Kids Can Code

This youth-made video was produced by 5th grade members of the Kenwood Elementary School Library Council over the course of three weeks. In short conversations over lunch, Kenwood librarian, Miriam Larson, instructional coach Todd Lash, and WILL Education’s  Suzanne Linder, discussed the contest prompt (“the creative and diverse ways we do computer science”), what b-roll footage is and where they might capture it, interview techniques, questions they might ask, and how to make people comfortable during interviews. The bulk of the filming was done by students during their 1 hour / week coding time and the editing was done after school by Kerry F (visible at 1:00 talking about using algorithms to solve problems), with assistance from Jaden C.

Students recorded the video on flip cameras and edited in WeVideo (Champaign schools have invested in Chromebooks for all of their schools, so the free online editor was the best tool available on district computers). Kerry reported being very satisfied with WeVideo and found it quite similar to iMovie (a tool she was already familiar with).  All students reflected that they wish they had done a better job of capturing sound during interviews, as they felt the levels were a little low. In general, students enjoyed seeing the video that they captured in the final product and have plans to continue making movies about their school.

This video was made to enter into the Computer Science Teachers’ Association 2014 Faces of Computing Poster Contest.