MobileVideoDIY curriculum helps teachers integrate video training into classrooms with 8 lessons

Journalists at news organizations around the world are using smartphones and other mobile connected devices to tell stories in new and different ways. Now, smartphone technology is allowing teachers to easily integrate video curriculum into journalism classes.

“When I started at journalism school a long time ago, typing was the only technical skill you needed,”  said Mike Wheeler, an adviser to the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and the curator of MobileVideoDIY. “Now, the technical skills of how to shoot, edit and share video are becoming as important as typing was a generation ago.”

Wheeler came together with Kevin Allen, a journalism instructor and newspaper adviser at Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, to create curriculum using MobileVideoDIY.com. The website is divided into lessons about how to shoot, edit and share video using mobile devices and apps.

The curriculum, which is based on a flipped-classroom model, now includes eight 50-minute lessons that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The lessons contain video tutorials that students can watch on their mobile devices outside of class.

“Each lesson includes a teacher guide, a student guide and a rubric that can be used to coach students in creating video story packages,” said Allen.

Before the introduction of the smartphone camera, it was very difficult to integrate video into high school journalism classes because of the expensive equipment. Now many students come to class with a powerful camera installed in their smartphone. However, with apps and equipment evolving daily, Wheeler said it is very difficult to keep up with the trends. Wheeler said MobileVideoDIY.com will save journalism teachers an enormous amount of time and allow them to seamlessly integrate video into their basic journalism course.

“Teachers can assign short videos that their students can watch outside the classroom on their smartphone,” he said. “Then, class time can be spent coaching the students as they practice what they have learned.”

“News outlets of all types have turned to mobile video to create timely, engaging content,” said Allen, “Students can use their smartphones to achieve the same results, but only if they learn proper video techniques.”

Allen said mobile video devices are less expensive and more accessible than traditional video equipment. Many young journalists can download mobile apps such as iMovie (for iOS), Videolicious (for iOS), KineMaster (for Android), Movie Maker 8.1 (for Windows) and Movie Creator Beta (for Windows) to improve their shooting skills.

“News can happen anywhere, anytime, and student journalists need to have the skills to capture the moment effectively in the heat of the moment,” he said.

“If our chance comes to record history (the tornado, the winning shot, or a family celebration) we will use the video storytelling lessons we learned in our high school journalism class forever,” Wheeler said.

For more information, download the curriculum here and visit MobileVideoDIY.com to access the tutorials identified as most helpful. On the “Learn” page, select the major element — shoot video, edit video, etc., then select ‘filter by difficulty’ and choose ‘editor’s choice’ to find the recommended tutorials.