Contributed by Stephanie Vande Kraats (Collingwood School, Senior School)
It’s been a year since we’ve started building our green screen equipment in the library, which includes two large screens, 5 iPads, and the very user-friendly application “Do Ink.” Rather than invest in bulky frames that have to be stored, we’ve found the screens can be tacked to room dividers in multi-use space, when needed. Our strategy has been to promote the equipment through casual events to generate familiarity and interest, then reign in a few cooperative units where it seems a good fit.
Our first promotions involved setting up the screens at lunch hours and inviting students to “update your profile picture!” We collected a few dozen backgrounds (ala Stranger Things, Hobbit holes, and Mario Brothers) and photographed interested students in our studio. We did the editing ourselves and emailed the results right away. Easy. We repeated this event on “ugly sweater day” with a decent turnout, then invited whole classes to create old school “class photos” on classic black & white backgrounds. Finally, we turned to departments and coordinated group photos as “Seasons Greetings,” which were then posted on screens school-wide. Familiarity, accomplished.
After these initial forays, the task was to find clever suitability for green screens within curricular projects. Doing your annual unit on bloodborne pathogen research? Why not invite students to share their learning via newscasts with larger-than-life images of infectious microorganisms? Student newscasters can then migrate from medical backgrounds to geographic regions with visual exposure. Captivating!
We’ve also partnered on smart projects with French students performing oral scripts while “on location” visiting Parisian cafés, monuments, etc. Students integrate images that coordinate with their expanding vocabulary, whether as foreground objects or background locations.
Right now we have Science 11 classes working to create their “space colonies,” which we’re happily upgrading with green screen images and recordings. Students who are new to the technology have been impressed at the user-friendly nature of our iPad app. Those with savvier editing skills can advance their work using our Photoshop and iMovie tutorials, but we are pleased that there’s now an entry point for everyone. The green screens are just one more way that our library makes learning technology accessible for all students.
An English 12 class takes a break to pose for a team-building “class photo” on the green screen.
Our “heads of house” were one of several departments who sent out Seasons Greetings through the library’s green screen technology.
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