Students using own devices to record videos (iPods, Phone Cameras Etc)

[firefox_2006]

Hi

Just wondering where other people stand on allowing students to use their own devices to record video files for class work. I am finding that I have to spend time converting them as they inevitably won't work in moviemaker unless I do. I was thinking of installing the freeware converting software on the teachers desktop and getting her to do it, or they could just use the flips cameras the school has bought, which record straight into wmv.

Its not hard to drop them into the software and press the "convert" button.

What do you guys do?

[AMLightfoot]

Personally, I feel that allowing students to use their phones/cameras to record footage of other pupils and the school environment is inviting trouble. Not only are you condoning and sanctioning the use of mobile phones and ipods on site, but you are also opening yourselves up to potential litigation from parents who take exception to other pupils videoing their children. Not to mention the inevitability that this lenience will be abused. How long will it be before a teacher catches a pupil videoing something on their phone only to be met with 'It's okay miss, it's for Science/IT/Drama - Teacher/Firefox_2006/etc says it's okay.

In my opinion the safest option is to ban them. If a teacher wants pupils to record things, why can't they use a webcam attached to a school PC and subject to moderation and parent permission slips? Alternatively, forcing staff to 'book' videoing equipment covers you from a child safety perspective as they will need to ensure that permissions are in place from parents and that the integrity of the device is not compromised. Similarly it also means that the resulting video is 'school controlled' meaning there is less liklihood of the video being edited to show things it did not show originally, or 'cut' to imply something it shouldn't.

But that's just me.

[RTFM]

I was at a seminar last week where a gentleman called Russell Prue was speaking and he was quite thought provoking.

Whilst it's ok saying 'your inviting trouble' 'dont let them do it' 'its dangerous' whatever else you want to say, the kids will do it regardless, they have the technology at their disposal, for the most part they know how to use it better than the teachers and yet are being stifled or held back from using it.

That's his argument around technology and the use of technology in the classroom.

I can see what he is saying, one way or another, pupils will use their own devices for what they want to use it for, we can confiscate them, try to block them, whatever but it will happen. His argument is to train up, embrace the techology and the pupils using it and to prepare the students for the modern day working environment.......

As Russell Prue kept saying "hmmmmm, interesting."

[Mako]

I don't think the OP is necessarily referring to using their phones etc to video other students, I think he means in general; they've gone home and recorded something on their phone for use in their class work/project, and is asking what others do when a kid comes in with "Sir, I've done this on my phone, can you get it onto the computer for me?". It can be a genuine thing, more often than not it's photography students who were out and about, without their Nikon D10, and saw something and snapped it on the nearest piece of technology available - their phone.

Of course, using the phones in school and/or filming other students is a big issue, but not necessarily the crux of this discussion.

When kids come to me with iPhones, Blackberries etc, I tell them that;
1) We don't have the proprietary cables for that,
2) You'd need the device/driver CD's for the computer to recognise it,
3) You should have used the equipment available in school that you are able to loan out for this exact purpose and, of course,
4) You shouldn't have that device in school anyway, and if I see it again I will confiscate it.

If they don't go off and sulk, they ask how they will ever complete their coursework without the data right now. I tell them to go home and download it, and e-mail it in or bring it on a stick.

Funnily enough, I never see the same student twice with this issue.

As @RTFM said, they will do it anyway. We have a no-phone policy in school, but every kid has their phone with them. Personally I see it as an unmanagable policy, but in terms of using them in school, it's as-above.

[maniac]

I think we need to move with the times and start allowing these technologies to be embraced. Only a few years ago most schools banned mobile phones, but we don't bother with that here now as it's a losing battle. Students bring them in at their own risk, and as long as they're not using them in lessons then that's fine. Same with i-pods etc. For linking them up to computers, most phones and PCs support bluetooth now, why not use it?

For our new building we are actually planning it with student owned devices in mind, making sure they have somewhere secure to store them and charge them, and designing the systems as much as possible to support their use within the building and we will be actively encouraging their use in the school. While this may create some problems, it will also allow more use of technology in and around the school, students could in theory hook their phones up to our network to recieve their e-mail, or even use their PSP or other device on the system. We know there will be problems, but we also know there massive potential for a different approach which we are going to try our hardest to make a success.

Mike.

[bossman]

My thoughts on this are if it is alright with the teaching staff and they are going to manage it within a controlled classroom environment then if the students are educated to use the devices in a creative rather than destructive way then there should be no reason why not.

We are looking into new ways of adapting social networking sites around our teaching and learning as collaborative tools to enhance the students personal learning.

I feel that like others do that if you restrict too much the students will only go out of their way to bypass the restrictions and disrupt the lessons thus inflaming the teachers and other staff.

I am not saying this is the right way but we are running controlled testing at this moment.

[garethedmondson]

From an ICT teacher point of view: I don't see an issue with the pupils using their phones to record items for use in their work. We work with a number of departments who are constantly requesting video or digital cameras - why not let the kids do it? In theory the class teacher has access to between 20 - 30 digital video/cameras so make use of them.

It's all about educating the pupils to use them correctly and have policies in place that come into play when something goes wrong or the pupil misuses the camera/video. I do understand the issues raised by a previous poster and agree with them but I feel we are missing out on using the technology available to us.

Two examples - pupils create videos for use in their Modern Language/ICT Department project - they record themselves talking and we edit it using MovieMaker before presenting it to the class. Second example - our Year 8 do a StopMotion animation project - several of them use their phones to create the clips/pictures before we show them how to import into the correct place. Sometimes we have to change the format which leads to...

From a Technical point of view: I am of the opinion that the school technician is there to aid the teaching and learning. If this means spending time converting some video files then so be it. I might be playing with fire in this forum but why else would you be employed in a school if it wasn't to help the pupils?

It is a good debate though.

Best wishes

Gareth

[Steve21]

My personal opinion is simple, If you're letting them use their own cameras/mobiles, you should be letting them use their own laptops/computers plugged into the school network too :P

Why? Simple,

Both allow many privacy/copyprotection etc etc issues
Both cause problems with devices/drivers/compatability
Both cause security problems (not just in terms of physical)

etc etc

Seems no real reason for letting them do one, and not the other.

The arguements on both sides work for both, More devices + More power/learning etc, vs security/privacy/management etc etc.

Personally I think it's not a way to go.

Steve

[garethedmondson]

My personal opinion is simple, If you're letting them use their own cameras/mobiles, you should be letting them use their own laptops/computers plugged into the school network too :P

Why? Simple,

Both allow many privacy/copyprotection etc etc issues
Both cause problems with devices/drivers/compatability
Both cause security problems (not just in terms of physical)

etc etc

Seems no real reason for letting them do one, and not the other.

The arguements on both sides work for both, More devices + More power/learning etc, vs security/privacy/management etc etc.

Personally I think it's not a way to go.

Steve

All good points - but I'm a strong believer that the technology should not affect the learning - rather the learning should direct the technology.

I don't deny it opens a can of worms and extra work for some - but why should schools restrict their networks so that pupils cannot use their own devices/phones etc for educational purposes? I am sure if it run properly or the proper policies are in place then it can only benefit the school and an opportunity to become sector leading.

It could come down to manpower - and that is something for the schools to decide.

We are at the moment considering wireless in certain areas of the school. The LEA have created a third domain that pupils can use with their own technologies. A sort of open access. That said the LEA have the manpower to do this. It also forces all connections through a filtered connection. But it's the kind of area every LEA should be looking at.

Gareth

[GrumbleDook]

Mobile kit owned by the pupils / students is the way it is going to go. Schools don't have the money to invest in enough kit anymore so have to invest in the right infrastructure to allow it to take place. They also have to invest heavily in CPD for staff to make sure they make the most of it. I was part of a very interesting discussion with Mike Searson from Kean University, talking about the project work being done around the world for SITE. It works ... but if you take the US, every time there is a central funding project for things like this there is also a CPD plan to go with it. Some of us over here might think IWBs and the training that happened there, but with repeated training and additional resources it works.

Yes, there will be lots of little annoyances and issues ... I even did a 7 minute video on this recently about the perils and pitfalls of mobile tech, but every problem can be overcome. Whether a school puts enough effort into dealing with the issues is another matter ... but to turn round and say no to the idea? I can remember seeing a quote about children bring their own ball point pens into school would cause the failure of the education system as they would not learn to write properly with a fountain pen! (there are several variations of this around)

[wesleyw]

I think I have to disagree with some points from Garth yes technical support is there to aid teaching and learning but we aren't there to spend all day converting videos for students as this would mean taking time away from our real work to maintain and sustain the network and technologies we have setup allowing teachers to teach and the admin staff to keep the school running. If they want to create videos then I don't see why not however if they want to use them in some manner we need to provide software to allow conversion and some sort of how to guide to make sure they can use it Super springs to mind if they want to use it in a website project then install a server using say clipbucket which will convert nearly everything to FLV and allow a full youtube experience. To say we should be converting their files misses a chance to educate them in a useful skill it is also rather a curious attitude to state that tech support should be doing this because its their job sounds like passing the work to the poor tech instead of letting the student gain a skill and the ability to actually create a video from conception to finished article. If a teacher comes in and has a real issue and you turn around and say sorry but I have all of Year 7s videos to convert and make sure sound sync is right etc and don't think they'll be best pleased as this is really affecting teaching and learning in an adverse way.



Wes

[Slync]

I'm really interested in this debate. I can see some huge benefits to allowing the use of things like this, and I genuinely believe it is the way things are going to go over the next few years. It may not be ideal, but the alternative is less so.

Regarding conversions, I can't remember any names just now, but I know when I did A level ICT a couple of years ago, we all used a couple of websites which between them allowed audio and videos to go to and from pretty much any format out there.

Another idea, although it's one to wait for at the moment, is that YouTube allows uploads from phone formats directly, and in 'YouTube Labs', there is currently an online editing package. Certainly one to look at in the future once it becomes a little more established.

[plexer]

I was at a seminar last week where a gentleman called Russell Prue was speaking and he was quite thought provoking.

Russell is very entertaining and lovely to talk to but then he doesn't have to manage all these things once he's put thoughts into people heads

Ben

[GrumbleDook]

Russell is very entertaining and lovely to talk to but then he doesn't have to manage all these things once he's put thoughts into people heads

Ben

Ah ... but that is why he will frequently point people at EduGeek.

[exim]

Hi
Its not hard to drop them into the software and press the "convert" button.

What converter is this?