Meet Frederick Bolzan! Frederick has been at The International School of Boston for 20 years as the Technology Integration Specialist and believes that having students create videos for projects is probably one of the best ways to use technology as a tool.
Check out how Mr. Bolzan uses video for students to reflect in a super fun way by vlogging about their experiences in the robotics program.
https://youtu.be/OPc9QGvKnbI
About this project
Every Wednesday, for 2 hours, our students, grades 6-8, participate in the Student Exploration Program (SEP). This is an opportunity for our students to try out new or different realms of interest. From cooking, to game design, to improv, to robotics, to yoga, to "unselfie-yourself" (reaching out and doing something for other). The premise behind these "classes" is to drive another set of skills: teamwork, creativity, ethics, resilience, curiosity, and time management.
For robotics, I started doing this about 8 years ago, and love it to this day. At first, we wanted students to reflect in some way that could be meaningful. We tried a weekly journal (in an actual notebook), and then we tried having students do it electronically via either a Google Doc, and then a Google form.
Mr. Bolzan trying a peanut butter and jelly (and spoons!) sandwich made by the students’ robot program instructions
I then discovered WeVideo and found that having students reflect via a sort of vlog-like entry was a bit more fun for everyone. After every class, we have two students make a short, thirty-second film addressing one or two of the skills that we focused on during class. At the end of the semester every student makes a 3-5 minute video about Robotics.
This video that was submitted was one of our exemplars, in that he met our rubric highs, AND added subtitles. There are no language preferences, so students can narrate in either French or English.
Having been the Technology Integration Specialist after 20 years at this school, I believe having students create videos for projects is probably one of the best ways to use technology as a classroom tool.
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