This video showcases how media literacy teachers, Michael Novick and Kyra Wolfe, were able to redesign a project-based learning experience to adjust to student interest while staying grounded in media literacy concepts, student critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Program Background
In 2009 Brooklyn School of Inquiry (BSI) began a partnership with Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) to record and archive yearly interviews with each BSI student. During the 2014-2015 school year 6th grade students were given their footage from the previous 6 years to watch for the first time.
Novick and Wolfe, during the weeklong during the Summer Institute in Digital and Media Literacy, planned a production assignment that would have students edit their personal archival footage to present themselves as learners over time. However, they found that not all students were as interested in the footage as they’d expected. The clarity of their essential questions “who am I as a learner?” and “how can I express that using media production?” allowed them to open up the parameters of the project.
The Media Spot 