February 9, 2012
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Nome (Alaska) Green Screen Storytelling Project Team:
- Justin Heinrich, Nome Elementary School Technology Coordinator
- Robin Johnson, Director of Technology, Nome Public Schools, and Apple Distinguished Educator
- Nikki Polk, 4th-grade teacher, Nome Elementary School
Rural Nome, Alaska, is 500 miles from the next-largest city, but it is on the cutting edge of a very exciting educational technology innovation. An interdisciplinary program called the Green Screen Storytelling Project made its debut in a fourth-grade classroom at Nome Elementary School in December 2006.
The Green Screen Project is the brainchild of Jason Ohler, President’s Professor of Educational Technology and Distance Learning at the University of Alaska. Dr. Ohler, who is also a Technos Press Distinguished Author, is an expert in what he calls “digital storytelling”—something that incorporates the DAOW (Digital, Art, Oral, Writing) of Literacy. His Green Screen Project incorporates traditional oral storytelling, sound narrative writing skills, artistic creativity in both drawing and music, and new technologies to make student stories come alive and allow them to be shared with others.
Technos ran a few questions by the principal players in the Nome Green Screen Storytelling Project, just as they were leaving Nome for the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) Conference in Anchorage. Here are their responses.
T.: How did you/your school become involved with this project? Did you know Jason Ohler before this?
Robin Johnson was raised in Nome. After graduating from Nome Public Schools, she attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, where she earned a BA in Elementary Education. After nearly 10 years in the primary classroom, Robin attended the University of Alaska Southeast and earned her Masters in Educational Technology. She is now the Director of Technology for Nome Public Schools. Robin has four children and loves spending time outdoors.
ROBIN (Director of Technology): I have known Jason for about seven years now. He was one of my instructors from the University of Alaska Southeast Educational Technology Masters Program, and we worked together on a Technology Literacy Challenge Grant Called ARCTIC (Alaska Reform in the Classroom Through Technology Integration and Collaboration). I completed this MA program in 2001, and Jason sat on my Portfolio Review Committee. We have worked together in a number of different ways over the years, ARCTIC and ASTE (the Alaska Society for Technology in Education) stand out. For this project, we worked with Jason to establish a timeline and work through curricular questions and issues; then everyone jumped in to complete their roles. We also had a couple of teleconference calls with Jason to discuss Nikki’s theme and logistics, like green paint, room location, sound, and lighting.
NIKKI (4th-grade Teacher): Last summer, teachers were asked via email if they wanted to participate in a digital storytelling project. I accepted the challenge and was willing to participate.
How was your team assembled? Why was 4th grade chosen for this project? Do you think this project would be appropriate for other levels?
ROBIN: Jason sent me an email last April asking if we would like to collaborate with him on a project that would teach storytelling first, then story planning, then editing using technology. We exchanged several emails, and Jason sent me samples of the work he had done with other groups. At this point, I sent out an invitation to our 4th- and 5th-grade teachers inviting them to participate in this project. Nikki responded to this invitation, and Justin was an eager supporter of the project as our Technology Support person in our elementary school. I spoke with Carl White, the building principal, to be sure we had his support. With all this in line, we set dates with Jason and started to research Green Screens!
NIKKI: I think that it would definitely be good for other grade levels, especially 4th grade and above. The tech team consisted of the tech person at the elementary and the tech director.
What was your greatest challenge when planning and executing the Storytelling project?
Justin Heinrich, Nome Elementary School Technology Coordinator
I am an Elementary Teacher turned Educational Technologist. I graduated from Valley City State University in North Dakota with a degree in elementary education. After teaching for a few years, I made the transition to the technology department here in Nome. I really enjoy it because it gives me the opportunity to empower teachers and students. I am also very fortunate to be working with a very talented and dedicated Technology Team. On a personal note, I was born and raised in North Dakota, so I enjoy the cold weather in Alaska and often get out on a snow machine to see some amazing country. Through my photography and making videos, I'm able to share those wonderful things with others.
JUSTIN (Technology Coordinator): One challenge that we had was that, because we wanted the students to edit and chroma-key it themselves, we had to look for a program that didn’t have a steep learning curve, a program that the students could feel comfortable using on their own. We decided to go with eZeScreen, which is an iMovie Plug-in from eZedia. eZeScreen was user friendly enough that before we were done, students were teaching other students how to chroma-key!
ROBIN: I would have to say the most challenging part for me was pulling all the pieces together. Once we had Nikki, Justin, and Carl on board and a date in mind, we had to find a room that had good lighting, was big enough, quiet enough, and a person willing to live with a green wall in the classroom. We looked everywhere and decided on a couple of options, but neither one had all the right variables. Then Justin thought of the social worker’s room—it was perfect, and green is her favorite color! So, Myra, our social worker agreed, and we had a room. It was very important to me that this project be about process, not product, for our students.
It was very important to me that this project be about process, not product. I wanted our kids to be involved in every step of the project, so they would get an authentic cross-curricular experience. We wanted them reading, writing, speaking, listening, and creating. We did not want them to be the tool for the end product. I knew from my past experiences with Jason that he would agree that it had to be about student learning (and it was!). Because of this philosophy, we needed to locate a chroma-key editor that would be manageable for 4th-grade students. We spend time researching chroma-key editing software and found that eZeScreen by eZedia worked; it is developmentally appropriate for younger children.
Getting the correct color of flat green paint (barn-yard green) in Nome, Alaska, is not really an easy task. We are very isolated. The only way into Nome is by airplane, and the nearest major city is 500 air miles away. After researching and finding the correct color of green, I was on the phone with Anchorage building supply stores. I found the paint, ordered it, had my brother pick it up for me, and he shipped it. The paint and primer were delayed in Anchorage because one can of paint came open when they were loading it for the plane, so they had to clean it up, repack it, and ship it out on the next flight, three days later. In the end, the paint showed up the day before Jason did, so Justin and I spent a Sunday night painting a beautiful green wall!
NIKKI: For me, the greatest challenge was encouraging the students who did not want to talk in front of others to do the project. In the end, we had all but three students complete the videos. The ones who chose not to participate were way too shy to overcome it in a week.
Would you do it again?
JUSTIN: Yes, I would be more than happy to work on another project like this. It was a lot of fun working with the students and seeing them get so involved in reading, writing, and into the technology also.
ROBIN: Definitely! Justin is working with our after-school program now, using the green screen and storytelling.
I moved to Nome, Alaska, in April of 2002 from Jefferson, Wisconsin. After graduating college, I worked for a while in the field of public relations and product development, but after some thought realized it was not for me. I decided to come to Nome — that was where my sister had moved five years earlier. I got a job with the local community center running youth programs in the villages around Nome. I realized that I wanted to continue working with children and got my teaching degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the spring of 2005. I student taught in Nome and I am fortunate enough to be a fourth-grade teacher here. I love Alaska! Since I moved here, I learned to fly fish, play guitar, and paint. I love the outdoors, and I love my job!
NIKKI: I would definitely do it again—in fact, we did it with 4th and 5th graders in an after-school tutoring program. Instead of writing their own stories, these students summarized other stories and retold them.
What was the most enjoyable aspect of this project for you personally?
JUSTIN: I loved the excitement the students had for this project. The excitement carried on through the whole project. The students had a lot of fun—even the ones who are shy were able to have fun performing. They all enjoyed editing their movies and loved the chroma-keying. It was a lot of fun to see the students make their own movie themselves, and see their excitement to share their stories with family and friends.
ROBIN: Watching it all come together. Watching Jason have the kids in the palm of his hands as he taught them to tell stories using voice, body language, and motion. Watching the kids bloom—from shy, quiet, “I can barely hear you” storytellers to wonderful, animated storytellers. Watching the kids work so seriously on their stories. The process was important to them. They learned while being engaged and focused on the end project. Watching the kids beam with pride not only as they told their stories but also as they filled the rolls of “Director,” “Camera Man,” etc. Watching how quickly most of the kids learned to scan their artwork, edit using iMovie and the eZscreen plug-in. Watching Justin take the bull by the horns and really run with this project. He did an awesome job pulling it all together and supporting everyone whenever needed.
NIKKI: The best part for me was seeing the students really grow from the project. Some really came out of their shells. Others really took to the digital aspect of the project and excelled in that area as peer leaders.
Why do you think it’s important for kids to understand and master the DAOW (Digital, Art, Oral, Writing) of Literacy, the process of storytelling?
NIKKI: Once students grasp the art of literacy as a whole, I think they begin to comprehend it more. I had students really grasp the concept of story writing through this process, and I am lucky enough to be able to use this project as an example when it comes to other forms of writing in the class.
Were parents involved in this project?
ROBIN: I know that Nikki spoke with parents about the project and received written permission for everyone to participate. Copies of the Final DVD were sent home with all the kids at Christmas Break.
NIKKI: Parents needed to fill out permission forms for their kids to participate. They also all received a DVD of the movies as a Christmas project. To accompany the gift, we recorded eight songs in the computer lab as well.
What were the goals and/or objectives of this project? How can the effectiveness of this project be evaluated or assessed?
ROBIN: While we never really discussed a goal as a group, in my mind it was to offer our students an interdisciplinary project that would increase their knowledge and love of oral storytelling and technology.
NIKKI: I feel that the overall assessment was the completed project. The students got to evaluate themselves on the project. Some even submitted them to a competition for movies.
This project incorporates, to some degree, all of these subjects: language arts, social studies, media literacy, art, music, technology, and performance. What educational lessons can be learned from this interdisciplinary project?
NIKKI: Talking about the cultural values that influence them daily was a big lesson in this project. Also, for the music portion, they wanted their own songs. The class sang and recorded together in the computer lab with my guitar. It really was a very integrated unit. It was nice to have had such a well-rounded lesson for them to participate in. It seems like there is less time for things like this with the pressure of testing, but when a project can encompass all these elements, you can’t pass it up.
Do you know of Storytelling projects in other school districts? Would you recommend this project to other schools or states?
ROBIN: I sit on the ASTE Board and have held the role of the iDidaMovie Chair for the last three years. This is a digital storytelling contest that ASTE hosts on a statewide basis. We receive entries from all different age groups and in different categories. Check out the rules and the winning movies from the last few years.
NIKKI: Yes, it is a fun way to keep the kids engaged in story writing, and keep them motivated to finish, because they want to see the completed project.