Recently, the team and I presented at a Technology conference at James Madison University. In between our own workshops, we had the opportunity to attend other presentations. There was one that really caught my attention. Actually, I was downright giddy with excitement when I read the description of the workshop called, The MADLab: The Media Mind Space. Turns out, the MADLab is a maker space where students and faculty can come learn how to create professional videos or other multimedia projects for class. Bingo!  That is just what we want to create here at NOVA.

In a report called, The Impact of Broadcast and Streaming Video on Education, researchers pointed out that, “learners are more motivated to interact with educational content when the content uses narrative storytelling, uses some degree of personalization, or offers some degree of control over how the content is accessed. Moreover, when students are given the opportunity to create digital material for classroom use, the feeling of empowerment, ownership, and sense of purpose is much higher. This in turns enhances the students’ motivation toward a particular subject and also contributes to the development of additional skills such as innovation, creativity, leadership, social interaction, and project management.”

I experienced this first hand here at NOVA while working with students on a recent video project. Students used their iPhone or iPad to create a PSA for class. This was the first time that they had used their smart technology to create a short video.  Each of them walked away with a sense of pride at what they accomplished.

I look forward to helping many more students unlock their creativity and sense of accomplishment with producing multimedia projects.

Stay tuned for updates on the NOVA video production studio.

Image: MADlab at JMU

Image:Video Production Studio in Rose Library at JMU

Reference: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/ciscovideowp.pdf