Lesson 12- The Power of Film, Video and TV in the Classroom

On average, children watch over twenty-five hours of television per week. This alarming statistic is not surprising, especially to educators who often compete with television for the students' time and attention. Granted, Christian educators must battle the negative effects of this medium. However, they should also recognize its positive effects and enlist videos as an imposing ally in the cause of Christian education.

Films are powerful communicators because a person remembers five times more of what he hears and sees (as opposed to what he only hears). The visual element gives the motion picture its special impact; and the bigger the image, the greater the impact. Yet the visual element is often neglected when people show videos. The VHS video format provides a convenient and economical means for distribution, but the effectiveness of video depends greatly on how it is used. Each viewer must be able to hear and see the video in order for it to communicate.

 Limitations:

But as with any tools, they must be used skillfully. Too often, instructors fail to explore the full potential of video and film. They show movies to avoid an onerous lecture or to fill up time when a faculty member must miss class. The tendency is to turn off the lights and turn on a video—so-called teaching, but without a challenging lesson plan to engage students in active analysis and interpretation. Such "video babysitting" is the reason why the use of film and video in the classroom is often rightfully criticized.

Students' reaction to the use of film and video can also be an obstacle. Today's students have been trained since infancy to sit passively in front of the television set, causing them to tend to take in entertainment movies, instructional videos, and documentaries alike without contemplation or questioning of the images and ideas being presented. Such conditioning, combined with the reputation of video babysitting, can cause students to assume that courses that extensively use visual media are intended to be easy. This reaction can make for a self-fulfilling prophesy, with students collectively inferring that because little effort is expected, then little effort is what they put out.

Benefits:

Film and video have long been advocated as powerful adjuncts to classroom instruction.  The combination of moving images and multiple sound tracks offers instructional designers a powerful medium for crafting mutually reinforcing explications of concepts while providing learners with content that engages multiple senses.  Video has been particularly important in distance education with more than half of all distance education programs in 1995 using some form of video content (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999).  Digital video adds possibilities for making learning interactive and this interaction has been powerfully leveraged for more than a decade in videodisc-based projects such as the Jasper series that actively ‘anchored’ learners in adventures that give rise to ‘authentic’ problem solving situations (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1997). The Internet offers significant new possibilities for delivering video even more broadly and easily in both traditional and distance education venues.  Thus, educators at all levels have yet another opportunity to incorporate audiovisual and interactive materials in their classrooms.

Using good videos in this way will not only turn the students' TV viewing toward achieving productive goals, but it will also teach them to apply the "Replacement Principle." Beyond simply removing negative viewing habits, students are learning to replace them with positive alternatives. Just as an appreciation for good music or literature must be developed, the skills to select good videos must also be taught.

RULES TO FOLLOW

When showing videos authorized for public performance to a group:

·         Determine the image size needed for your audience with this "Rule of Thumb": the number of viewers should not exceed the diagonal inches of the screen. For example, a 25" monitor can be comfortably viewed by up to 25 people.

·         Additional monitors can be connected together to accommodate larger groups.

·         If an LCD video projector is used, the room will need to be darkened and the sound should be set up to come from the front near the screen.

Encouraging Student Analysis and Interpretation

How can faculty members get students to interact with the film or video they are showing?

·         Have students make notes on the film while they are watching it and then turn them in to make sure they are engaging with the film to some extent.

·         Other instructors suggest giving a quiz immediately after the film or assigning an in-class writing exercise that asks what the main point of the video was. How well and through what narrative or visual aspects did the filmmakers demonstrate their themes?

·         Instructors can focus class discussion and analysis on specific scenes, or on structure of the narrative rather than having students construct an overly generalized film review.

How can a teacher make available videos that provide a positive alternative?

·         He can develop a list of recommended videos or establish a lending library of videos that have been previewed.

·         Schools and churches can make videos a part of their regular libraries, providing both an educational resource and an outreach ministry to families. This ministry leads to yet another benefit from incorporating home videos into your teaching: helping students who come from families that may have special spiritual needs or even unsaved loved ones.