Ever watched any of the old cooking shows? No, I'm not talking about old episodes of Alton or Emeril. I mean the really old stuff like Justin Wilson or Julia Child! The shows were interesting because of the personalities, but also because of the unique camera shots they used. Some of the same shots are still in use today on the Food Network. What does that have to do with education?
Well, we do teach content in our schools that, with the help of a camera and LCD projector, could make use of just these kinds of shots. When I've walked into culinary arts (we used to call it Home Economics!) classrooms, I always see the rolling island with a mirror mounted above it in such a way that students can look in the mirror and see what the teacher is doing with their hands. The same thing could be done with a camera, pointed down on the instructors hands, connected to an LCD projector. Why would that be any better than the mirror?
Well, if the camera were also recording and then the tape edited via iMovie, the product could be posted as a video podcast (vodcast, vidcast?) for students to review on their iPods, view at home while absent, or be utilized in distance learning. The same thing would work for techniques in art and music where closeups are helpful.
Abi Walden, the Art Teacher at Lovinggood Middle School, with a little help from a friend, tried this with a lesson of printmaking, and it worked well! We had issues with where to host the files, so the file only stayed up for a short time. I hope to post it on one of my podcasts in the near future. The hosting issue, hopefully, will be resolved sometime soon.
