From the Principal's Office: The Power of Video

From the Principal's Office: The Power of Video

Students in Mrs. Tambuscio’s World History class culminated a unit on the Holocaust by applying their historical knowledge to the viewing of survivor testimonies. Students were able to utilize IWitness, which is a computer-based program created by the USC Shoah Foundation’s Institute for Visual History. This educational tool includes over 1,200 video testimonies of Holocaust and genocide survivors. The program incorporates multimedia activities and digital resources, which allow students to engage in active learning.

The learning connects students to the past, engages them in the present, and motivates them to build a better future. The students were able to learn particular aspects of a survivor’s story, record reflections, and actually create a video utilizing testimony clips and artifacts to tell their impression of a particular survivor’s story. Using the website, students build the video project into the site, which allows access to each participant, as well as the teacher. As a result, the classroom teacher and students can comment on each project, which creates a vibrant discourse about students work and each survivor.

In September of 2013, interested New Milford High School students will have an opportunity to participate in the IWitness Challenge during the 20th Anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar winning film, Schindler’s List, through the USC Shoah Foundation. The Institute for Visual History and Education is sponsoring the IWitness Video Challenge. The Institute has invited students from all over North America to be inspired by the voices in IWitness, to use their innovation and creativity to create positive value in their communities by doing something ordinary (or extraordinary), and then asks them to build a video telling the story about how they contributed to making their communities a better place. Interested students will complete the “IWitness Video Challenge” Activity on the IWitness website. The activity challenges them to increase their understanding of digital and media literacy, deepen their critical thinking, and promote positive social change in their community and in the world.

cross-posted on A Principal's Reflections

Eric Sheninger is a NASSP Digital Principal Award winner (2012), PDK Emerging Leader Award recipient (2012), winner of Learning Forward's Excellence in Professional Practice Award (2012) and co-author of Communicating and Connecting With Social Media: Essentials for Principals and What Principals Need to Know About Teaching and Learning Science. He presents and speaks nationally to assist other school leaders in effectively using technology. His blog, A Principal's Reflections, was selected as Best School Administrator Blog in 2011 by Edublogs.