One of the exciting new projects being demonstrated at the BETT show this year is the Films for Learning Project. I know that many of you work with your feeder schools to establish links, provide extra curricular activities and to foster enthusiasm for Computer Science and Engineering subjects and I think this resource could help you. I see potential for you to help your feeder schools make videos that other schools can benefit from, either in your area or across the country. I see students demonstrating their programming, electronics, robotics projects to their peers. What do you think?
Claire
The details of the project are:
Films for Learning (FFL) is a project that has been inspiring schools for two years now to create their own video resources and share them with others online as part of core curriculum. FFL is organised out of Thomas Hardye School in Dorset with the first year of funding from NESTA.
· Audience for FFL is youth 6-18 years of age and teaching professionals.
· All submitted videos are moderated by UK teaching professionals before publication to ensure the site content is safe and appropriate for education use.
· Microsoft is a sponsor of FFL and helped to re-launch www.filmsforlearning.org. This collaborative site and online community will serve as an educational resource that inspires and helps teachers and students to make their own video productions.
· Approximately 50 schools in the UK take part today (note that most school/classrooms are already undertaking video projects but haven’t had a place to interact around them more broadly.
· School participation costs – a DV video camera, a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista for access to Windows MovieMaker, Internet connectivity to publish the video to filmsforlearning.org
· The Films for Learning community members provide student and teacher activity/training days, using a travelling film lab with equipment funded by Microsoft, to help schools start media enhanced, personal learning activities.
The introductory FFL video (provided as a WMV) is available here – please watch if you wanted to see and hear more about FFL by the teachers and pupils doing FFL today! http://community.filmsforlearning.org.ultimahosts.eu/video/FfL-Film-2008.wmv
