Hampton Academy Computer Technology Students Create PSA Videos
HAMPTON — Superintendent Dr. Lois Costa and Technology Director Amber Levine are pleased to announce that students at Hampton Academy recently put their video editing skills to use by creating informational Public Service Announcements.
The PSAs were developed by eighth-graders in the Computer Technology class, which is taught by Teacher Sue MacNicoll.
Students chose from the following PSA topics: Texting and Driving; Cyber Bullying; Taking Care of the Environment; Vaping; See Something Say Something; Cleaning up the Beach; Wearing a Bike Helmet; and Women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math).
“We teach our students about technology beginning in elementary school, starting slowly with easier applications, and eventually progressing to more advanced platforms,” Director Levine said. “Through this project, students were able to apply many of the real-world skills that they have learned over the years to create content fit for television.”
Students could choose to work individually or in groups. In total, 32 videos were created using the video editing platform WeVideo.
Videos were required to be one to two minutes long. Students researched facts from credible sources, picked music that set the tone for the topic, and created a slogan.
Students learned valuable skills, including how to set a tone, identify an audience and convey a message, while building their video editing abilities.
“I learned how to create a feeling and play to people’s emotions to make them care about the issue. I was able to figure out how different music relates to images and words to make a point. This led to the creation of a PSA that I feel happy with,” said student AJ Homicz, who created a PSA about caring for the environment.
The PSAs will air on Community Access Channel 13 every 15 minutes from 2 to 10 p.m. during the next few weeks. Videos also will be featured on Shark News, a weekly broadcast made by MacNicoll and her students that is viewed by students across the district.
“This was the first time that this PSA project was offered, and it could not have gone more smoothly,” MacNicoll said. “My students put so much thought and care into these videos, and they should be so proud of the final result. I look forward to conducting this project again next semester and seeing what students create.”
The Computer Technology students’ next project is to create animations for Shark News using Adobe Animate.
To view all of the PSAs, please click here.
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