First off, let me say wow! Talk about unlocking potential. I know I should realize this, but sometimes it is difficult to think of middle schoolers as young thoughtful minds. These middle schoolers at Mabry Middle have definitely shattered any type of stereotype they may have been labeled. All of their videos were very insightful and thought provoking. This truly is authentic assessment. The students hunger for the knowledge of their assignment and cannot wait to share it.
What I’m talking about is the video project assignment for Mabry Middle school. The videos are made by students who are studying particular topics and use a video project to enhance the learning process. They then are posted on Mabry’s web site for the entire world to see. I like Dr. Tyson’s quote, ” Why do we just put students’ work on the bulletin board, when we can share it with the world?” Again, wow. I can’t imagine what this type of encouragement can do for students’ self esteem. I never had the opportunity to do this sort of thing back in the dark ages when we still had typing classes. The closest thing I ever came to displaying my work was as a contributor for the school newspaper, and for that I got my share of ribbing.
What this idea seems to do is motivate the student to learn and to teach. Again we cannot be scared of technology, but we as educators need to learn how to harness it for use, not abuse. We definitely need to mediate in the use of technology in the classroom and use it in the classroom in such a manner that students come to respect the opportunity of using technology to learn.
Schools have been generally slow to pick up on the possibilities of digital publishing, from wikis to podcasts to moviemaking. Fears of what might go wrong have prevented administrations from making it a priority. But in terms of raising the stakes for students’ work–one’s audience is literally global–it’s hard to top, and it makes Tyson’s work at Mabry cutting edge.