Snaps for you!
Trailer
It’s obvious. Tinia is on her phone too much. But does this matter? Watch as three ghosts show Tinia the consequences of her decision to be on her phone rather than interact with those around her. By clicking on the image of the ghost, you can watch the trailer, featuring music from Reuben Gilbert. Length: 59 seconds.
Documentary
About the Performance: Snaps for You! is an interactive performance intended to engage younger students in discussions about screentime. While the topic, script, and performance was created by Grade 12 students, it was the Grade 5 audience who created three endings to our play: a humourous ending; a “when things go wrong” ending, and; a serious ending. The Grade 12 students spontaneously acted out these three endings. Now, you can download the students' script to use as a Reader's Theatre in your own classroom, and come up with your own three endings! You can also read sample on-demand essays written by students about this experience. By clicking on the image of the students, you can watch a documentary about the making of "Snaps for You!" featuring music from Frieden and Reuben Gilbert. Length: 4 minutes, 55 seconds.
Immersive and Virtual Reality Videos
Virtual Reality and Immersive Videos
These videos were created by students in Film and Video Productions 12, beginning in 2016. They can be viewed as immersive videos or in virtual reality.
Immersive Video: control your viewpoint on the screen. Swipe or click and drag to look around (Phone, Tablet, Computer). Open in YouTube to enhance immersion by moving your device (Phone, Tablet)
Virtual Reality: control what you view by physically moving your body. To view in a virtual reality headset, open the video in YouTube and click the cardboard goggles icon in the bottom right hand corner (Phone and VR Goggles).
Immersive Video: control your viewpoint on the screen. Swipe or click and drag to look around (Phone, Tablet, Computer). Open in YouTube to enhance immersion by moving your device (Phone, Tablet)
Virtual Reality: control what you view by physically moving your body. To view in a virtual reality headset, open the video in YouTube and click the cardboard goggles icon in the bottom right hand corner (Phone and VR Goggles).
Where ART Thou?
Video Reflections
This video is a reflection by the Advanced English 12 class about their interdisciplinary installation called "Where ART Thou?" The reflection documents why and how the project emerged from our class, as well as its importance and impact on the students. The installation was open to the public at Avon View High School during school hours as well as in the evening as part of the school's annual arts celebration in the spring. Featuring music from Frieden and Reuben Gilbert. Length: 6 minutes, 12 seconds.
Questions to Learn
Documentary
This documentary follows the journey of an Advanced English 12 class at Avon View High School as the students initiate a project designed around individual inquiry questions. The documentary explains how the idea for the project began, what kinds of questions interested the students, and how the inquiry questions shaped their thinking. The project involved visiting Fort McKay School, Alberta to meet Principal Casey Brown. The students' responses to their inquiry questions are included in the anthology, 21st Century Communities: A Youth Inquiry Project (2010) published by Learning for a Cause. Producers: Steven Van Zoost, Duncan Armour, Peter Gibson. Featuring music from A.S.T. (Alice Stops Time). Length: 13 minutes, 24 seconds
The making of realfriends - Part 1
Documentary: Part 1
This two-part documentary follows the process of a group of Grade 12 English students in the creation of their social action project, realfriends. Their purpose was to create a face-to-face social network that would help change the school climate into a more social space. Interest in socializing is nothing new for teenagers, but these students articulated a worry that people their age may be losing their social skills due to technologically assisted communication. This worry is represented in the students’ motto for realfriends: stop cliquing, start connecting. Media often taints the reputation of teens with impressions of strange subcultures, rebellious activity, suspicious behaviour, and secretive peer-communication. But these young people show willingness, openness, and readiness to develop problem-solving and social skills. Because of a heavy reliance on technology to communicate, it is more important than ever for teachers to model and facilitate face-to-face communication in classrooms. Part 1 present how the idea for realfriends came about and presents the kinds of social changes that the students hoped to create in their school.
The making of realfriends - Part 2
Part 2
Part 2 follows how the students created a four-step program that involved an increasing number of students and culminated in a flashmob in the foyer of the school at lunch. Along with the creators, participants share how the social action project transformed their school. Dr. Van Zoost notes the following: "Throughout this experience, I have witnessed how a student-driven social action project can transform our classroom and our school. More importantly, I have witnessed how realfriends transformed my students. Social action projects can help students’ sense of efficacy and teach them that they can solve problems, contribute to positive change, and respond to societal needs. My students have left me thinking about my own face-to-face network and the value of my real friends. More importantly, they have left me thinking about my role – and teachers’ roles in general – in promoting and participating in social action."
Promises and Pitfalls
This 34-minute documentary, Technology Access and Use in High Schools: the Pitfalls and Promises, explores the use of computers in high schools. It is based on the findings of the Equity and Technology Alliance Research Project conducted in Canada and South Africa by sociologists Looker and Thiessen. Filmed in selected schools in Nova Scotia, Canada and the Western Cape, South Africa, the documentary shows the remarkably similar experiences of teachers and youth: teachers express many similar concerns about the promises and pitfalls of computer use in the classroom, and regardless of gender, class, race or cultural background differences, young people universally enjoy working with computers and believe that they will use them in their future careers.