Lights, Camera, Learn!

I had a blast working with my friends at MY HERO Project's @MyHeroProject collaboration with UCLA's GreenShorts film festival to present a free workshop with pointers and tips on how to film short environmental videos.  We helped guide story ideas in pre-production, give at-home filming tips for production, and give ideas on the many ways to edit film in post-production.  Since the goal was to create stories that advocate for action, I shared a how to take a Public Service Announcement from Blah to Blam!               One of my favorite videos from the project I had the pleasure of judging as the winner in the "Ready, Set, Action!" Catagory. This beautifully shot PSA that takes a narrow look at how climate change effects your morning cup of tea. For more information on the GreenShorts film festival, including categories visit: CALIFORNIA: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/greensparks...   LOUISIANA: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/greensparks.....

I was honored when the National WRITE Center at UC Irvine invited me to contribute an article about my work connecting video-making, the writing process & media literacy in education. I'm proud to share this re-post from the WRITE Center's Blog. " Children turn things into stories, and when they try to make sense of their life they use the storied version of their experience as the basis for further reflection. Even well into adulthood, we find it easier to process information in narrative form than in more abstract forms like equations and graphs.  Most effective of all are narratives that we construct ourselves. " - Jerome Bruner, cognitive learning theory pioneer " We need to treat the language and grammar of the screen exactly the way we learn writing music or painting. " - George Lucas, American filmmaker, Star Wars Franchise Why do we tell stories?  This is an interesting question to offer at the beginning of a blog on digital storytelling. Story...

Recently, I had the pleasure and honor to present the closing Keynote address to the International Society for Technology in Education's Digital Storytelling Network Virtual Summitt.        In addition to being a Zoom reunion for many of my past and present colleagues and fellow Digital Storytelling evangelists, I had the opportunity to showcase and share some classic and hard to find resources from the old AFI Screen Education Center. I also was proud to share lessons and resources developed by me and other educators working in the space where Education, Technology, Literacy & the Movies Collide.  Many thanks to the ISTE DSN team fo the invitation to close out the 1st Virtual Summit. Enjoy the recording of the session here.     10 Lessons for Video Storytelling Keynote Video Presentation Resource Links: Presentation Slides - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1brLDAt2Q14yNGCa-n4oJN-L8ATUBS9ZS/view?usp=sharing Presentation Links -  http...