Films for Learning Community

Chesil Beach

Markr — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:02:00 GMT

Geography Teacher Eddie Campbell-Thomas has been making Geography films with his students from Teignmouth's Trinity School. Their recent field trip to Chesil Beach on the world famous Jurassic Coast was turned into a film for learning.

Wave Action on Chesil Beach, Dorset.

Watch more of of Eddie's and Trinity School's films >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Links to Films Test

Paulfo — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:37:00 GMT

All SCIENCE Films

Edible Playgrounds

Markr — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:44:00 GMT

Edible Playgrounds is a Dorset based project that encourages schools to set aside an area of ground for growing their own food. It is all about teaching children where food comes from, and sharing the fun and satisfaction of growing - and cooking - your own. Watch the Edible playgrounds film >>>CLICK HERE<<<
Find out more at http://www.edibleplaygrounds.co.uk/

If you have film of your school's Edible Playground or your food and gardening projects do share it with us!

Edible Playgrounds

View all films >>>Click here<<<

Celebrity FFL!!!

Markr — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:51:00 GMT

Contributions to Films for Learning from....

Lesley Waters
Celebrity Chef Lesley Waters went to The Thomas Hardye School as part of a competition to find student to cook in a festival celebrating local food and ingredients. We asked her what her top tips for cooking were. Lesley's lively personality makes her a popular television cook and a regular member of the team on Ready Steady Cook (BBC 1), and a frequent guest on Good Food Live (UK Food Channel) and This Morning (ITV1).

Top Tips from Lesley Waters

Tony Benn, Mark Steel and Joanna Blythman at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival 2008

On Young People >>>CLICK HERE<<<

The UK's Big Issues >>>CLICK HERE<<<

On Politics >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Scicast meets Films for Learning

Markr — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:16:00 GMT

In June 2007 the Films for Learning team gathered science communicators and NESTA Awardees from all four corners of the UK to help students make inspirational films for both Planet Science's Scicast and FFL. From the English quarter (and FFL) stepped forward the students from local Dorset schools, assisted Mark Richardson, Peter Roe and Dave Morgan. Northern Ireland was represented by Ciaran Meyer from Dream Ireland, sweeping across the Scottish border came Jonathan Sanderson from SciCast and finally Wendy Sadler of Science Made Simple took a quick hop from Wales (Cardiff to be specific). Three days of hard work by 14 schools resulted in lots of films.....

Thank you to all the schools who participated and the science communicators who made it all happen...

View the films...

Falling Toast...

Falling Toast

Branching Patterns >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Convection >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Geostatic Den >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Ice and Oil >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Optical Illusions >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Ketchup Science >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Polarisation >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Shark Infested Classroom >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Magic Tea Party >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Transcription (in DNA) >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Welcome to Films for Learning!

Markr — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:58:00 GMT

Thank you for following this link to the Films for Learning Community from the LEPP newsletter!

Here are some links within this site to help get you started

You will need to do this to download resources or upload a film.

Staff Development Activity >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Free Resources including media release forms, storyboard and shot list sheets... >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Watch the Film about Films for Learning: >>>CLICK HERE<<<

(no membership required, but you will need to download Silverlight - this automatically appears - Silverlight takes only 15 seconds to download and install - you will not need to restart your computer.)

Download the ‘How to' guide to Films for Learning. >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Upload your first Film >>>CLICK HERE<<<

(normal copyright restriction apply... please do not upload films which contain copyrighted material - music or images, also please ensure that parental permission has been obtained when using images of children and do not use their name alongside their image or other means of identification.)

Films for Learning Theatre. >>>CLICK HERE<<<

To view content in the FFL Theatre you will need to follow the Silverlight download this will automatically appear (Silverlight takes only 15 seconds to download and install - you will not need to restart your computer.)

Collaborate with us and make the first 'Leading Edge National Student Voice of 2009'

For more information on this opportunity for your students please contact us at:

info@filmsforlearning.org

Using the Films for Learning Theatre you can upload your own films for learning and embed them in your schools own site or VLE, alternatively just make links to the relevant films. Members of the site can also provide feedback/peer assessment to film makers, by rating films or providing commentary on the films using the unique time line commentary tool. - real Assessment for Learning!

Working with new, virtual partners...

Markr — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Have you ever thought... 'It would be great to make a film about... the London Eye... The Sydney Opera House... US Elections...' but lacked original footage or a film maker 'on the ground'...

Living in Dorset I have always had a plan to put some footage together of our 'local' World Heritage Site the Jurrasic Coast with footage of the North East Coast.... (I think it is the same band of rock) for a Geography film.. but never got round to it. Maybe you have a great film idea which involves working with film makers collaborating from far and wide...?

Here is a great way to collaborate - Windows Live Sky Drive... >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Plan a film.... work out who you are going to collaborate/work with (you can seek out a film making 'buddy' through the FFL Community) and post your undedited rushes up on SkyDrive... both you and your buddy can share and edit your own versions of films and let everyone elso be your judge!

SkyDrive is free to use with a massive 5GB of space, and you use your same email address and password as you do for this site.... to share your files you just enter your buddy's email address... give it a go... if you are alredy a member of FFL and signed into this site just follow the link above and you are already signed into you LiveSpace and SkyDrive!

P.S. Anyone going for a walk on the NE Coast path with a camera?

FFL at Hand Held Learning 2008

Markr — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:55:00 GMT

Wednesday 15^th October three students and I attended the Hand Held Learning Conference at The Brewery in the Barbican, London. There we presented for the Teacher Development Agencies ‘Developing Teachers for the 21^st Century' break out session. We put forward the FFL perspective on the challenges and opportunities this technology offers learners in the second half of the first decade of the 21^st century.... (certainly a bit of a mouthful but it is best to be specific as it will be all change again tomorrow!) To demonstrate the possibilities Hand Held Technologies offers learning we set ourselves the challenge of making a film on the journey up to the conference from deepest Dorset. This involved filming on a mobile and editing on the train and London Eye!

See the film >>>CLICK HERE<<<

It was my job to lead the presentation, but I was very ably assisted by the 3 students from the Thomas Hardye School, Sam, Douglas and Laura who excellently represented their own experiences of learning using DV cameras, phones and laptops.

To view Sam's Film: >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Douglas' Film

Laura's Film: >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Here is a brief summary of the presentation we gave

We told the FFL story, explaining that we work at a very small level offering some training and support to schools and individuals. All contributors provide their time on a voluntary basis and there is no commercial angle to this project. I then explained what FFL is about:

FFL is students making films for teachers to explain aspects of learning which lessons/teachers are trying to communicate.... however as with all good things teachers also want to get in on the act (and why not) and make films!

Films for Learning supports learning because:

you can not make a good film to support learning without understanding the subject...
communication skills are developed through the process both in front of and behind the camera, both in production and post production.
the literacy of film is something which is almost in ‘built in' to today's learners, so this is their medium... not one they are scared of or should teachers retreat from.
team working, and collaborative skill are encouraged.
films can be shared in class or online... feed back can be given ... uniquely in the ‘timeline' facility offered the FFL Theatre
film making supports a variety of learning styles... and challenges teaching styles!

Unfortunately film making is no silver bullet to aid learning... Two years ago a primary school we worked with were excited by the apparent successes they were achieving with students undertaking FFL activities until they saw no perceivable increase in KS2 results... However there is little disputing the increase levels of engagement of students undertaking FFL activities and the success of this work will be apparent later in personal development.

Whilst film making we have identified a number of challenges frequently experienced by educators and learners:

Compatibility - Incompatible file formats produced by Tape, Hard Drive and SD cards... this often requires more software to achieve the same results. Some phones and new cameras work better with Mac than PC... the less straightforward a film project becomes technically the more barriers are created for the teacher
Copyright - What does copyright free... free Music... actually it mean? DIDA/GCSE's insist on coursework remaining legal... but students are encouraged to inadvertently break the law elsewhere in the curriculum... and yet educators continue talk of the power of the blogoshere... In FFL activities we encourage students to use no music or create there own where feasible...
Safety - another barrier to creating exciting lessons.... The risk assessment... this is never insurmountable and relatively easy to address.
Time - Film making is not the quick option... a day is always better than 5 lessons... but that luxury is rare.... The dropping of KS3 SAT's may encourage more adventurous and flexible teaching?! (Keep your fingers crossed!)
Resources - FFL work with the cheapest equipment and free software - MS Movie Maker and imovie etc. are our programmes of choice to ensure our activities are as accessible as possible to all schools and students. We am keen to remove as many barriers to learning as possible... especially for teachers!
Skills - The teacher may not know all the answers, but the student is more than likely to know where to look or how to find out. The skill is for the teacher to allow this to happen safely without feeling that they have lost control. In some places ICT has been taught ‘traditionally' almost a means of control.... Some teachers are only happy when the class is sitting silently in front of a keyboard and screen... Hand Held technologies challenges these teaching styles and values.

I have now outlined enough reason why not to make film with students... so here is few reasons to make films.... !

Students get really creative. Film work produced by students really is the ‘Student Voice
By getting mobile you can get out of the class room... for that matter bring the real word into the class room... throw dummies of Cliffs, make explosions, visit real working environments, get real peoples opinions..
Students and teachers can collaborate... initiate...commission... create a new dynamic in learning through film
Filming making can be accessible to all.... Even the student who can never concentrate in lessons has been found to focus, contribute and even sit and be constructively bored!!!!
Most student have found this process to be both challenging and fun... not because it is film making but because it makes the subject interesting and so engaging...

On an academic level we are convinced that film making can address the ‘Personalised Learning' agenda...

Of the nine Learning Gateways here are five examples of what FFL can hit...

AfL... You need to target set, peer and self assess when making films...
Learning to Learn - When film making you are exploring and creating new ways to learn
Obviously new technologies are central to FFL.... and specifically Hand Held Learning technologies
The student voice can be clearly be identified in this work....
And any part of the curriculum can incorporate FFL this in their work...

Hopefully you will be inspired to contribute to this project...

As previously mentioned it is free...

You might have advice and resources to share through the blogs and forums in the FfL Community or Films you and your student have made to support learning which can be uploaded to the FFL Theatre.

We do insist that films contain no copyrighted music... i.e. chart hits etc and that images and footage are your own or obtained and credited to appropriate sources.

Images of children should not have their names published alongside and parental permission is obtain but retained by yourselves...

Good luck I hope we will be able t share some of your work!

Writhlington School's Orchid project make FFL's

Markr — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:58:00 GMT

You can really see the results of a ‘full on' day's learning for the students of Writhlington School who made ‘Films for Learning'.....

What better way to inspire and kick-start learning than to create films for the classroom? The opportunity presented to us by Mark and ‘Films for Learning' was too good to miss, and we jumped at it. Together with our well-established and successful Orchid Project, students selected from the English department at Writhlington School spent the day developing skills in team-work, communication, leadership, responsibility and problem-solving to name a few. In addition, the students' subject knowledge soared, to include understanding of the Orchid Project's conservation methods, scientific processes, the global relevance of sustainability and geographical locations. The results were impressive: four films and thirty or so smiling faces.

The four films made by the Writhlington students were

Sowing Orchid Seeds: To View >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Sowing Sinking Seeds: To View >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Growing Green Pod Orchid Seed: To View >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Replating Orchids

Students involved in the Orchid Project are used to celebrity status, having recently appeared on the BBC's ‘Gardener's World'; they regularly appear at national shows and have accumulated an impressive silverware collection from the Chelsea Flower Show and many other exhibitions. But the collaboration with the English department was something new, and priceless for those involved. As a cross-curricular venture, the day was a real success. Mark led a tutorial on filming processes and terminology before the English students were given a tour of filming locations including laboratories and greenhouses. The four teams combined 2 Orchid with 4 English experts, and soon assigned roles to their team-members; a Director was elected for each team and the creative juices flowed. The team-work did not necessarily come naturally, but leadership skills emerged, and those with a strong degree of resilience gave up their lunch-break and time after school to get the films finished. Those with particular musical flare were chosen to compose a score, and in the meantime the films took shape. Once the editing process began, all were keen to polish the morning's efforts into good quality, informative films. Mini-interviews were conducted, and the production of voice-overs gave those with clarity and eloquence a chance to shine.

The day was action-packed and exhilarating, and provided an example of learning at its best. Students yielded surprising talents, and there were chances for all to make an impression throughout the day. As individual learning earns a higher status within the education system, producing films in the classroom seems to offer many of the key ingredients, with technical and creative opportunities alike. Soon, we'll be putting together some more films for the website, to celebrate successes elsewhere in the school. Moreover, we hope to enable learning and raise the profile of achievement.

This film project was coordinatated by Helen Wardlaw who is an English Teacher at Writhlington School.

The Writhlington Orchid project is run by Simon Pugh-Jones who is a Science Teacher at Writhlington School.

To visit the WrithlingtonOrchid Project >>>CLICK HERE<<<

First Films for Learning Project

Markr — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:45:00 GMT

Introduction

In the summer of 2005 The Thomas Hardye School (THS) in Dorset worked with Toolkit, a creative learning consultancy. They developed a model for students, staff and partner schools (secondary, middle and first) to make films about areas of Science and Technology which teachers find difficult, tricky or dangerous to explain. The initial stage of this project was funded with an award from NESTA (National endowment for Science Technology and the Arts).

The model was innovative for more than just its use of video. Teachers become clients, commissioning student film companies to make films that would be of direct use to the teachers in the classroom. This approach gave the films double learning value, creating new learning experiences for the students who made the films and the students who then viewed them. The client/film company relationship creates the potential to generate genuine collaboration between teacher and student, bringing a freshness of vision to the subject that has potential to hook students into watching the videos (potentially more than slick professionally produced videos). The films were disseminated through a the first Films for Learning website and are now available in the FFL Theatre enabling students and teachers to share films across the internet.

Film One: To view Doppler for Dummies >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Film Two: To view The Story of Yeast >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Film Three To view Van de Graaf >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Film Four To view >>>CLICK HERE<<<

A prototype Films for Learning website was hosted by the South West Grid for Learning for two years until Microsoft developed this site for FFL.

The first workshop

During the summer of 2005 we ran a two day scoping workshop for six Science and Technology teachers from the THS to develop this model. 30 students from all year groups were then led by the six teachers, Toolkit and support staff from THS to undertake filmmaking, leading to the production of our first Films for Learning.

Evaluation

Below are the results of a survey of the confidence of students participating in last summers FFL workshop. This was undertaken with a survey completed by each participating student at the end of every day. The results though simplistic give a realistic picture of the initial success of the project. If students feel confident in the technology and the subject they are communication we hope learning is improved.

The next steps

With the support of the Leading Edge National Collaborative (LENC) we then attempted to identify whether the FFL model specifically supported the ‘harder to reach/teach' students. We were particularly interested in following students in the lowest 20th percentile of achievement who were studying for Key Stage 3 tests in the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership (DASP).

Three films about Smart Materials

Markr — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:22:00 GMT

Three short (less than 30seconds) 'silent films' which demonstrate the unique properties of Smart Materials....

View the film demonstrating Thermochromatic Material >>>CLICK HERE<<<

View the film demonstrating Shape Memory Alloy >>>CLICK HERE<<<

View the film demonstrating Polymorph >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Newton's First Law of Physics

Markr — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:14:00 GMT

Newton's First Law of Physics Explained in film using a Straw.

To view Newtons First Law >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Le Journal

Markr — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:01:00 GMT

'The News' was made by Year 10 students from the Thomas Hardye School. The film was made using Adobe Visual Communicator and edited using Moviemaker. All stills were obtained from Wiki Commons.

To view Le Journal >>>CLICK HERE<<<

FFL Workshops for Dorset Primary Teachers and Support staff

Markr — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:57:00 GMT

Films for Learning Workshops for primary teachers and support staff. Here are eight films which made during two workshops run by jointly by John Foot from the Dorset County Council Primary team and Mark Richardson from Films for Learning.

The workshops were designed to introduce staff to film making techniques and create opportunities for using film making to support learning in primary schools.

The aspect of learning we commissioned each group to make a film about was numeracy.

First workshop:

Film One: Fair Bears Fractions

Film Two: Mr Odd and Mrs Even

Film Three: Sorting Shapes

Films Four: Water Water

Second Workshop

Film Five: Bears Maths Movie

Film Six: I Know My Place Values

Films Seven: Measuring Capacity

Film Eight

During the day participants learnt:

The technical skills of filming, capturing and editing as well as publishing finished
material.
How to maximise the impact on the development of National Curriculum Keys Skills.
Strategies for evaluation of both on-going work and the impact of the project.
Good practice in Internet safety.
How to contribute to an on-line community.

Following the course, participants have opportunities to:

Borrow up to 5 cameras, tripods and laptops (for no charge) from Films for learning.
Network with others engaged in the project through the Films for Learning community.
Access technical support from colleagues.

Here are is the documentation and support material we used to support this workshop

You may use these for your own training; however we would appreciate feedback of your experiences using this material in training other teachers or for use in lessons.

Plan for day's workshop (Word doc.)

Intoduction to FFL (Power point)

FFL - Just do it! (Powerpoint)

Assessment documents (pdf)

Cerne Abbas Habitat Project

Markr — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:32:00 GMT

This film was made by Years 3 and 4 at Cerne Abbas First School for their science project on habitats. The pupils shot all the footage, scripted the film, performed the music, made the animations and edited about 60% of the film....

This project was undertaken to develop the communication skills and film making skills of Year 3 and 4 children at Cerne Abbas First School. This project was also developed to support Article 29 of the Rights Respecting Schools agenda, 'Education should teach children to respect the natural environment'.

View the Cerne Abbas Habitats film >>>Click HERE<<<

Their teacher (Mrs Jan Crisford) and I (Mark Richardson) wanted to develop the pupils's ICT skills whilst exploring aspects of their recent science project on habitats within the schools grounds. The students had also been recent studying the Romans in history and had made mosaics, this we saw as an opportunity to link the collage work which is also featured in the film and animated.

The management of this project was relatively straightforward. We had three habitats to make films about. We had 24 children and a full day to work with.

The children were split into four mixed ability groups, three groups made films about the three specific habitats and the fourth group made the links between each film.

The day was split into the following activities.

First half of morning:

Introduce days activity
Watch a Film for Learning
Watch an extract of the ‘Really Wild Show' (recorded using BBC iplayer)
Discuss how these films were made... using camera, different camera angle, ‘cutaways', narration, editing etc.
Explain how to use cameras
Brainstorm/Mind map task
Storyboard (-identify beginning middle and end)
Create simple Shot list.
Assign roles for each group member

Break

Shoot in groups

Lunch (We captured all footage over lunch and put all clips into collections in Moviemaker so pupils could be introduced to editing immediately after lunch break)

Introduction to editing using Moviemaker.... specifically drag and drop from collections and trim.
Make animations using photo facility on video cameras
Record music with pupils.
Last 15 minutes
View films with all pupils

The four films were edited together that evening so the children, staff and parents were able to watch the finished film first in assembly then at home through the FFL Theatre.

Cerne Abbas Habitat Project

Assessment Docunt are available >>>HERE<<< for Assessing Learning through FFL work in a Primary context.

The results from feedback provided by the pupils and staff will be available here soon.

SSAT, FFL and Microsoft announce the winners of the Capture it! Film Competition

Markr — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:15:00 GMT

Well done to all the entrants of this competition.This film makers competition for schools was launched in February by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, FFL and Microsoft at the SSAT Technology Conference at Manchester University. We challenged schools to capture the 'Big Ideas' in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). On July 1st, 2008 we announced the winners at the SSAT’s Annual Science Conference at the Think Tank in Birmingham. The judges were impressed and really enjoyed viewing the entries. Films for Learning would like to thank the judges for their hard work. The judges were:

Paul Foster, Microsoft’s Platform Evangelist
Steve Jones , SSAT
Jan Stapleton, The Faraday Institution

Films for Learning and the SSAT would also like to thank Microsoft for sponsoring Films for Learning, the ‘Capture it’ Competition and providing the prizes.Schools and winning teams will be notified and prizes dispatched.The winners were: Science

Third: Diabetes by the Challney High School for Boys
Second: Fireworks by the Coseley School
First: Muscle Fibres by the Woodroffe School

Technology

Third: Green Power Racing by the Philip Morant School
Second: Ideas of the Future by the Thomas Hardye School
First: Zero Wheel Drive by the Thomas Hardye School

Engineering

First: Suspension Bridges by the Thomas Hardye School

Mathematics

Cross STEM

Third: Learning To Learn by the Challney High School for Boys
Second: You win some… by the Crofton School
First: Electricity from Wind by the John Kelly Girls Technology College

There were approximately 60 entries, some of which have had to be excluded from the judging process as their length was excessive or they contained material that infringed copyright we have not been able to publish them on the FFL website.

Pedagogy and Assessment

PeterR — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:41:00 GMT

The second day at the Diverse conference and the first session I attended was a presentation by a PhD research student from Lancaster University. His paper on Pedagogy and assessment involved an analysis of the target audiences of four different HE groups that used videos during their courses. His research seems to indicate that students are most engaged by films that are made by students. This seems to agree with our own experiences during Films for Learrning workshops. I have exchanged details with Alberto Ramirez Martinell and we will be linking up in the future to see how we can help each other in our research.

Yesterday involved lots of networking and again today at the 'Creative Coffee Concepts' table there has been a free exchange of ideas and information. There is a determination amongst members of the Diverse Community to carry on the 'concept coffee breaks' outside this conference and throughout the year.

Yesterday I also appeared in a TV studio discussion on the merits of second life and how it could perhaps be applied to education. There seems to be a feeling that Second Life has been misunderstood and my own experience of Machinamation in Second Life seems to bear this out. It is my belief that just as in the internet, if you want to find and indeed go looking for the hidden underbelly of society you will find it. What we should be doing as educators is teaching our students discernment, in so many cases we filter things or block new technologies in order to control our students and what they do.

One of the joys of the Films for Learning model is that the traditional teaching model is turned on its head and students take control of their own learning in a partnership with their teacher. This 'loss of control' by the teacher flys in the face of traditional pedagogy but seems to fit in with something that two or three speakers have mentioned in their talks at this conference and was mentioned by the key note speaker Ulrich Rauch in his summation...

PARADIGM SHIFT...

Participatory Pedagogy - engagement of the learner
Visual Literacy - engagement with media and their power of presentation understanding a "visual rhetoric"
Collaborative Learning - teach less - learn more - re-creation - networks of imagination
A New Mode of Reading - becoming part of the text: enable questions of representation, perception and cognition in relation to the production of meaning

From my understanding of his all too short key note, I believe we at Films for Learning have hit upon a co-creation recipe that will help to take us toward the "Participatory Culture" that Ulrich refers to.

Diverse 2008 - InHolland University, Haarlem

PeterR — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Well here I am in Holland on the first day of the Diverse 2008 conference. The opening session by the Dutch hosts and the luminaries of the Diverse Community was 'Gezellig' (cosy and friendly/welcoming) and also a call to be inspired and be creative. A break for lunch and everyone scrambles to connect to the wireless network but due to a series of gremlin attacks on my computer I ended up sitting with a Systems Engineer from the University whilst we tried to figure what was going on... This meant I missed the start of the first two sessions but I was ideally placed to meet people in the 'Creative Coffee' sessions in between.

One of the strongest parts of these events is the opportunity to network with other educationalists, academics and film makers to exchange ideas and experiences. I have already met a number of people who are interested in working with us to promote film making in education. At 5.30 today I will be off to the studio with Phil O'Donoghue to discuss some of our experiences. Already we have made a strong contact and will be talking about how our students can help in video broadcast and production at next years Diverse conference in Aberystwyth.

Back soon with more experiences from Diverse 2008.

Competition Entries Shortlisted...

PeterR — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:49:00 GMT

Entries for the 'Capture It' competition have now been closed and selections based on number of views, number of votes and content have helped us to arrive at a shortlist to forward to our judges. There were approximately 60 entries, some of which have had to be excluded from the judging process as their length was excessive or they contained material that infringed copyright we have not been able to publish them on the FFL website.

Our independent panel of judges have received the shortlist and we will announce the winners at the SSAT Science Conference in Birmingham on the 1st of July.

Our Judges will be looking for ‘outstanding work from contributors in many areas that could include cinematography, direction, innovation, creativity and originality. They will be looking to see whether the film content is well structured and holds the viewer’s interest; whether it uses techniques and features such as use of language or animation in a relevant way; whether the film is technically proficient and well edited, makes good use of styles and conventions; and is age/audience appropriate.’

The nominations in no particular order are:(use the keywords as written in the theatre search box to find the films)

Science:	*Keyword Search*
Diabetes and Health	diabetes
Muscle Fibres	fibres
Fireworks!	fireworks

Technology:	*Keyword Search*
Philip Morant Green Power Racing Team	morant
Hovercars- Zero Wheel Drive	hovercars
Technology - Ideas of the Future	Ideas of the future

Engineering:	*Keyword Search*
Suspension Bridges	suspension
Electricity From Wind	electricity from wind

Mathematics:	*Keyword Search*
More Pythagoras	more pythagoras
Easy Quadratics	quadratics

Cross STEM:	*Keyword Search*
Electricity From Wind	electricity from wind
You win some, you lose some...	win some
Learning to Learn	learning to learn

Recording to Hard Drives and Memory Cards

Markr — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:19:00 GMT

Have you been frustrated that your new phone or camera will not edit using your favourite software. Our research has identified that some phones and cameras which record to hard drives or memory cards are only compatible with specific editing software. Please let us know what your experiences are so we can add to this resource. All research will be credited. Please send your experiences to: info@filmsforlearning.org

Hardware	File Format	Movie Maker	imovie	Suggested fix	Date last updated	Reported by:
Nokia N95	MP4	Yes (Only tested with Vista)			7/06/08	Markr
Sony Erricson K800		No	Yes		1/06/08	Markr
JVC Evero		Yes (Vista Only - but see fix)		Footage must be recorded to camera in 'Normal Quality'	1/06/08	Markr

FREE TO YOU..... A 1Gb MEMORY STICK!

Markr — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:22:00 GMT

Have you got a film just waiting to be uploaded? Would you like a funky new memory stick and want to be the envy of your colleagues and friends? We will send to you absolutely free a 1 Gigabyte memory stick just for uploading your own educational film. This is a limited offer and applies to the first fifty (50) films uploaded...

To qualify you need to submit your film and then e-mail your name, address and uploaded film title to info@filmsforlearning.org to stake your claim. Only one stick per person subject to the first fifty uploads...

Bored this Half Term? Get creative - Capture it!

Markr — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:49:00 GMT

There are only three weeks left to get your films uploaded for the ‘Capture it' Competition.

We challenge you to capture the 'Big Ideas' in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
This film makers competition for schools was launched by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, FFL and Microsoft.

You can win school and individual prizes by creating and uploading your own film that addresses one of the Big Ideas in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Your film should be no more than 3 minutes in duration with a minimum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. You can upload your film as a wmv, mov or mp4 file with a file size no larger than 150 Mb.

Here is a list for inspiration. Feel free to choose one of these or generate your own big idea.

Cells, Energy, Forces, Interdependence, Water, Climate change, Sustainability, Electricity, Light, Stem cells, Cloning, Genetically Modified Foods, Nanotechnology, Genetics, Sustainable transport Systems, Time travel, Global Warming, Rising Sea Levels, Cern Particle Generator, Robotics, Bio Diversity, Other Intelligent Life, Planets, Buildings/Mega Structures.

Capture It! is a film competition for schools affiliated with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). The deadline for entries is June 13th, 2008 and winners will be announced at the SSAT's Annual Science Conference on July 1st, 2008. Prizes including web cams, digital video recorders and copies of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate are on offer to both schools and students. Please read more about the Competition and it's Terms & Conditions.

You can also view the Competition's promotional film here

The Innovation Edge - NESTA's Conference

Markr — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:32:00 GMT

Last Tuesday I attended NESTA's Innovation Edge Conference at the Royal Festival Hall. Speakers ranged from Sir Tim Berners-Lee to Bob Geldof, to Gordon Brown.
The key message of the day was that the UK's economic future lies in collaboration... an activity the web is perfectly positioned to fulfil. Tim Berners-Lee suggested that the day of the lone inventor having that eureka moment and producing the perfect solution to a problem had passed. Future solutions will be developed by groups of people rather than individuals. Tim Berners-Lee also proposed that to support real creativity and solutions to problems (perhaps not even identified yet) was for managers to let people innovate without even being sure of the outcome.

Bob Geldof provided a very relevant quote from George Bernard Shaw:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

As a regularly frustrated teacher I identified with this view. Could the disruptive innovation theory have some mileage in developing education - perhaps through websites such as this? When a student is asked to write an essay, why not submit a film; when asked to ‘design' one of those interminable posters for homework... make a film, when asked to research people's views on a particular subject.... produce a film. Students need not submit a disc/tape to their teacher; just email a link to the location of their film.... ideally this site!

A debate later in the day asked whether our educational institutions are living up to the innovation demands of the 21st century.

This produced the resounding answer ‘ no'. Testing (to destruction) is stifling the creatively of teachers and students. By ‘teaching to the test' children have less chance to experience failure. This leads back to Bob Geldof who earlier had said ‘we must celebrate the attempts at trying... failure is nothing'.

A tour round the exhibition of NESTA awardees work reassured me that there is a ‘hard core' of young and old innovators prepared to adapt the world of sceptics with unreasonable behaviours!

Only one month left to get those 'Capture It' entries in!

Markr — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT

There are four weeks left to get your films uploaded for the ‘Capture it' Competition.

Here is a list for inspiration. Feel free to choose one of these or generate your own big idea.

You can also view the Competition's promotional film here

Microsoft's UK Innovation Day

Markr — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:21:00 GMT

On Tuesday 6^th May Mark Richardson represented FFL at Microsoft's UK Innovation Day. It was attended by policymakers and politicians from all parties, researchers and public servants, business- from media to trade to manufacturing.

The aim of UK Innovation Day was to bring all these people together to showcase innovation and identify future action for the UK to remain a world wide innovation leader. It is Microsoft's belief that technology is the key enabler of innovation

Speakers included, Baroness Morgan, Dr Andrew Herbert , James Crabtree, Prof Stephen Heppell, Alex MacGillivray of Accountability and Mark Taylor from Microsoft. Michael Gove, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and Jean-Philippe Coutois President of Microsoft International.

To find out more about the day click HERE