Welcome to The Girl Squad

Our team was lucky enough to have been able to travel to Dryden High School and work with three seniors in Elizabeth Rechtin’s Project Based Learning class. We were impressed with how aesthetically and technically talented these students were and how much progress they had already made on their individual projects. As Design Thinking students, we went into this experience with an open mind to try and figure out how we can collaborate with them in the most beneficial way to positively impact their learning process. While the technical and aesthetic skills were very strong, I think we can make the greatest impact in addressing the conceptual aspect. We want to make sure these students understand their topic and the specific message they are trying to get across. We want them to be fully invested in their work and make sure they are interviewing the appropriate subjects and incorporating the information that will be most effective for them. It is not only essential to complete the assignment, but for them and for us to understand the purpose of their projects and why it is an important topic to them.

Field Visits: Working with the Students…

Our Project Report: Executive Summary

The Girl Squad worked with Dryden High School’s art teacher, Elizabeth Rechtin, and her small class. We were especially grateful to be able to each work with one student on their individual civic storytelling video projects:

Vanessa was assigned to work with Steven, who focused on a scientific project regarding the impact of mountain biking on well-being.
Anna was assigned to work with Chris, who focused on the challenges of the transition from high school into college.
Natalie was assigned to work with Halley, who centered her project on water pollution.
Jess was assigned to shadow Elizabeth and learn more about her approach to teaching multimedia projects.

Our team conducted two fieldwork collaborations with Elizabeth’s class. During our first visit, we went directly to Dryden High in order to get a sense of the student’s projects and abilities, as well as to provide feedback on their ideas early on. On our second collaboration, we met up with Elizabeth and the Dryden High students at The History Center in the Ithaca Commons. This visit allowed us to help supplement the students’ research on their topics with information relevant to the local community. At this time we were also able to get the students to solidify their ideas for their videos and create outlines of their ideal final product.

Due to the unfortunate restrictions and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, our in-person visits with Steven, Halley, and Chris have come to a halt. The Dryden High students, along with students of all grade levels around the world, have been forced to shift to an education that takes place entirely online. As cosmographers, we are now tasked to collaborate through virtual worlds and locate tools that will allow us to continue to interact with our teachers and peers in effective, meaningful ways.

In our report, we suggest potential projects that allow our students to continue their project-based learning even in these unique times:

Possible Genres:

Documentary-style Videos
- Depending on their project topic, the students may be able to continue in their original genre.
PechaKucha Presentations
- PechaKuchas allow the students to use images, with allowed access, that they find online, since they may not be able to obtain the filler footage they had initially planned for in their videos. The PechaKuchas also let the students continue with roughly the same outline they had already set up.

Interviews:

Zoom
- With the recording feature already incorporated into Zoom, the now popular platform can be an option for conducting interviews while continuing social distancing practices.
Skype
- Skype also offers similar recording features as Zoom and can work as an alternative platform if students experience any issues with Zoom or simply prefer a different tool for communication.

Video Editing:

Lightworks
- Compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, Lightworks is a widely praised video editing free software. The Lightworks site also features tutorials videos to help students learn how to use the program.
iMovie
- Already installed in Mac computers and Apple products, iMovie is a solid option for video editing. If students need to film on their iPhones, iMovie can provide a very compatible option for completing these videos.
PowerPoint/Keynote
- Should the students decide to create PechaKuchas instead, PowerPoint and Keynote are commonplace programs that work well for designing, recording, and exporting PechaKucha presentations.

We hope that our student partners do not think that they have to sacrifice their aspirations from before the pandemic. We believe that with an open-minded willingness to adapt, the students can create projects just as successfully as they originally planned as they learn new methods of persistence and innovation.

Read our Full Team Report: HERE!