will be covered in VID1b. Every module (and test question) in this project is tied to a specific curricular objective. If your school requires that you keep a lesson plan or post an essential question then please use the curricular objectives. Every lesson on the website and every test question on the website shows the objective that it is teaching or measuring.

 

 

How Knowledge Checks and Tests Work

 

The first knowledge check (KC) will teach students how to use the KCs. The purpose of a KC is to help students review their knowledge so far. When they miss a question on the KC it will tell them what module to review. Students take the actual tests whenever they are ready (or whenever you ask them to). They can take KC at home if they like, but all actual tests MUST be taken in front of you in the classroom. The tests are password protected (coachandmentor), and please let me know if that password gets out. It’s easy for me to change it. At the end of each test is a score screen. When a student gets to the score screen make sure to record that in your gradebook. Once the browser window is closed there’s no way to retrieve that test score.

 

 

For Example

 

One of the 450+ objectives in video 1a is “U9b3: Identify the names and purposes of the lights in a standard 3 point light setup.” This objective is from unit 9, part B, step 3. Students will learn the names and purposes of these lights from lesson u9b3. In the KC at the end of unit 9 students will answer a question about 3 point lights. If they get the question wrong on the pre-test then the feedback on that question will suggest that they review lesson u9b3. On the actual test they will be given another question about 3 point lights. The test question is not worded the the same as the pre-test question. Both questions cover the same content in different ways.

 

 

Quick Note on Research

 

There are links in the website to a pre-survey and post-survey. These are for a research project for my students only. It has been approved by my school district and by Georgia Southern University, but only for use in my classroom. If you would like to participate in future research then please let me know.

 

 

What Kinds of Projects?

You can assign students to whatever projects you like. There are lots of handouts that help students plan projects. Video 1b will focus more on journalistic projects. In Video 1a it’s assumed that students might do a variety of projects. Another basic assumption of the materials is that students will learn best while doing. The modules try to teach hands-on skills (like editing video or setting up lights) on demand, meaning that students won’t learn these skills until they are ready to use them during a project.

 

 

How to Use the News Blog on the Home Page

 

You will notice that the home pages of VID1a and VID1b have a twitter feed that links to a news blog. I use the blog to post information, news, and contest announcements that are relevant to high school video production students. I’d be happy to set you up as a user for the blog, so that you can post to it as well. Please let me know if you’d like blogging rights.

 

 

How to Flip Your Video Classroom

 

let students work independently and at their own pace and in the order of their choosing

 

let students use the website in the computer lab using headphones (and at home)

 

make sure that the students set up and use the Project Manager so that they (and you) can track their own progress

 

then you get to be the executive producer who spends your class time coaching, mentoring, supervising the studio, helping with storyboarding, managing equipment, leading discussions, answering questions, sitting in on small group discussions, and listening to pitches!

 

 

More About Pasha Souvorin

 

• I was named as one of 30 Lead Innovators in the country by PBS LearningMedia
• my student growth rate was 93% (that’s average score growth from the pre-test to the final exam)
• for seven years in a row I’ve had a 99% pass rate
• in my flipped classroom students report greater motivation to do well in school
• I’ve had six students win High School Production Awards at the Southeastern Emmys
• I’m a National Board Certified Teacher, and have taught video production for 15 years
• I have a Specialist Degree in Learning, Design, and Technology

 

 

Thanks, again for beta testing, and have a great school year!