Value of Low Tech: Paper Slide Videos

By Wesley Fryer On March 26, 2013 · · 1 Comment

(cross-posted from PlayingWithMedia.com)

I’m working with a middle school geography teacher on some technology integration ideas for his curriculum. His students are studying Africa in upcoming weeks. Since the school computer labs are tied up from now through the end of April for online testing (I wonder how many Oklahoma parents, legislators and taxpayers realize this is the NORM now) I’m recommending that he consider “paper slide video” projects. Paper slide videos can be very low-tech in terms of their requirements. While “narrated art projects” are best created with a tablet or smartphone running a specialized app, paper slide videos just require some kind of camera to record along with paper students draw on. In the following video, Lodge McCammon explains why this model of creating paper-based slides and narrating “live” on video can be so powerful. He calls this the “Fizz Video Lecture” method for Flipped Classrooms. This statement near the end of the video resonated deeply with me:

We are modeling a low barrier creative process that requires deep level thinking & a focus on content.

That’s exactly the reason I’m recommending “paper-slide videos” to the 7th grade teacher I’m working with now.

Check out the full video by Lodge, it’s six minutes long and worth watching in its entirety.

I’ve added resource links for paper slide videos to the “Quick Edit Video” page of the Mapping Media to the Common Core website. Lodge’s site, “FIZZ Paperslide Projects to Differentiate” is excellent. For additional resources, check out Mary Frazier’s resource wiki on Paper Slide Videos, which includes helpful PDF storyboards. I dropped in briefly on a workshop Mary was sharing at the MACE conference in Kansas a few years ago. That was my first introduction to “paper slide videos.” Also “like” Lodge McCammon’s Facebook page, “Fizz Education.”

Thanks to Linda Clark from Piedmont Schools in Oklahoma, who shared “Paper Slide Videos” in February at EdCampOKC. Her presentation got me thinking more about the value of this relatively “low tech” media project model.