Running head: Reflection Essay 1

Reflection Essay

Brianne Parkhurst

Student Mentor: Mary White

Assessment Code: TDT1 Task 3

Oct 7, 2018
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Link to Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Viu8pLnxGU&t=3s

Purpose
The purpose of this video is to help students understand that the American Revolution

was caused one step at a time. Each event and act that was put on the colonists, caused a

reaction. These reactions causes tensions to rise. Eventually the colonists declared their

independence. This concept is not easy to grasp with our social studies textbook and curriculum

alone. A video explanation with an analogy will help support students’ thinking. This relates to

the theme of my colonial website, because it covers the time from when colonization began, up

until the Revolutionary War.

According to Bell and Bull, “By watching, analyzing, and creating videos, students can

visualize fractals, calculate the speed of sound, demonstrate critical thinking about historic

events, and much, much more” (Bell, L., & Bull, G. L. 2010). They also go on to explain how

teaching history with videos can be beneficial to students. Students are surrounded with videos

and other technology in their daily life, ignoring that fact during instruction is not helpful. This

idea of videos and modern technology should be embraced in the modern classroom (Bell, L., &

Bull, G. L. 2010). Students will use this video to better understand the events leading up to the

Revolutionary War. It will help them see that it was not caused by one act alone.

Target Audience

The target audience members of this video are the students in my 5th grade classroom that

tend to struggle with English Language Arts, especially as it pertains to non-fiction

comprehension. Six out of 25 students did not pass the state assessment last year in this area.
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These students also tend to find the topic of social studies to be dull. I am also including my

exited ELL students in my target audience, as they too struggle with informational writing and

reading comprehension. I have chosen to include a video to engage them, and to gain interest in

the topic. The video is also supporting their comprehension of what is stated in their textbook.

Our social studies curriculum includes a high level of reading and analytical skills. This video

will help facilitate the learning of my target audience.

Objective

Fifth grade students will use the teacher made video and their textbook, to write a one

paragraph summary explaining why the colonists wanted to claim independence from Great

Britain.

Software Used

I chose to use iMovie to create my product. I chose this software because it is versatile, I

have experience with it, and it can easily be uploaded to YouTube. iMovie is a versatile

software, it has many variations of transitions, backgrounds, and title options. I used the title and

background options to enhance my product and make it more student friendly. This can be seen

in the beginning and end of my product with a world map focusing on Europe to America. I also

used the many transition options offered on iMovie. These transitions can be seen throughout my

video, they helped make smooth changes from clip to clip. I have experience using this software

so I can navigate it easily. This software makes uploading your product to YouTube simple and

fast. These are the reasons why I chose to use iMovie.

Process

The first step in creating the multimedia product was to collect the footage. This step was

after I already had a plan from my storyboard, this will be further discussed below. I recorded the
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footage on my iPhone. I also created the music used in the background using the software

Garageband, so the audio is 100% original. Once I collected the footage needed I followed the

steps listed below.

• Open the iMovie software, and click on new project.

• Name the project accordingly.

• Drag the video clips you would like to include from your desktop into the iMovie icon.

This will place the video clips into the project.

• Once you have all of the clips you need, you can begin editing them and adding other

features. These features can be added in any order.

• To edit the length of the clip, select the clip and drag your mouse to the beginning or end

of the clip. This will create a double sided arrow, you can adjust the length of the clip by

dragging the arrow to the left to make it longer, and to the right to make it shorter. If you

need to split a clip in half, select the clip and press control + right click, then select split

clip.

• To add an audio track, select audio from the menu at the top. This will open all the saved

audio tracks on your computer. Select and drag the clip you want into your project. You

can adjust the volume of the audio by selecting it and raising the line up (higher volume)

or down (lower volume).

• To add a voice over track, tap the v key on your keyboard. This will open up a recording

button, select record to record your voice, and hit done when you are done. You can drag

the audio track to where it needs to be in your project.

• To add transitions, select transition at the top. This will open up a variety of transitions to

choose from. Select the transition you like, and drag it to the blank space between video
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clips. If you decide you do not like the transition, you can select it and tap delete on your

keyboard to start over with a new one.

• To add a title page and end page, select background at the top. This will open a variety of

backgrounds to choose from. Select the background you like and drag it to the beginning

of the first clip, or to the end of the last one for an end page.

• You can add a title to these pages by selecting title from the top. Select the type of title

you like, and drag it to hover above your background pages. You can then edit the text by

double clicking on the title.

• To export your project to YouTube, select edit, share, YouTube. This will open up a

window where you must type in a video description, size, and quality. Once this is done

select next. This will open up a copyright agreement, select I agree. The video will then

upload to your YouTube page.

Storyboard

Page 7 shows the conceptual framework that I used to plan my product. I used a

storyboard to develop my product. I created my story board on sticky notes so they could be

easily moved around. According to Rimmer, “Storyboards give you lots of flexibility. You can

add as much or as little detail as you need to” (Rimmer, T. 2018). The images on my sticky notes

do not include much detail, as their main intention was to help support my development and

design process.

The story board helped me design my project. For example, the storyboard shows a

boiling pot with “Acts” and “Events” boiling in it. The storyboard helped me decide on using

slips of paper because I knew I would have to use words to describe these items. Originally, the

storyboard included a bottle of soda being shaken up, but upon reflection I decided I needed to
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include specific historical events and acts. The storyboard helped me prepare for my design.

Upon completion of my storyboard, I knew what supplies I would need to gather the footage I

needed.

The storyboard helped me with the development process of my project. I was able to

follow my storyboard and use it as a reference when putting in my video clips. For example, the

first two clips used in the final video was actually one, 2 minute long recording. The storyboard

helped me cut the video clips at the correct time in order to make them the most effective. The

storyboard also helped support the audio piece of the development process. For example, each

section of the storyboard needed a voice over explanation. Following the storyboard allowed me

to determine when this was for each clip. The actual storyboard I used to create my product is

below.
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Storyboard
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References

Bell, L., & Bull, G. L. (2010). Teaching with Digital Video : Watch, Analyze, Create.

Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE]. Retrieved from

https://wgu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nleb

k&AN=476094&site=eds-live&scope=site

Rimmer, T. (2018). Storyboarding and Prototyping: The Path to Better Course

Development. TD: Talent Development, 72(2), 58LT–60LT. Retrieved from

https://wgu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh

&AN=127778532&site=eds-live&scope=site