New Literacies, Inquiry, Student Generated Video: Engaging the YouTube Generation Hiller A. Spires Professor & Sr. Research Fellow North Carolina State University Hello, my name is Gwynn Morris and I’m a postdoc at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University. This is Dr. Hiller Spires, who is a professor of Curriculum and Instruction and a Senior Research Fellow at the Friday Institute. Today our presentation is about a pilot project called Cinema Veriteen, which encompasses new media literacies, student generated content, and the YouTube Aesthetic. We’re going to start with a video explaining the theory behind the project, and then watch a sample student video that we will discuss.

Background and Goals New Media Literacies Student Generated Content multiliteracies (The New London Group, 1996) new literacies (Leu, 2007) new media literacies (Jenkins, 2007) multimodal literacies (Kramer-Dahl, 2005) Student Generated Content 64% of online teens ages 12-17 have creating content on the internet (Dec. 2007, The Pew Internet & American Life Project, www.pewinternet.org) YouTube Aesthetic Low budget, low-fi, do-it-yourself 57% of online teens say that they watch videos on video sharing sites such as YouTube (Dec. 2007, The Pew Internet & American Life Project, www.pewinternet.org) (www.flickr.com/photos/jonathandickert/554597073) New Media Literacies multiliteracies (The New London Group, 1996) new literacies, (Leu, 2007) new media literacies (Jenkins, 2007) multimodal literacies (Kramer-Dahl, 2005) Student Generated Content 64% of online teens ages 12-17 have creating content on the internet ( up from 57% of online teens in a similar survey at the end of 2004. YouTube Aesthetic -57% of online teens say that they watch videos on video sharing sites such as YouTube(Dec. 2007, The Pew Internet & American Life Project, www.pewinternet) http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf -48% OF ADULTS OVER 18 HAVE VISITED YOUTUBE THIS YEAR, AND 70% OF THOSE AGED 18-29! (AS OF DEC 07) http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/Pew_Videosharing_memo_Jan08.pdf

Creative Synthesis -- A 21st Century Skill

Cinéma Veritéen Process Reactions to the Process Student-generated content: Assessing intellectual, aesthetic and technical merit

Evaluate

Complexities of Student-Created Video Creativity vs. Appropriateness Tensions with pop-culture Levels of scaffolding? Modeling? Distributed Expertise Change in traditional teacher role Creative Synthesis Copyright and Intellectual Property Appropriate use and citations The Michael Jackson thing? The underwear thing? Generational humor and creativity? Or inappropriateness? Does it further content?

Blogs, Wikis and VoiceThread Project collaboration and dissemination tools: https://www.blogger.com http://wikispaces.com http://voicethread.com

Publish and Share

Lessons Learned Need to scaffold technical skills: Reference Skills Downloading Skills Flip Video Skills Video Editing Skills Need to scaffold creative synthesis skills Organization Skills: Organize all files (audio, video, photos, movie maker files, and related Word documents) into one folder. This folder can be transferred between computers using a USB drive. It can be placed on the desktop when it is in use for maximum speed and ease of use.   Reference Skills: Make a MLA formatted reference sheet in Word as you go. That means saving citation information from web sources, including URL. Make sure to save the exact URL for all photos. Downloading Skills: Properly download and save pictures form the internet (Flickr.com, Google Images, etc.). You cannot download all pictures from Flickr, learn to tell which ones you can and can’t. Blog Skills: Learn how to log on, make a post, add pictures, links, videos to the posts, make comments, use etiquette and internet safety. Flip Camera Skills: Learn how to film video and how to get the resulting .avi files on to your computer. You must download the XVID codec to use .avi files in MovieMaker, which is a free download you can find online. MovieMaker Skills: Beyond learning how to use the basic features to make a movie (titles, adding videos, effects, etc.), understand the structure of the moviemaker files. That is, while it is a work in progress (project file), the files have to link to all the base files (i.e. original .jpgs, clips, etc). When it is finalized into a .wmv movie, it is complete and cannot be edited anymore, but can stand on its own as a file. Critiquing Skills: Learn to find reliable internet sources; learn to critique source and information for reliability.

Future Directions Provide students with technology guide, camera, tri- pod, USB drive, and headphones/microphone. Pilot the process with entire class provide more scaffolding and examples. Define genres of student- generated video.

Cinéma Veritéen Process Are complex thinking and the YouTube aesthetic compatible?

New Literacies Collaborative (NLC) Join the NLC Ning at www.newlit.org