Contest: Parody music video for classroom goodies « TLT 450: Technology in school settings

Contest: Parody music video for classroom goodies

October 16, 2007 at 12:29 pm | In Uncategorized |

Just got this in my email, thought some of you and/or your cooperating teachers might want to consider this:

“Interwrite Learning, in partnership with TeacherTube, announces first
interactive makeover video contest!

“Three winners will win an Interwrite Makeover™ by creating a music video
of the song of their choice and will receive prizes valued at more than
$15,000.

“COLUMBIA, Md. — Interwrite Learning, in partnership with TeacherTube,
announces the company’s first video contest to recognize teachers and
students for their creativity and use of technology in the classroom.
Participants of the contest are asked to create a short music video
parodying the song of their choice. The video should demonstrate how
different kinds of technology are being used in the classroom.

“The contest is not limited to users of Interwrite Learning’s products or
members of TeacherTube. It is open to all teachers and students in the
U.S., New Zealand and Australia (still up for discussion) who can
creatively show how they are using technology in the classroom or how they
would like to use technology in their classroom.

“All participants will submit their videos on the Interwrite Learning Web
site at www.interwritelearning.com. Submissions will open at 12:00
Midnight EDT on September 11, 2007 and close at 11:59 EDT on October 21st,
2007. Winners of the Interwrite Makeover will be announced on Tuesday,
November 27, 2007.

“Winners will be awarded with a complete Interwrite Makeover™ consisting of:

“1. Interwrite Board, an engaging, durable, easy-to-use interactive
whiteboard that features the Interwrite Workspace software. The Software
and Board inspire students by turning classroom lessons into interactive
experiences.

“2. Interwrite Pad, the number one leading wireless pad worldwide, gives
teachers the ability to teach interactive lessons from anywhere in the
classroom.

“3. Interwrite Cricket, the newest member of the Interwrite assessment
family. Cricket is a powerful yet simple to use clicker for students of
all ages. Cricket “clickers” combine robust radio-frequency technology
with a friendly look and feel to make real-time student assessment
practical for any classroom setting.

“4. Mitsubishi XD206 DLP projector integrates seamlessly with the
Interwrite Boards and Pads with an RS–232c port for 3rd party control. The
XGA projector (1024 x 768 resolution) has a bright 2000 ANSI lumens
picture and high 2000:1 contrast ratio. Digital vertical keystone
correction allows for presentation from a variety of locations.

“5. Complete FrontRow Pro Digital is a sound system that clarifies and
evenly distributes the teacher’s voice throughout the classroom to allow
students to more easily understand teachers regardless of where they’re
seated. A teacher using Pro Digital wears a wireless microphone, and his
or her voice is broadcast through the Pro Digital receiver and speakers.

“6. SP Controls, Inc.’s Pixie wall mounted modular control system is an
elegant and complete control system that fits in a standard single-gang
back box. Pixie offers intuitive control of virtually any display system
with a remote control, be it a video projector, plasma screen, or LCD
monitor.

“7. Brewer Technology and Learning will provide one full day (up to six
hours) of professional development to each of the winning schools in order
to help teachers learn to use the Interwrite MakeoverTM equipment as tools
to enhance and accelerate the learning process.

“The complete interactive makeover is valued at approximately $15,000. In
addition, winners will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a celebration party
for the entire school. The contest will name one winner from the following
three grade level segments: Kindergarten through fifth; sixth through
eighth; and ninth through 12th.

“The video will be judged on the following criteria: demonstration of
effective use of technology, portrayal of teachers and students working
together and the overall creativity and spirit. The video must be
submitted by a teacher and the grade segment that the video will be judged
in is determined by the grade level of that teacher. Interwrite must be
mentioned once within the lyrics of the song. The conclusion must direct
viewers to the Interwrite Learning Web site to vote. The video should be
no longer than three minutes in length.

“For more information on Interwrite Learning’s interactive learning
solutions and rules and guidelines for participating in the video contest,
visit http://www.interwritelearning.com/contest.

“About Interwrite Learning

“Interwrite Learning is a premier global provider of interactive learning
solutions for primary, secondary and higher education markets. Interactive
solutions, including the Interwrite Board, Pad and Panel all come with
Interwrite Workspace, a next generation educational software application
for creating, teaching and assessing student performance using digital
content. Interwrite assessment solutions include Interwrite Cricket and
PRS clickers, members of a powerful student response system that combines
interaction and assessment to enhance classroom productivity and improve
student results. Interwrite Learning has a rich 32-year history of
delivering interactive solutions that are changing how the world learns.
To learn more about Interwrite Learning’s Interactive Classroom solutions,
please visit http://www.interwritelearning.com.

“About TeacherTube.com

“TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos.
TeacherTube seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe
venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide
anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching
teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed
for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill. Most
importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the
evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload
educationally relevant videos, but also to make constructive comments and
use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as
an educator or learner. To learn more about TeacherTube’s online
community, please visit http://www.teachertube.com.”

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Hi, -

I hope all is well! I wanted to let you know that with less than one week left in the first Interwrite Makeover™ video contest, Interwrite Learning is announcing today the five judges who will evaluate the submitted videos for the contest. The selected judges represent internet communities, education blogs and social networks.

Each judge will solicit feedback from within their communities to help them select which videos best meet the contest criteria:

· Effectiveness of demonstrating use of technology in the classroom

· The extent to which the entry demonstrates collaboration between the student(s) and teacher(s) in creating the video

· Overall creativity and spirit of the entry

Fifteen finalists will be announced on Friday, October 26, 2007, and the one final winner from each grade segment will later be announced on Tuesday, November 27, 2007. Each interactive makeover is valued at approximately $15,000, with a total of more than $50,000 in prizes to be awarded. Included in that is a celebration party for each winning entry’s entire school.

I’ve included the press release announcing the judging panel below. Do you think you can share this with your readers?

Megan

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Megan Lawler

Dittoe Public Relations

2815 East 62 St., #300

Indianapolis, IN 46220

Phone: 317-202-2280 ext 13

Fax: 317-202-2290

megan@dittoepr.com

Lauren Kinzler

Dittoe Public Relations

2815 East 62 St., #300

Indianapolis, IN 46220

Phone: 317-202-2280 ext 10

Fax: 317-202-2290

lauren@dittoepr.com

Judging Panel Announced for Interwrite Makeover Video Contest

$50,000 in classroom technology at stake in Interwrite Learning’s student/teacher video promotion; Judges represent internet communities, education blogs and social networks

COLUMBIA, Md. — October 17, 2007— With less than a week remaining in the contest, Interwrite Learning, a leading provider of interactive learning solutions for schools around the world, today announced the names of five judges who will evaluate the submitted videos for the first Interwrite Makeover™ video contest. The judges are Andrew J. Rotherham, Tony Brewer, Jenny Barrett, John Merline and Jessica O’Masta.

“The videos submitted so far are an amazing demonstration of collaboration, creativity and technology,” says Lisa O’Masta, vice president of marketing for Interwrite Learning. “The excitement this contest has created for both participants and voters is beyond anything we imagined. I’m glad I’m not a judge, I’d want to pick them all to win.”

The judges will select five finalists from the following three grade level segments: Kindergarten through fifth; sixth through eighth; and ninth through 12th. Once the finalists have been announced, the judges will collaborate to choose one final winner from each segment. Each judge will solicit feedback from within their communities to help them select which videos best meet the contest criteria:

· Effectiveness of demonstrating use of technology in the classroom

· The extent to which the entry demonstrates collaboration between the student(s) and teacher(s) in creating the video

· Overall creativity and spirit of the entry

In partnership with TeacherTube, Interwrite Learning recently announced the company’s first video contest to recognize teachers and students for their creativity and use of technology in the classroom. Participants of this contest are asked to create a short music video parodying the song of their choice. Each judge has a different background in the education sector and will solicit the individuals within their communities for feedback on evaluating the submitted videos.

Andrew Rotherham is the co-director of Education Sector, an independent national education policy think-tank, and writes an award-winning and widely read education policy blog, Eduwonk. Rotherham serves on the Virginia Board of Education and formerly served at the White House as education advisor to President Clinton. He will be selecting the contest’s finalists based on the videos that are both engaging and educational. In short, he wants to hear a good story and see a fun video that involves the students.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all of the videos and I’m excited to see what else comes in before the contest concludes,” said Rotherham. “There is enormous creativity in classrooms around the country and that is clearly on display in this contest.”

Jenny Barrett, former teacher and lead trainer at Sitech Systems NZ (Ltd), and current New Zealand distributor for Interwrite Learning, will be polling teachers and students to help her make her decision on which classroom deserves to win the Interwrite Makeover.

“The contest is a great opportunity for students to showcase their creativity and imagination,” said Barrett. “I will be asking the New Zealand audience to vote for the video that they like best via the Sitech E-learning Zone. We’ll be looking for a video that really stands out. There are so many simple tools that give people tremendous creative freedom of expression and we’re really eager to see the way young people and their teachers are grasping and putting new video and audio technology to work.”

John Merline plays a pivotal role in classroom technology. While Interwrite Learning provides a line of high-tech visual tools, Merline’s role as marketing director for FrontRow is to provide complimentary audio tools that are equally fundamental to modern classroom learning. Just as visual and audio tools work together to improve learning, Merline wants to see students and teachers working together to create great videos.

“I’m very interested to see how students will communicate the effective use of technology in the classroom, while demonstrating a noticeable collaboration between students and teachers,” said Merline. “This contest provides them with a great opportunity to work together to create something meaningful.”

Tony Brewer has been involved in technology and education for more than 20 years. Not only does Brewer run a professional development firm, in which he focuses heavily on classroom management, but he also gives motivational speeches across the nation that inspire teachers to embrace technology in their classrooms. It is to no surprise that this former teacher is looking for innovation and motivation in the submitted videos.

“I want to see how innovative the teacher is in terms of using technology, how well the video is produced and whether the use of technology is truly displayed,” said Brewer. “I ask myself, ‘am I being motivated to use technology after seeing this video?’ The overall aesthetic appeal will score major points with me as I have extremely eclectic taste.”

And in accordance with the right to a jury of ones’ peers, Jessica O’Masta is using the contest as the foundation of her high school graduation project. O’Masta plans to link the videos through an Interwrite MySpace.com page she created in order to gauge opinions from a variety of her peers and teachers. Along with the feedback she receives, O’Masta will be judging the videos based on their creative quality and noticeable effort.

Fifteen finalists will be announced on Friday, Oct. 26, 2007, and the one final winner from each grade segment will later be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Each interactive makeover is valued at approximately $15,000, with a total of more than $50,000 in prizes to be awarded. Included in that is a celebration party for each winning entry’s entire school.

For more information on Interwrite Learning’s interactive learning solutions and rules and guidelines for participating in the video contest, visit http://www.interwritelearning.com/contest.

-###-

About Interwrite Learning

Interwrite Learning is a premier global provider of interactive learning solutions for primary, secondary and higher education markets. Interactive solutions, including the Interwrite Board, Pad and Panel all come with Interwrite Workspace, a next generation educational software application for creating, teaching and assessing student performance using digital content. Interwrite assessment solutions include Interwrite Cricket and PRS clickers, members of a powerful student response system that combines interaction and assessment to enhance classroom productivity and improve student results. Interwrite Learning has a rich 32-year history of delivering interactive solutions that are changing how the world learns. To learn more about Interwrite Learning’s Interactive Classroom solutions, please visit http://www.interwritelearning.com.

Dittoe Public Relations
Megan Lawler
megan@dittoepr.com
tel: 317-202-2280 x13
fax: 317-202-2290

Add me to your address book…

Always have my latest info

Comment by Megan — October 17, 2007 #