News

March 11 2010 Is BBC School Report Day!

2010-02-05T20:14:00Z

BBC News School Report gives 11-14 year-old students in the UK the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience. School Report offers support from BBC staff and teachers help students develop their journalistic skills to become School Reporters. Films for Learning will host your School Reports. You can then embed the film back in your own schools website using the FFL Share facility.

For more information visit the BBC School Report Site >>>CLICK HERE<<<

To take a look at some of last year's school reports >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Poetry and Animation at Symondsbury, Dorset

2009-09-30T20:07:00Z

Fazackerly

The children at Symondsbury Primary School in Dorset have made an excellent collection of 21 animated poems.

>>>CLICK HERE<<< to view all Symondsbury School's films

The work was based on Poems that we were doing in literacy, the children researched poems they liked, thought about how to animate them using drawings moving over a background.

The children story boarded the scenes, created the backgrounds and various characters/props. The stop animation frames were taken using digi blue cameras, and ‘Monkey Jam'.

The narrations were created using windows movie maker, and then mixed with tunes/songs in Sony Acid Express. Finally the completed soundtracks were combined with the video using Windows Moviemaker.

The teacher leading this project was Mike Greaves. His input was in providing the tech support showing children how to use the programmes, and guide them in the combining of the various elements.

Mike says ‘Once they started - all I really did was cope with technical failures!!!'

Once they had animated existing poems the children wanted to write their own and animate them. The girls who did Colonel Fazackerly knew immediately that they wanted to make a sequel!! (all that effort making the drawings shouldn't go to waste!)

The children had a great time and Mike now want to persuade the school to go further and start making topic based information films. We can't wait to see them!

Vote Now!!! Mark Richardson is Nominated for a Handheld Learning Award... Vote Now!!!

2009-09-16T13:57:00Z

I was thrilled to hear that I have been nominated for the Secondary Education Category Practitioner Award for Handheld Learning 2009!

The Handheld Learning Conference is the world's leading event about learning using mobile and inexpensive access technologies, attended by more than 1,500 international delegates

Being nominated for this award is both very exciting and rewarding. It is great to be acknowledged my colleagues for the work that we have all put into FFL.

I co-devised Films for Learning and have managed the project for the last 4 years with my colleague Peter Roe. I am a full time teacher of Design and Technology at the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester so creating time to run workshops for teachers and make films with students can be quite a challenge. Despite the challenge it is also immensley worthwhile especially when you see students become so engaged in their learning!

A nomination is one thing, getting the award is of course the icing on the cake! The winner for this Handheld Learning Award is by public vote, if you would like to vote for me and think I am worth the cost of a text then

Text: RICHARDSON to: +44 7786 205 637

Thank you!

By the way is a picture of me speaking at last year's Handheld Learning Confernece.

Texting details below

Vote for Mark. Txt RICHARDSON to: +44 7786 205 637

SMS votes should be sent to +44 7786 205 637. You will receive a response acknowledging your vote.
SMS charges vary according to operator but this is a non-premium rate service so your contract may include free SMS. If you are unsure check with your provider.
SMS messages can be also be sent via Skype.
Only 1 vote per finalist per originating number will be counted.
We stop accepting votes at midnight UK time on Monday 28th September so please don't delay!
In an effort to be fair to non-UK finalists a single SMS vote originating from non-UK origin phone will count as two votes.
Please don't cheat :-)

The voting system is powered by Txttools.
*txttools* promise to, never knowingly, send unsolicited txt messages to your mobile
*txttools* promise never to pass on your details to a third party

Noadswood School Make Movies!

2009-07-16T14:34:00Z

Noadswood School's History students have really got to grips with FFL and appeared to have had plenty of fun along the way!

For all of Noadswood's films >>>CLICK HERE<<<

To visit Noadswood School website >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Noadswood School, Southampton are our newest recruits to Films for Learning. Science Teacher Paul Miller and English Teacher Jo Mangion attended our last FFL workshop for teachers this summer and made two films. Both films were made with Moviemaker and the second also used Crazy Talk.

Resistance Film >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Einstein Film >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Edible Playgrounds and Films for Learning Launch Animation Competition

2009-06-03T13:13:00Z

Over the last two weeks we have been experimenting with animating growing cress. This mini project was developed in partnership with the Dorset Cereals Edible Playground Project. Last summer the Edible Playgrounds project won a Gold Award for their garden at the Chelsea Flower Show >>>CLICK HERE<<< to see more about the Chelsea Flower Show Edible Garden.

Whilst being displayed, the Queen visited the show and saw the Award winning Garden and commented on how much she liked the cress egg heads which were being grown. These cress heads had been grown at the Cerne Abbas First School's own Edible Playground.

This got us thinking.... and we came up with a few experimental films which enabled Year's 2, 3 and 4 children in Cerne Abbas School to learn about Photosynthesis, growth and animation in a creative way. The work in these three films is all their own, the pictures, the words and the music.

For more details on this project and competition >>>CLICK HERE<<<. Edible Playgrounds and Films for Learning have also produced a free lesson pack on this project which is available >>>HERE<<< and from the Edible Playgrounds Website.

To see Another Eggy Joke >>>CLICK HERE<<<

To see an Eggstra Egg Joke >>>CLICK HERE<<<

To see more of Cerne Abbas First School and their 'Habitat' film project >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Memory Sticks for Films

2009-04-30T09:51:00Z

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

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 2 Gigabyte memory stick just for uploading your own educational film.

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 film. The film should use media that is made by you in the form of media, stills and music OR from Copyright Free or Creative Commons sources which should be credited.

Films for Learning Success at Scicast Award

2009-04-03T12:37:00Z

Don

Films for Learning in association with the Thomas Hardye School and St Mary's Middle school won the "best presenter" prize at the annual Scicast awards at the Royal Institute, London on Monday 31st March.

The students enjoyed an all expenses paid day to London on the train and red carpet treatment. The awards were presented by Kate Humble.

The films were made as part of the science outreach post SAT's film competition at St Mary's school. Over 100 year 8 pupils took part in making films last summer and the best 2 were entered into the scicast awards. The film can be seen on the Films for Learning website and the Scicast website.

Mr Morgan said that "It is so nice to see an event that celebrates success in science in such a high profile way. Pupils who normally wouldn't engage so positively with science have the opportunity to excel!"

Kate Humble and Gareth Jones with Team Teabag Tec.

BBC School Report 2009

2009-01-23T10:46:00Z

Thousands of students are undertaking news-making activities in preparation for the UK-wide News Day on 26 March 2009.

You can find out more about BBC School report >>>CLICK HERE<<<

If you are making a School Report and trying to work out where and how to post it, the Films for Learning Theatre might be just the place.

Once posted you can then embed your film back into your school's website. The great thing about using FFL to host your School Report is that unlike other very popular hosting sites Films for Learning is not filtered or blocked by Schools or Educational Networks!

Films for Learning is free, all content is moderated and has no inappropriate links.

Uploaded films must be less than 11 minutes and smaller than 150Mb.

You can have a go now, just join (again free) and upload a film for learning or practice School Reports you may have made. All films must be free of copyrighted material (an FFL and BBC school report rule) and all participating children/students should have parental permission and only childrens/students first names can be used.

If you have any queries or you would like to let FFL know that you will be uploading your School Report on the 26^th March 9 (so we can moderate it and clear it for ‘broadcast' immediately) contact us at info@filmsforlearning.org

Welcome to Films for Learning!

2008-11-27T11:58:00Z

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!

FFL at Hand Held Learning 2008

2008-10-23T10:55:00Z

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!

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

2008-07-03T11:15:00Z

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.

Competition Entries Shortlisted...

2008-06-20T09:49:00Z

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

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

2008-05-31T18:22:00Z

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!

2008-05-26T08:49:00Z

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

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

2008-05-14T14:30:00Z

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