Please watch this video before reading:
Multimedia Technology - UNSKRPTD
Hello, everyone! My name is Chris Campbell and I'm a high school senior at Council Rock High School North. I also attend the wondrous Career and Technical school of Middle Bucks Institute of Technology (MBIT) where I'm a student in the Multimedia Technology program. Now before you start thinking, "OK this kid clearly isn't interested in college," I implore you to hear me out. All too often you hear about the problems of the education system. You hear such slanderous statements as "teachers are outdated," or "the student can't learn," or "Iceland is beating the United States in literacy rate" the list goes on and on and on...This brings me to my point. So many cons of the education system are in the spotlight and the media attention, but what is being done right? This factor is so often ignored when so much good happens in it! One such positive factor, if not THE most positive factor is Career and Technical Education (CTE). CTE is an area of study that relates specifically to occupational skills before entering college. To this day I regard joining MBIT to be the greatest decision I ever made in my life! Not only have I learned so much, but I’ve grown as a person. I’ve gone from a typical high school student to a college-bound, marketable individual who’s ready for the workforce. I know that there are so many false presumptions about CTE such as students only going there to avoid work at their sending schools or because they just aren't intelligent enough to further their academic career or that it just isn’t real education. These accusations couldn't be any further from the truth! Allow me to set the record straight and demonstrate how CTE is one of the greatest accomplishments the academic world has ever witnessed!
As I mentioned earlier, one of the primary negative views on CTE is that the students only attend to avoid work or simply aren’t smart enough to go onto college. I am a paragon of the falsehood of these statements. At my sending high school, I have maintained an A average through all four years. So clearly I possess the mental prowess to continue onto higher education and it is also my fullest intention to do so. I plan on attending Full Sail University to major in Film, in hopes of working as a director, script writer or video editor. Also there is little more in this world that I enjoy more than learning. The discoveries that can be made each day by simply walking through the school doors are an unparalleled thrill to me. The work I have to do is for the reinforcement of the concepts learned in class. As my teachers will tell you, I am a diligent worker and hand in every assignment I’m given. I don’t attend MBIT to shriek away from work, I attend because it is more work, work I’ll need and be able to use in my future.
CTE is right on so many levels. For starters, this unique form of education is applicable to the real world. Let me tell you, in high school the most common question running amuck through everyone’s mind is “Why do we have to learn this, we’re never going to use it again.” I myself am guilty of thinking this as is the rest of the student body. People by nature are more drawn to lessons that are applicable to their lives and students don’t care about what they don’t deem as useful. Can you honestly say this is without truth? However in CTE, we learn concepts and jobs that we’ll refer back to again, and again, and again… Isn’t experience what is needed in order to get jobs, especially in today’s ever low economy? MBIT has allowed me to leave the shadow of theory and it brought me into the light of practice. MBIT has taught me a potpourri of skills for both occupational performance and client relations. For example, in class we were assigned to produce videos for each different program and edit them into promotional videos to be used for our Open House Presentations as well as for our YouTube account. The students were divided into "Production Companies" and had to work collaboratively with peers to produce the video to our client's (the program instructors) liking. This project taught us about the stages of video production, from preproduction to post production, and how to work effectively in all of them. We also learned about work delegation and client relations. I personally worked as a producer, script writer, and editor. The assignment isn't graded until the video is up to industry standards. Here's an example of a finished video, one I personally produced, scripted and finally edited.
I have learned how to produce a video and run a production company. Oh by the way, did I mention I haven't entered college yet?
However there is more. In the Multimedia Program, students are given the opportunity to produce real world productions. We're given the exceptionally rare chance to dip our feet into the pool of our chosen career path without so much as a high school diploma. These productions can take the form of shadowing opportunities or even a job. For the latter, the Multimedia Program produces the Centennial School Board Meetings which air both live and online. The students get the chance to work seven different occupations and get real world experience. MBIT students are also blessed with the opportunity to produce with professionals who are already established in their respective trades. Multimedia students, for example, get the chance to work with Comcast (yes you heard me right, Comcast!) employees who produce The Comcast NewsMakers show in our very own studio. Here's a video showing an interview with one of my friends from class
Through these amazing opportunities, we get even more real world experience, not to mention the chance to meet some highly influential people, such as politicians and esteemed community members. This can lead to some connections later in life for when the student can be employed by these people. There is no doubt in my mind that this type of exposure to the real world has skyrocketed my value in the workforce and if I so choose I could get a job right out of high school. However it is my intention to pursue a college Associates Degree in Film and achieve a Masters Degree in later life. Doesn't the world in general need more people who are ready to be employed immediately? There's no sense in denying the economy is a hard, merciless world and any edge you get over your fellow job hunters is to be welcomed with open arms. People need jobs and to get jobs people need to obtain the skills to execute them. CTE can give you these skills! All these amazing opportunities aside, CTE also helps to enforce what are considered mainstream education subjects like math. In Multimedia we are taught how to deduce the aspect ratio for video and camera depth for photography. As well, we’re required to write journal entries every day, increasing our writing abilities. Both math and writing are subjects on the SATs, are they not? Its applied math and writing, if you will. Everything learned through CTE is applicable to real life when you finally are searching for your first job in your field. And people say we students come to Career and Technical schools to escape work? Au contraire, we're probably the most enterprising people of our age group.
In class, you're not instructed by just anyone. In class, you're taught by a former/current industry professional who has had genuine experience in the workforce you're currently striving for. These instructors are men and women who see their students as more than a number, but as individuals with a specific learning style and ambition. They plan their lessons according to how each student learns best and will not rest until they see their student's ambitions brought to fruition. The credentials of these selfless teachers are without equal. For example, Multimedia Technology students are under the tutelage of Christopher Tully, who owns his own production company. Mr. Tully is a man who I believe is the quintessence of all that a teacher should strive to be. He is a devoted, caring man who’s more than a teacher to his students but an actual human being. He's relatable, funny and a truly inspirational man who leaves motivation everywhere he goes. Trust me when I say, we students want nothing more than to be at his stature in the field of Multimedia. He works extremely hard to ensure his student’s success and gets results. His qualifications are extremely impressive. He's worked in the Multimedia industry for twenty years, producing videos for both advertisement and entertainment purposes. Along with being an industry professional, he has other merits such as being a member of the Apple Distinguished Educators Advisory Board, an international organization of teachers who employ the latest Apple technologies into their academic curriculum. Such technologies include the iLife suite and the Adobe Creative Suite. Also Mr. Tully is an adjunct Professor at Moore College of Art and Design. Being so well versed in the industry, he expects nothing less from us and we wouldn't have it any other way. This teaching method combines the typical school lecture with actual experience. He doesn't allow any of our projects to be complete until they are fulfilled to industry standard. This teaches us concepts we have to learn by ourselves such as "What is industry standard," "What can I do to improve myself," and many other questions of a similar nature. One other matter worthy of note is Mr. Tully was recently the recipient of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce Tree of Life Award. This was done because of a nomination from a 100 level student, Connor Lepre. We in the Multimedia Program are all privileged to have a man as renowned as Mr. Tully to instruct us and to this day I regard him as the greatest teacher I've encountered throughout my academic career.
To quote Ernest Dimnet, "Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves."
Mr. Tully employs a rising teaching method which is a combination of Blended Learning, Curative Learning, and Challenge-Based Learning that fulfills allows students to both be taught and allows them to teach themselves. This revolutionary method combines the standard school lecture with the use of technology to create a more engaging, interactive learning environment. The start of our day begins with the class coming together to discuss the current happenings in the multimedia industry and class announcements. The rest of class is spent in our Mac lab, working on projects of our own design. Unlike a standard class, Mr. Tully isn't micromanaging everything. We're given the basic instructions and it's up to us to apply all we've learned into our projects and take the next step. We learn what we want to in class. For example, the application Motion wasn't taught in our standard curriculum but because of my own initiative, I have reached a level of mastery over the application. Such a detour from standard curriculum has brought me more knowledge than I otherwise would have obtained. This teaching method is employed in other places such as the University of Central Florida. They even conducted some test on the method's effectiveness and got astounding results. In one test they compared the success rate of students passing in face-to-face and online classrooms to those who used blended learning. Blended learning's success rate was greater than the both of them. Another element worthy of note is that 88% of the faculty at UCF were satisfied with the results blended learning was bringing. The success of blended learning is not limited to UCF though. In fact several other schools use this method such as Cincinnati Public Schools Virtual High School, Odyssey Charter Schools, The Commonwealth Connections Academy, Chicago Virtual Charter School, Hoosier Academy, Kentucky's Virtual Schools, VOISE Academy, Chicago Public Schools, The Community High School of Ann Arbor, and Omaha Public Schools. To find out more specifics on how each individual school uses blended learning, please visit this page. This teaching method allows us to follow our passions and learn what will be relevant to us and our futures.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of CTE is the chance to work with state of the art equipment, which regular students wouldn’t even be introduced to until college. Trust me, if I could afford all the pricey equipment that is used by such people as Steven Spielberg, there wouldn’t be a single day I wasn’t using it. However, very few people have about $1,000+ to buy the tools they want to use their entire lives. CTE has given career dedicated youths like myself a chance to utilize these devices on a regular basis. In the Multimedia Technology program, we have twenty five dual monitor display Macs, each using a Snow Leopard operating system. Each student uses a Mac to edit videos, mix music, design graphics, create animations and much more! Each Mac is equipped with the iLife suite and Adobe Creative Suite, Apple Final Cut Studio programs that are regularly used by industry professionals today. Outside the computers, we’re also given the opportunity to work with other devices commonly found in the Multimedia Industry. My colleagues and I have worked in a studio that was on MBIT’s campus. In this studio there is the stage itself in which students can learn about the basics of lighting a scene and can change the lighting scenario to fit their project needs in a safe environment. You can light for an interview or you can use the chroma key wall to put yourself in any place on Earth or outside of it. Also in the studio, students can set up microphones such as wireless lavalieres, operate boom microphones and set up microphones on instruments to produce their own music videos. And I haven’t even talked about the control room! Inside the control room, we are grateful to use a video switcher with such capabilities as chroma keying, adding lower thirds to video, and many other amazing operations. On a personal level, I was intimidated the first time I saw it. I was thinking to myself, “It’s so complex, how am I going to learn to work it?” However now, I operate the switcher so much it’s almost second nature to me. Next to the control room is the mixing room. In this room students can learn how to manipulate audio using a Pro Tools HD controller. Oh did I mention our portable studio equipment? When we need to produce videos outside of the studio, we have the entire production equipment world at our fingertips. We have portable lights which can be used for both video production and photo shoots. We are also blessed with Panasonic HPX 170s, the camera of choice for HD footage. We are now acquiring DSLRs, to keep up with current trends. Once we have our footage, we can ingest it into Final Cut Pro via FireWire cables. The microphones we use in the studios can also be used in the field. Naturally we have much more equipment than just the items that I mentioned; if I even dared to try and name everything you'd be reading this blog for years. With such advanced equipment at our disposal, it’s impossible to not want to learn about how to operate each and every single device in this amazing classroom! I remember I was curious about what everything did and I learned how to use almost every piece of equipment in class. Not real education? Is the curiosity and motivation to learn all of a sudden not considered education?
As I mentioned earlier, students that enter CTE are some of the most enterprising people in today’s society. CTE has helped to motivate these students to pursue jobs in their chosen field and has brought them great success. Allow me to share with you some success stories of former Career and Technical students. Taylor, a former student from MBIT, has worked at Skywalker Ranch. Some students have even banded together to form their own production companies. Even if they haven’t graduated yet, opportunities are ever bountiful for Career and Technical students. Another student, Tim, received one of the first internships available to MMT students, and is today the lead video specialist, traveling the world producing videos. I myself am currently an intern, helping to broadcast the Council Rock North board meetings. Jesse has started his own production company, Jeko Productions, and is currently employed producing wedding videos. Jacob has designed a CD cover for the Dipsomaniacs album, Social Crutch. The first picture you find on this page was designed by him. Can you imagine the resumes we can write? And we haven’t even left high school yet. How much do you believe these experiences and opportunities have increased our employability?
Along with real world experience and exposure to industry standard concepts and equipment, we also get the chance to earn certain merits that can be used on both college applications and resumes. For example, MBIT can host the Photoshop Certification Test, which tests one’s ability and understanding of the Photoshop application. Now I’m certain you’re thinking, “How much do you have to pay to take the test?” That’s the best part, IT’S ABSOLUTELY FREE! You can earn a certification in an industry standard application for zero dollars and zero cents! Also there are scholarships available through MBIT. There is the Jeremy Semenoff Scholarship, for any school of your choosing. As well, there’s the Full Sail University Scholarship, which I was the first recipient. Hard work and altruism is required to obtain either scholarship. Scholarships aside, there’s even more that can be achieved to add to your credentials. For instance, you could be inducted into the National Technical Honor Society. This organization is for students who are looking to go the extra mile to see their occupational dreams come to life. In fact, I’m even a member of this prestigious organization. These opportunities can both ease our transition into college life and the workforce.
Isn't education’s goal at the end of the day to help students grow both academically and personally? CTE does grade students based on performance, however, more emphasis is placed on the personal growth of the student. The instructor learns not just what type of learner each student is, but they learn who they are as human beings. Everyone has their flaws and some of these flaws can be detrimental in the workplace. But CTE does what it can to help us grow as people. The instructor learns who we are and adjusts their lesson plans to ensure the maximum personal growth. Take me for example. Before entering MBIT, I only saw most of my fellow peers as competition. I thought of them as mere obstacles in my quest for superiority. I thought success was only meaningful if you were the best out of everyone. I made little to no effort in relating to my classmates because I simply didn't care enough to know them. I kept this attitude when I first started MBIT. However, over time I began to realize just how misguided I was. I started opening up to my MBIT classmates and I noticed that I was becoming a better person because of it. I matured because of this. I began trusting other people to help me in my work and returning the favor whenever they needed it. I have MBIT to thank for allowing me to move past my immature views and showing me an industry appropriate attitude.
Test results are never going to be replaced as the primary means of evaluating a student’s comprehension. I assure you though; we at CTE are more than prepared for any sort of evaluation. Graduating students at MBIT have to participate in the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) examination. To put it bluntly, it’s the SAT of CTE. I took it this year and scored Advanced! I'm not going to lie, it was a difficult test, but my experience at MBIT provided me with the necessary knowledge to pass the exam with flying colors.In the entire history of the Multimedia Technology program, all but six students have scored Advanced on the exam. Those students scored proficient. Advanced is the highest possible score any student can get on the test. Naturally, a noteworthy amount of work needs to be done prior to this test so we can pass it. Also we’re tested in class, just like a standard high school classroom. Naturally, our tests are centered on our respective fields. These tests are done on the computers, giving us immediate feedback. On the subject of tests, after we’re finished learning a new application or learn how to use a piece of equipment, we are given a skill assessment on it. This tests us on not only if we understood what was taught, but it challenges us to also perform a specific operation. Take Photoshop for example. After we finished lessons in our books regarding compositing, we are given two pictures to manipulate. Our task is to combine an element of one of the pictures into the other picture until the end result looked like one fluid picture, one so perfect that it could resemble a real photo taken from a camera. We needed to utilize every lesson we learned up to that point to even have a chance to succeed. Evaluation of the photo would then take place. Rather than a clear cut, right-and-wrong solution we would be evaluated on the methods we chose to create the picture and how effectively we used them. Just this skill assessment alone graded us on not only our comprehension of the material, but it also graded us on our ability to be creative and flexible. Creativity and flexibility are two qualities that are so invaluable and essential in the multimedia industry, it almost makes breathing secondary. This goes to show that we students at Career and Technical schools are ready for the demands of any test or evaluation placed in front of us. I dare say that CTE’s methods of testing far exceed standard evaluations, because we learn qualities we’ll need for our careers.
How to implement Blended Learning in YOUR classroom:
Blended Learning is part of the learning process in the Multimedia Technology Program. I would estimate it's about 95% of the reason why this program is so effective, the other 5% being the staff. Innovation is the key to keeping up with this ever-changing world. If you were interested in what I had to write, here are some ways you can introduce Blended Learning into your classrooms:
- Technology in a classroom should be encouraged. Yes, I know this is considered blasphemy in most classrooms but you'd be amazed how much can be learned from it. Consider this. Why do students look EVERYTHING up on Google first, before blowing dust off their books? Because the information is instantaneous! They need only to type a few words in a search engine and voila! Outside of the Internet, many other devices exist that can aid the education process. In our classroom, we use Macs and iPads to learn about how to use some of the latest production tools. Now I know the aforementioned devices aren't cheap, but you don't have to go that extensive. Just let the students use technology in your classroom and you'll see how much more is learned.
- Each student has their own ambitions and inquiries, let them explore them! I can guarantee you a more attentive class if they're allowed to pursue their own interest. For example, let us say that you are teaching an English class. You have two students; let's call them Bob and Tim. Now, Bob wants to learn script writing and Tim wants to learn how to be an author. Why not address both of their interests as well as the rest of the classrooms by posting an assignment that relate the core standards for both the academics and technical training needed to address, but the final product can take any form the student wants? This way Bob can learn how to write a script and Tim can learn how to write a book. Students know what they want to learn, you just have to allow it. At MBIT, if we want to learn a specific task or create a product, we fill out a project proposal and the teacher just approves it and offers insight when needed.
- Lecture and application should be like the contents of a salad bowl, mixed together. Let me tell you, I can't stand listening to a teacher endlessly lecture, nor can many students this day and age. What good is a lecture if no one even listens? Lecturing students really isn't as productive as some might think. The best way I feel a classroom should work is to have the first few minutes of class be a lecture, but about a concept that your students will be applying afterwards. Just give the students enough information for basic comprehension and then give them the time to learn on their own.
- Each student is different, treat them as such. There are multiple types of learners in the world and one type of curriculum couldn't possibly appeal to all of these different types. My teacher, Mr. Tully, gets to know each student and what learning methods are effective or ineffective for that student and adjusts his lesson plans accordingly. He does this for every student in his classroom and I can tell you from experience it works. Students are people, not numbers in a system; they need to be treated as such.
In summation, the education system is doing a great deal right, contrary to popular belief. CTE is the wave of the future, it's a path where all students can find their passion and follow it. With everything I have written here, how can anyone possibly say that CTE isn't true education? I say all schools both nationally and internationally should use this unique form of education. It's time for all schools to turn today's youths into tomorrow's CEOs! Blended Learning is the new wave of the future for education and the sooner teachers start implementing it the better off the education system will be. Give the students a chance, and they will not disappoint you. Thank you for reading this and I hope you'll look into CTE, for it can open so many doors to a person's ambitions! All that needs to happen is for it to be given a chance. Please, be that chance by telling everyone about CTE. Forward this blog to everyone you can and spread the word about CTE! If you have any questions please either comment on this page or email me at cbc818@gmail.com.
