ITK conference presentation, Hämeenlinna, 10.04.2014

1. MOBILE VIDEO EXPERIENCE (MOVIE) IN THE NATURAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES
MOBILE VIDEOS IN SCHOOLS FOR
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Johanna Penttilä & Marianna Vivitsou
CICERO Learning Network, University of Helsinki

2. PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION
• To give an overview of the ways mobile devices and
digital technologies were introduced in schools in
Finland and internationally for natural and human
science lessons

3. MOBILE VIDEO EXPERIENCE (MOVIE)
HTTP://CICERO-MOVIE.EDU.HELSINKI.FI/
• Password protected experimental learning platform to
share and respond to video stories
• MoViE application for mobile devices to record, upload
and comment videos

4. RATIONALE BEHIND USING TECHNOLOGIES IN
TEACHING & LEARNING
• Development of 21st Century skills
• Digital literacy, creativity, social skills, ICTs etc.
• Engagement and joy in learning
• Schools vs. informal learning environments
• Continuous improvement of education
• From superficial ICT use to more profound one
• Understanding of what the pedagogies of the future will
look like

5. DATA & ANALYSIS
• Group interviews of 85 students from Finland
o Four classes (11-year-olds)
o August to November 2013
• Interviews of 11 teachers from California, Finland &
Greece
o Ten classes (8, 12 & 14 year-olds)
o October to December 2012
• Content analysis (e.g., categorise skills & literacies &
sub-divide emergent themes)

6. TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Natural sciences
• Physics & chemistry
• Motion, air, water
• Inquiry-based filming at
lessons & home
• Story-building with and
without a frame-story
Human sciences
• History, environment &
health; self-presentations
• Ancient myths, recycling,
well being
• Story-building through
scenarios and multiple
shootings and edits

7. GOALS OF FILMING
(PRE-DETERMINED)
• Probe
preconceptions
• Observe and
examine one’s
immediate
surroundings
• Record
experiments

8. GOALS OF TELLING STORIES WITH TECHNOLOGIES
(EMERGENT)
• Build relationships
• Project cultural
landscapes and
identities
• Learn and grow with
connected peers in
physical proximity and
in virtuality
• Learn & teach others
about the topic

9. ABOUT THE VIDEOS
• From 3 to above 20 video clips per student/group
• From 0 to above 5 remixes per student/group
• Instructive annotations about the topic/subtitles
• Informal commenting/on- & off-topic
• Star - ratings
• Video meta-data

10. VISIBLE & INVISIBLE LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Memory enhancement
• Wider perspective on the surrounding natural
phenomena
• Appreciation of own and peers’ cultural landscapes
• Aesthetic attitude towards learning
• Interpretive openness
• Respect for the planet, other species, other people

11. LITERACIES & SKILLS DEVELOPED
Students’s views of their own learning Teachers’ views of student learning
Scientific literacies Writing & speaking literacies
Group working skills Working together
Technical skills (e.g., filming, editing, using
MoViE)
Digital literacies; responding to
connected peers’ stories with stories and
comments
Giving & receiving feedback Developing a beyond-the-local
awareness and sense of schooling

12. THE STUDENTS’ VIEWS: SOME EXAMPLES
Well, I learnt at least that warm air rises upwards.
You get more ideas [when you work in a group]. And from the other’s
perspective or something like that.
And then I learnt to use this MoViE too.
[If somebody has commented your video], you get to see, that
somebody has liked it or like, what he/she thinks about it.

13. THE TEACHERS’ VIEWS: SOME EXAMPLES
‘The story of Persephone theoretically would have ended for them on the day of the shooting.
And yet, the story went on, and this is a completely new experience for them.’ GRS2C3
‘They do work with their digital story and upload it before I get into the classroom; they login
Movie, and post comments, do remixes, insert background music. They feel differently.’
GRS1C6
‘Just this sense that there are other people in the world and they speak different languages
and they see Disney characters differently than you and that they, you know, have the same
water as you and what do they do, and they’re similar.’ (USCAS1C68 T2)
‘I have to say that, especially … two boys … normally they are quite quiet, but they made very
great videos and they were very engaged and excited.’ (FIS4C6)

14. CONCLUSIONS
• Mobile videos and digital storytelling can be applied for various topics,
either in one subject or multidisciplinary
• Using mobile videos and digital storytelling in teaching promote
learning results that go beyond the topic related matter, e.g., 21st
Century skills
• Creative imagination mobilized
• Students find this kind of learning more engaging than the traditional
methods including textbooks and lecturing
• Learning moves out of the classroom; becomes embodied rather than
exclusively cognitive and, therefore, a more authentic experience

15. THANK YOU!
JOHANNA.PENTTILA@HELSINKI.FI
MARIANNA.VIVITSOU@HELSINKI.FI