Week 3 - Filming

Today we began work on our 'People Who Help Us' film for premier at Strictly Come Movies next week. As one member of the group had an appointment later tonight we decided to start working on our storyboard an hour before the class, allowing her to get away early for her appointment. By the end of the lesson we realised that it had not been of benefit to us.
We were given a camera and left the building to go to our setting, although we tested our camera before leaving the classroom when we tried to use it it did not work. This meant us returning to Dalhousie and then waiting on another group finishing with their camera. This showed us that we cannot always rely on technology to work.
From this example, I would always plan another way of completing the same ICT lesson to allow for failure of the equipment. As this resulted in us sitting around for a long time when we could have been working. I would always ensure I knew exactly how to use the equipment and test every piece thoroughly before starting the lesson with children.
By the time we got a working camera the groups morale was very low and none of us were motivated to complete the task anymore. This highlighted to me the importance of pupil motivation within lessons. After having experienced both motivation and lack of motivation for the same lesson I have gained a much better understanding of the need for children to enjoy what they are learning and to want to complete it the best they can. This links with Maslow's thinking that certain needs in children need to be met to allow them to want to move on with their learning and development. The children need to meet their lower needs (including Esteem needs which are lower down in his heirarchy than achievement needs), therefore (according to Maslow) children need to be motivated before they can achieve with their work.

We used Flip Cameras to carry out the filming today and they were very easy to use. It was the first time I had ever seen one and the controls were very simple to use and within seconds of looking at the camera I was able to figure out exactly how to use it. On watching back some of the footage, I noticed that the cameras produce a very clear picture of the scene and also pick up sound very well. I think these would be a good ICT tool in the classroom as the children could easily pick one up to record something they have made/produced or they could use them to make movies similar to the ones we have made.