Flickschool: Quick "how-to" videos for digital media production for teens - and teachers of teens

Flickschool: "a quick way of learning how to produce flix, take pix, and share your mix"

Flickschool is the work of Marco Torres, a history teacher at a large high school in San Fernando who works with students in the area of digital storytelling and other creative endeavors. At the Flickschool site, numerous short "how-to" video clips are provided that contain mini lessons on topics such as script-writing, story-boarding, photography techniques, music technology, and film-making. A true gem!


Ewan McIntosh, an edu-blogger, has a nice blog post describing Marco's great work, if you'd like more information.

Marco Torres directed the video parody of a monster.com commercial, during the Apple Summer Institute at Lesley University. The video provides humerous examples NOT to do if you are a teacher, or are planning to become one someday.

When I Become A Teacher:

About Interaction and Wireless Handheld Devices: Mediascapes and Create-A-Scape, and mscapers

If you are interested in learning more about Mediascapes (mscapes) and Create-A-Scape, the educational version of mscapes, take a look my recent post and related video clip on the TechPsych blog.

Resources:

Futurelab's Create-A-Scape website

Hewlett-Packard's mscapers website

"Mediascapes are mobile, location-based experiences that incorporate digital media with the sights, sounds, and textures of the world around you. A mediascape blends digital images, video, audio and interactions with the physical landscape. Games, guided walks, tours, and destinations are among the mediascapes created to date. Download a mediascape onto a portable device, and see how your landscape comes alive as you move through the environment." -Hewlett-Packard

Interesting discussion about interactive multi-touch displays and surfaces

The above link is to an interesting discussion about scenarios for multi-touch displays.

IxDA is an organization of people involved in interactive design. Although this group's focus is not primarily on interaction design for technology used in education or psychology/counseling, many of the ideas shared by the groups membership are worth some thought.

This is from the Interactive Design Association's website:

What is Interaction Design?

"Interaction design (IxD) is the branch of user experience design that defines the structure and behavior of interactive products and services. Interaction designers strive to create useful, usable and desirable products and services that satisfy specific user needs, business goals, and technical constraints."

Embedded Touch-Screen Computer Games for Primates at the Zoo!

Interactive computer games still very common in our public schools, the day-time habitat for most young human primates. Non-human primates at several zoos now have access to "ubiquitous" touch-screen computer games, embedded within their habitats, as part of a research program spearheaded by Atlanta's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.

The games were developed with assistance from IBM volunteers to help assess reasoning, learning, and memory. For related information and links, see the TechPsych blog entry.



I would love to use (and develop) interactive multimedia computer games, delivered on touch-screens, to help me with my assessment duties as a school psychologist!

If you or someone you know is doing research on this subject in the schools or with school-aged populations, please let me know.

RELATED
Researchers Have Orangutans Play Video Games