How do we best learn? I asked this question to myself, my family and my peers (all in all just over 150 people replied) and the overwhelming response that I received was that they (and I) learn best by doing something themselves. The general consensus was that someone could be very articulate and explain something very well but unless we completed the task ourselves that no deep, meaningful learning took place. Within the English syllabi films have to be studied and as such technical features such camera movements, lighting and sound effects have to be understood by the students in order to fully understand how meaning is created within this particular textual framework. When studying poetry or prose commonly the teacher will have the students complete a creative task utilising the skills that they have analysed in order to have a deeper understanding of the text itself. However, this is not done with films and it is shame. Many teachers note that even if they did have the resources that it would be too long of a process to have the students create and edit their own films (this is something that I have heard far too often!). This is a gross misunderstanding on their behalf though. As detailed by Douglas Eagle the programs out now are very easy to use, and in some cases all is needed is to drag and drop in order to complete editing tasks. The films do not have to long or beautiful works of art but what they can afford is students the opportunity to express themselves in a different form and in doing so learn a little more about how meaning can be created in a film. The use of ICT should never be deemed too hard, as like in this case they can have some very positive effects for students’ learning.
