Metacognition and Authentic Audience Opportunities
Jan 19, 2011 Filed in:
Technology IntegrationWhy do we do things the way we do?
How do we make the process more effective, more efficient, more effectual?
When we ask these things, we take our learning to the next level. At least that is my opinion.
Mid–January 2011, seven of my students (seventh and eighth graders) stayed after school to mentor students on the other side of the continent.
US. VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH NEW VILLAGE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY IN NORTH LA, CA
New Village Leadership Academy (NVLA) is a private school founded by the actor Will Smith. His son and daughter are students at this K-8 school.
Recently, their Technology Director, Mrs. McGuire asked Mr. Shupe for some suggestions for initiating a weekly school news program for broadcast in their school. He offered to have our Video Production mentor their students using iChat Video Conference and Screensharing technology. We did some pre-planning in our regular class time during school, but the NVLA students were not available until 1 PM Pacific Time (4 PM EST).
Mrs. McGuire downloaded and installed FaceTimeTM for the Mac. This allowed our students to use an ultra- portable wireless video camera on an iPod TouchTM to give our guests in California a tour of our studio. NVLA students were watching and listening to the narration on their teachers iMac in CA.
The detailed process from anchor desk to micing the talent and using the TelePrompter. Students were able to show
how the cables were hooked up with the wireless camera and where other stu- dents worked on various parts of the broadcast. Our students did a remarkable job, first using the iPod Touch with FaceTime, then moving to using iChat to share their screen with the students in CA. This allowed them to show the stu- dents how they used the different applications to create, edit then move large video files directly (and quickly) from a production computer to the final product editing and broadcast computer.
Mr. Shupe commented: My students were walking on clouds as they left our meeting. Someone far away (an authentic audience) wanted to hear from their experience and expertise. This was a unique opportunity for metacognition that occurs when the learner and practicer becomes the expert. They reflect on how and why they do a complex task. They revisit sequences, troubleshooting, effi- cacy of certain actions and skills. They have to prioritize and consider their audi- ence in their communication.
That evening, Mrs. McGuire sent an enthusiastic reflection back to our school:
OMG! that was so cool! Your kids are rock stars!! Thanks so much! My kids were so excited about their own news show done!
