Charlie has always used images in teaching. In graduate school, he and his peers videotaped their work in the classroom to "stop the action during the class and go back and look at all the layers." The ability to view and re-view "action in the classroom" was a powerful learning tool for Charlie, and over the years he's evolved his use of video as a teaching tool.
Most recently, Charlie has begun to capture and transfer video to a digital format. Digital video gives Charlie new opportunities to manipulate the video and focus on key classroom interactions. With iMovie, a digital video editing tool from Apple, Charlie is able to transfer video from the camera to his computer, then edit the video and add effects he couldn’t do before. Charlie notes the advantages of using digital video over VHS videotapes: “It’s more flexible and it allows me to edit as my course moves in different directions. It is also so darn easy to go from the MiniDV camera right into the computer. I can also add corny effects which can keep people awake. Hey--whatever works."
Charlie notes that the immediacy and editing capacity of digital video let him “be in control of what my message needs to be.” Since Charlie’s always thinking about how new tools can expand his teaching, he already imagines a “time when I can just bring in a hard drive and have all my movies at the ready.” Charlie notes that he wants to learn more and modestly says, “I consider my stuff basement variety, but it works.”
Not only has Charlie been able to establish a sense of more ongoing connectedness, he's also been able to make students' voices a more central component of his course.
top
