When the classroom lights dropped off, the chatter didn’t. Seventh-grade students at Oak-land Junior High School were buzzing with last-week-of-school energy, but also with anticipation to watch their classmates’ Tel.A.vion projects on the big screen.
Tel.A.Vision is a program in which students become producers. Students use simple computer software to create a video fostered on the hopes, dreams and goals that span the course of each individual’s lifeline.
It is a project that is being developed by George Johnson and Colleen Matschi, whom have children attending District 834 schools.
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| Jim Amaral, a teacher at Oak-Land Junior High School, helps Tyler Holthaus check on his Tel.A.Vision project during a seventh-grade Global Concepts class on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Andy Blenkush) |
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On a large scale, Tel.A.Vision was created as a movement to make the world a better place to live. With the final product available on the Internet, students across the globe are able to view each other’s Vision Videos. On a local level, it is to help develop a student’s understanding of who they are.
“We want them to be aware of their dreams,” said Colleen Matschi, a parent volunteer who has recently dedicated her time to the Tel.A.Vision program. “This is to put a vision in their lives of what they want to be and do during their life.”
The program is broken up into three sessions. During the first session, Matschi helps the students create a “mind map.” Similar to a family tree, a mind map helps students break down their life into eight categories including personal goals, character, relationships, contributions, financial, health, career and education. The purpose is to help the students clarify who they are, the ideals they stand for and the things that are most important to them.
The second session focuses on the technical side of making the video. Matschi takes the students through the One True Media Web site. There, students are allowed to choose photographs, build slides with images or text, select music and edit their videos.
Once the videos are complete, Matschi returns to the school for a viewing session. During this time, students watch the work of their classmates, learning more video-making techniques while being able to see their fellow students in a new way.
At Lake Elmo Elementary School, 120 fifth-grade students took part in the Tel.A.Vision pilot program. After what Matschi considered a great successful first attempt, she brought the program to Oak-Land Junior High School. There, seventh-grade students in Jim Amaral’s Global Concepts class followed a similar procedure to create their Vision Videos.
Nearly 500 students have participated in Tel.A.Vision at Lake Elmo Elementary School and Oak-Land Junior High School combined.
Overall, the students enjoyed the activity, Matschi and Amaral agreed. The junior-high class found the project encouraging, thought-provoking and a way to express themselves in a multimedia, collage format they can share with people world wide.
In Amaral’s Global Concepts class, the timing of the Tel.A.Vision project couldn’t have been better. In the class, students are made aware of global warming and many other topics across the globe.
“We talked about the big world in class,” Amaral said. “This gave them a chance to take the things we learned about and come to conclusions about things, to internalize them.”
Establishing a better world in which to live is the focal point of Tel.A.Vision. This is accomplished through who people are and what is important to them, resulting in clear dreams to follow throughout their lifetime, according to Matschi.
“The idea is to get [the students] to dig deep,” Matschi said. “And to encourage others to do the same. You need to think about everything you’d like to do in your life. Everything you want to do during your 87 years.”
