“Hello Harkins- How are ya?”
At Harkins Middle School (HMS) where I teach in Miramichi, New Brunswick, students perk-up with interest when they hear this familiar phrase.
For many schools, morning announcements are a means of conveying pertinent school information, offering important advice and reporting students successes. This daily routine can also help foster a sense of cohesiveness and school spirit for the people who observe and participate. The format for broadcasting morning announcements is changing and the opportunity for student creation via these announcements is expanding. With the onset of video and communication technology in education, students and teachers are finding more ways to share content and more effectively “…set the tone for the day and build morale and a sense of school community” (Hopkins, 2010).
Aural and visual stimulation via video is recognized as a useful means of reaching a target audience. In describing the current relationship between students and the digital world, educational marketing manager for Sony, S. Sentlowitz (2009) reminds us that,
“Students today have become accustomed to using technology in every facet of their lives and this drastic lifestyle change has affected the way students learn. Today’s students know how to use digital tools to get information, solve problems and communicate.”
Daily video announcements do not only have the potential to stir the viewing audience, they have an even greater potential to engage students in an intricate behind-the-scenes process. This process can include creating script, planning video, capturing, editing and posting a final product to a central location. Such activities invoke a constructivist learning theory that sees exploration, discovery and collaboration as central to learning.
An experiential activity like video announcements may not be explicitly outlined or suggested in a general curriculum document. However, when taking a closer look at NB321C, New Brunswick’s 21st Century Learning Document and New Brunswick’s Language Arts Curriculum Document, video announcements can help fulfill many preset outcomes outlined in these texts, including those that call for collaboration, communication and audience awareness.
At HMS, morning announcements have recently gone viral, invoking a shift in routine that has already seen many successes and challenges. In the proceeding sections, Getting Started, Handing it Over to Students, Maintaining Stamina, and Challenges and The Future, I will discuss our journey in more detail and offer insights for educators who plan to implement virtual morning announcements in their schools.
