*The following write-up was written by Hannah Dorr, Rachel Gray, & Tabitha Schmidt
*Video editing done by Oksana Specht
The green screen is a fun way to take videos, do projects and presentations in the classroom. There are so many awesome things you can do with this tool! All you need is anything green for your background, a device to record with, and an app for green screen like the one we used for this project, wevideo. In our video, we toured various Spanish countries with their scenes in the background and we gave basic facts about the country. We had the students guess where we were in the world to engage them in thinking.
Green screening fits very well in Domain 3 of the Danielson Framework, which is Instruction. Specifically one can group it into elements A, B, and C, which are Communicating with Students, Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques, and Engaging Students in Learning. Through the use of green screen technology, a teacher can clearly and thoroughly explain content using videos and images in the background. This is also another way to use discussion techniques. If you want to show a video on the subject you’re teaching, but there just doesn't seem to be any out there that are quite right; just record your own and show it to your class. This way, you will cover the correct material while also having a video that engages students.
Green screening relate to the 4Cs of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. If students are using green screening technology, they are being creative in deciding what to include in their videos. They also have to think critically on what information they want to convey in their videos and how to convey it in a way that makes sense to other people, which shows they are thinking about how to communicate ideas. If students work together to make a green screen video, they are working together (collaborating and communicating) to put the video together, like one person editing, another working on a script, someone videoing, etc. Green screening also relates to the ISTE standards for students because they can be knowledge constructors and creative communicators. They can be knowledge constructors through putting together information for a green screen video project. They build their own knowledge by making a video and using the technology and also help build others’ knowledge as well. Just using green screens shows they are creative communicators because very few people think to do projects in front of a green screen, and the creative possibilities are endless!!