OHS video students win tech award

Oceanside High School is one of ten schools in the tri-state area to have a winning team in this year's Chase Multimedia in the Classroom competition. The competition, part of Thirteen's Celebration of Teaching and Learning, sought collaborative video, web and other multimedia projects from teachers and their students in grades K through 12.

Art teacher Audrey Miller and sixteen students in OHS's elective Video and Filmmaking class won the award for their eight-minute video "Technology and Etiquette." The project offers a humorous take on technological faux pas, from talking too loudly on your cell phone to posting inappropriate pictures on Facebook. Student team leaders Rachel Slott, Daniel Segarceanu, Mark DiStefano and Ben Levitan took the helm, and the video was scripted, cast, filmed and edited entirely by the class.

Students are taught everything from how to handle a camera and structure a story to how to direct actors and edit movies using programs like iMovie and Final Cut Pro, Miller explained. "Video medium is the new oil paint," Miller said, and students are finding original and creative ways to use it to express themselves.

The idea for the award-winning project grew out of a class discussion about technology and the ways it is changing the social landscape, with a particular focus on what is appropriate and what is not when it comes to communicating using new media. Students then developed scenarios where these situations could play out, including at a movie theatre, at the school library, and in the classroom. The class also starred in the film, and recruited their friends, classmates and teachers to appear in the video.

"Really we all just drew from personal experience," DiStefano explained. His segment focused on posting pictures to Facebook, and warned students that they need to use common sense and discretion when posting photos online — or face consequences like embarrassment or damaged reputations.