Igniting Student Learning Through the Use of WeVideo

      
When you hear the 4 C’s, you may naturally think of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. With a focus on creativity, WeVideo, an online video editing site, has developed the 4 C’s of Planning for Creativity. The idea is to help students narrow down their thoughts and choices by scaffolding them throughout the video creation process. Let’s take a look at what these 4 C’s are, and how they impact the creativity of the students that sit in our classrooms every day.


 Care
Why are we doing this? Students ask this quite frequently as we live in a world where students are often questioning the relatedness of classroom content to their reality. In preparing to create videos using WeVideo, students should first begin with the purpose of their creation. Is there a problem to solve? A personal story to tell? What emotion should the viewers feel when they press play? The use of a storyboard where students can lay out their thoughts and ideas comes into play here. Provide students with a paper or digital copy to allow them to map out their storyline during these early stages of creation. Delving into why their work would be valuable to the intended audience sets a clear purpose for their creation.



 Criteria
Students truly want to be successful and that begins with clear expectations and guidelines from their teachers. When assigning projects that will be created with WeVideo, consider providing students with a guide or rubric of what the end product should include. Depending on the level of the students, this could be as simple or complex as needed. Be cautious in providing too many examples. This could stifle the creativity of some students or cause them to duplicate what was shown. Providing checkpoints throughout the process is valuable for both the teacher and the student. Ongoing feedback helps the students stay aligned with the provided criteria, and helps the teacher gauge the progress before project completion.


 Content
Images, video, sound effects, music, and documents are all the types of files that are compatible with WeVideo. Considering that these options are available, students should do upfront research and curation to find the optimal media to include in their project. Because of the variation of compatible file types, students can opt to record an experience firsthand or provide content from the WeVideo Essentials library. The library is full of media that is safe to use which aligns with positive digital citizenship skills. WeVideo connects seamlessly with Google Drive which gives students the ability to pull in files for screen recording or voiceover. Planning what to do with content is the bulk of any project.


 Constraints
I’m sure that most classroom teachers can agree that WeVideo project creation takes time. That time must be well thought out and planned so that students have ample time to be successful. Another thing to consider is access to outside resources. Within a one-to-one classroom, students have the ability to gather input, resources and other information from all over the world. Giving students this opportunity requires teachers and students to be innovative in their thinking. What resources do your students have access to and what are the other possibilities within reach?



The 4 C’s of Planning for Creativity gives the most flexible structure to student creation within WeVideo. When teachers use WeVideo as a tool to support other areas of learning, students are able to connect to the world around them and create high-quality videos. With thoughtful planning, students are able to create pretty powerful projects that show just how creative they really are!