Thoughts On The Pacific Rim!

I'm sitting here in my apartment in New York City dwelling on the last 3+ months of my life, the journey that brought me around the Pacific Rim, very much like a boomerang would be tossed around a field! Mid-March, when I took off for Sydney, seems so far away in so many ways. Leaving behind friends, family, pets, and familarity, I embarked on a trip of a lifetime that would require skills I'd need to learn on the road. And how lucky I was to be traveling with the production crew for the show "5 Takes". I've learned first and foremost how video production is very much an art form: first, like any art form, I had to learn the basic brush strokes, such as how to use a professional video camera and how to edit what I've shot in the field. After the basics were down, then it was time to finetune them even further only this time with my audience in mind. This proved, ultimately, to be the most challanging. I must say, the support and feedback I received from the editors, shooters, and producers cannot be underestimated. They were there with suggestions and answers, whether it was 1 P.M. or 1 A.M. From my heart, I thank them immensely. As an educator the question for me, in producing each webisode, was always "What is the learning point in this?". Sometimes the point was obvious and it was posed as a question. Sometimes, though, I felt that a particular digital story's learning point would be less up front in that students would be asked to use their imagination in asking more questions. It made me think of a short writing exercise I would do with my 6th grade students where I would post a few randomly themed photos from different parts of the world and I'd simply ask what they thought was going on in each photo. They were detectives. The idea wasn't to be correct, really, but to use their imagination as they used deductive reasoning in explaining themselves creatively on paper. I hope I had the same effect with my webisodes. Each week's webconference, I might add, was a learning experience for me as well. As I spoke virtually with classrooms around the U.S., I would learn what my students were getting out of each webisode and thus how to re-tailor future webisodes. The questions asked by these students showed a depth of knowledge and curiosity that often caught me off-guard! But that's the point really, for this to be a learning experience for everyone! The teacher, of course, is not mutually exclusive to the teaching and learning. As I look into the future, I hope to fine tune the skills I've learned in order to present even more engulfing webisodes. I want to be able to encourage students to go on and create their own digital story on any subject. What I want students to understand through my experience is that anything is possible. Focus in on your subject, be your harshest critic when editing, and keep your point in mind the whole time, from devising your idea, to shooting, through to editing. And to show your work to as many people who will sit down to watch it. Actually, they don't really have to be sitting! They can stand if they wish to. Just as long as they watch. And if they pull their eyes off the screen, even for just a moment, make note of it! This trip would not have been possible without the support of Discovery Education, the wonderful people who make up the Discovery Educator Network, and the seemingly endless bank of learning tools that unitedstreaming.com has to offer. I want to thank everyone involved in the project, from behind-the-scenes to the people on the ground. Thank you!