In the time of VHS cassettes, video was used in class as an attempt to convey information in a more interesting way; often, it was considered a form of entertainment by both students and the teacher. Over a decade later, video is ready to be integrated into the classroom and leave behind its former role as simple entertainment.
In this webinar, Ben Goldstein and Paul Driver, authors of Language Learning with Digital Video, discuss the use of video as a stimulus for other work. Instead of viewing video as simply audio information accompanied by entertaining pictures, we should focus on the visual aspect of the video and its status of ‘deep media’: that is, how in the Internet age, video is often integrated with other media (images, text, comments etc.)
Here are some ways in which we can use video to engage our students in creative tasks:
– Use videos in other foreign languages, subtitled in English: the students will have to read the subtitles to follow the story and discuss it afterwards. We should also allow learners to respond with their own creative answers, question or critique the material and dream up their own versions of the video.
– Discuss comments: the class can watch a video on YouTube (or any other social video site), view the comments and discuss them. The students can also create their own comments and post them online.
– Let students create their own videos – for example, reaction videos (i.e. a video of a person reacting to another video)
You can find more ideas on using digital video from Ben and Paul by watching the webinar recording here: