Teaching Media Arts through Digital Storytelling from Adobe Education Exchange and Khan Academy
Adobe Education Exchange offers an array of digital storytelling, project based, activities for students to remain engaged in the curriculum. Adobe states that students learning becomes more engaging and meaning fun when students are given the chance to apply what they learn by creating, imagining, and expressing them selves. On the website there is an activity connected with Khan academy its called Pixar in a box. Khan Academy states “Pixar in a Box is designed to help students answer an age old question: "Why do I nee to learn this stuff?”
This tool teaches many if not all the key components that a Media Arts Curriculum should have. The tool instructs students to embark on learning and career research by doing the skills they are learning. The student learner will engage in story telling that will give them an opportunity to express themselves and their goals for their future. Student learner’s would engage in text book and vocabulary lessons through out the story telling process. As a part of the final assessment the student learner would present the topics in film making and present what they have learned from script to screen in the form of a final production video.
Perceived gap in current knowledge of the film making process
A Student learner with no prior experience in film may have a preconceived idea that making a film might be challenging with out Hollywood, a fancy camera, or a director on set yelling Action! With the learning engagement tool Pixar In A Box students will learn the story telling process by instructing the student learner to engage in story telling exercises of writing or critiquing other film stories that are relevant. The student learner would gain skills behind the three act structure in a story, development, etc. They will be able to construct a script about their life, their future aspirations, as well as make short long term goals. Student learners engage in career exploration by learning about obtainable jobs in film making by employing in a task tied positions that are involved in the film making process.
Creating content in storytelling about ones goals
In Khan Academy’s Pixar In A Box there are topics about story telling the details on expressing your memories, your favorite films, remembering your favorite stories, that lead up to a topic about character and world creating where students will create their world they see for them selves in the future. In Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology he says goals “become a source of creating feelings of relevance among students. “ (Dempsey 80) In a the Kentucky Nations project when students talked about their goals and aspirations for college they were more engaged in learning how to incorporate their future aspirations into their stories.
When learners anticipate and experience satisfying final products learned from their film production task they are motivated throughout the process
In Pixar In A Box there are lessons that focus on each step of the procession process. When a student is able to look forward to a successful final project throughout the cycle of their learning task (film production) they are motivated through the steps to reach that end goal. The 3 phases of film production allows for milestones to be met before proceeding to another phase in the learning task. That provides the opportunity to make evaluations in the process, to obtain the anticipated satisfaction throughout each stage accomplishments. The learning by doing model is very rewarding and satisfying in this learning process. Dempsey shares “ it is usually best, with regard to maintaining motivation to learn, to use feedback that is informational instead of controlling”. Offering congratulations reward or sense of accomplishment through the phases of productions would sustain more interest thought out the learning task.
Adobe Education Exchange. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://edex.adobe.com/.
Blinne, K. (2012). Making the Familiar Strange: Creative Cultural Storytelling within the Communication Classroom. Communication Teacher, 26(4), 216–219 https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1080/17404622.2012.700722.
Fatima, H. (n.d.). Multimedia Systems. Academia.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.academia.edu/39957305/Multimedia_Systems.
Khan Academy. (n.d.). Pixar in a box educator's guide (article). Khan Academy. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/pixar/start/
Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2018). Trends and issues in Instructional Design and Technology. Pearson.
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Using the Reiser and Dempsey’s principle of “Perceived Gap in Knowledge” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018)the writer of the blog post states that prior to use of Pixar in a Box a student may feel that making a film is near impossible without the help of Hollywood or cinematic gear. Using a learning tool like Pixar in a Box it allows them to obtain the building blocks of storytelling. Teaching such things as three act structure, story development, and pacing. It encourages the student to engage in the storytelling process. This creates an instance where the student can feel an investment in the things they are learning thereby creating self-motivation for the student to progress and grow. It does this by…
Knowledge Gap
A knowledge gap is revealed when there is an apparent lack of knowledge in a particular subject. By acknowledging that there was a disconnect between what is known about the filmmaking process in a certain age group, Khan Academy and Pixar teamed up to create Pixar In A Box. This program was designed to give students a better understanding and first hand experience in the filmmaking process by sparking their “epistemic curiosity” as Berlyne calls it. This is explained as “the desire to gain knowledge…to explain why something is happening the way it is” This method allows students the ability to think freely and gives them complete control over their learning experience and how they can maneuver through…
Intellectual Engagement
It is essential to create courses, assignments, and projects that pique students' interests to engage them intellectually. Courses like Khan Academy's "Pixar in a Box" (2015) allows learners to explore the field of media creation while learning about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), writing, and filmmaking skills. As mentioned in the video (Khan Academy, 2015), each course section shows how math and science are incorporated within the engineering process and which technologies are used to create the animations. Students also learn valuable writing and reviewing skills while studying relevant films and learning about the art of story. The lessons culminate in a final project where all the skills are utilized to create a movie they can be…
Students' Motivation for Success
I agree that students are eager to engage in activities when a meaningful curriculum of success and achievement is perceived. Students want to experience a personal connection and outcome that will support their achievements. In the past, filmmaking was created in the magical mountains in Hollywood. To date, filmmakers have the ability to produce film on various platforms and distribution outlets.
Adobe Express interactive application gives students the guidance and tools to design a website to outline the structure of a story. Students instructions are constructed to connect with the story's structure. A framework of expectation is presented initially. This framework is presented in the form of a question. "How can you use structure to …
Creating Meaningful Goals
As a filmmaker, I see the creation of meaning through storytelling as a central aspect of why I put myself through the rigors of creating stories, art, and also the rigors of advancing my education. Learners want to make some sense of life with all its complexities, and stories can be a great way that students can retain information and stay engaged with the subjects they are trying to learn. Finding meaning and relevance can be a core part of humanity. We are meaning-making “machines”. Khan Academy in a partnership with Pixar has a course that tries to teach students the importance of storytelling in their learning experience. They do this by giving students the tools to…