Monday, March 14, 2016

Skeletons, Green Screen, and Fun

In my role here at ESH as technology coordinator and technology integrator, I enjoy working with teachers and students to meaningfully incorporate technology in order to enhance teaching and learning. Prior to moving here, when I was the library technology coordinator at the Historic Campus, I also enjoyed working with teachers and students in the lower, middle, and high school. One of the many projects I always looked forward to was with Ms. Doyle’s Humanities class on the Colonial period. We incorporated the use of green screen technology into their digital storytelling project. Green screen technology involves using software to combine at least two image or video sources, one of which has been filmed in front of a green screen, thus allowing you to superimpose a subject over an unlimited number of various backgrounds. Think of the local weather forecast on the news. We used iMovie on desktop computers to accomplish this task.

I’ve played with various green screen apps for iPads while here at ESH including iMovie. Recently, I had the opportunity to try the Green Screen iPad app by Doink at an EdTech Teacher iPad conference. Upon returning, I described the app and it’s ease of use to one of ESH’s art teachers, Ms. Mazurek, really just to show her how cool it was. She was intrigued and wanted to see how it worked. After meeting with her to demonstrate it and having her make a few videos herself, she decided that she wanted to extend and add some depth to an existing project the students were working on. We also just wanted the students to have some fun with it. Ms. Mazurek and I demonstrated the process with each of her 1st and 2nd grade classes. They had created a variety of ornately designed skeletons using Model Magic and other materials as part of a Day of the Dead project. Students were then asked to create a background and dialog for a scene within which they would superimpose their subject, or skeleton. The effort and detail that went into creating the backgrounds themselves resulted in beautiful pieces of art. Over several classes while working on other projects, students took pictures of their backgrounds. Ms. Mazurek led students through a storyboarding process by having them chunk their scenes down into smaller parts, adding dialog, and/or descriptions of action. Again, it was a great thinking and creative process for them to go through as it added multiple layers and depth to an already meaningful project.

Students have had a blast filming their movies, and so have I. We set up a makeshift green screen “production studio” in Ms. Mazurek’s closet. We went “low tech” with a piece of green butcher paper taped to the shelves and sticks covered with green paper, onto which we would stick the skeletons while students moved them around as they said their dialog. While we could have taken the pictures of their backgrounds and recorded directly into the Green Screen app, we used the Camera app for organizing the backgrounds and videos since we were doing this with every 1st and 2nd grade classroom. As students completed their recordings they pulled their backgrounds and video from the camera roll into Green Screen and saved their movies.

While I typically never propose a project based solely on an app or piece of software, I do propose the process of moviemaking as an excellent way to foster deeper learning and understanding and the demonstration of that learning. Whether its book trailers, PSAs, informational videos, product advertisements/commercials, Slowmation videos, or scene reenactments, Green Screen is a simple tool students can use to facilitate that process.

Green Screen by Doink costs $2.99. More information can be found here: