Project Based Learning: Explained (by Common Craft).
It has been a while I have watched a new production by Common Craft. This latest one still impresses me a lot. It explains Project Based Learning superbly 
Computer Software in Plain English
As always, pure quality stuff. If only I can teach everything in that manner :p
Computer Hardware in Plain English
Another awesome video by Commoncraft. Educators can use the analogies to teach young children about computer hardware. 
Common Craft inspired students’ video
I am a big fan of Common Craft‘s stop motion instructional/explanatory videos. I find them very engaging and easy to understand.
In June, I worked with 3 pupils to produce a video for National Day Students’ Video Competition. I decided to show them a few Common Craft productions because I thought they may like them. Suddenly, we all decided do our very own Common Craft inspired video!
Instead of the usual filming of role playing, the pupils did something like what Common Craft is really good at – using self-drawn images to tell a story. The theme is “Celebrating Singapore’s Heroes”.
The pupils studied a war heroine, Elizabeth Choy last year, hence it was an easy choice. The pupils started storyboarding, drawing, scripting and narrating. The process was tedious but fun.
My role is to facilitate the technical part – how to do a Common Craft! I tried out some positions with a tripod/camcorder setup but they turned out to be less than perfect. Lightings were dim and I could not get a good top-down vertical angle. In the end, the video seemed like a C grade Common Craft video. 
Some photos taken during the production:
The final product:
Now the good news: The pupils won the 3rd Prize! 
Podcasting in Plain English
Frankly I do not know ‘pod’ stands for ‘personal on demand’. All along I thought it was derived from iPod!
But wait a minute, Wikipedia says the term is a portmanteau of the words “iPod” and “broadcast”.
Well, definitions are for purists, nevermind
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