Quote:
Originally Posted by Libby K
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I think at the beginning of this thread, before its clear and not-at-all-subtle* downward spiral, had some useful discussion on how the Homework could be better distributed/handled in the FIRST Community. Maybe we can bring it back to that?
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Good thoughts.
Why we didn't create a video submission:
1. It was not on our list of things we
needed to get done this summer/fall due to higher priorities such as:
- Outreach opportunities
- Sponsorship incentive
- Training and workshops to prepare for the 2014 season
- Organizing our own off-season event (Nov. 9)
2.
Our current video making skills are very poor. Creating videos is NOT simply turn on the camera on your iPhone and hit the record icon. There's a TON more that goes into the process in order to do it well.
3.
Our Summer/Fall meetings are sporadically attended by students, due to other extracurricular activities, school emphasis, and working jobs while they can before Build Season begins.
Could we have used making a video for homework as a way to train and prepare for our upcoming CA Video project?
Absolutely, but then I direct you back up to points 1 and 3. Plus, the students decided to create a Safety Animation submission this year instead: honing their visual media skills that way, instead of video.
Ways to improve this specific Dean's Homework project:
Instead of videos, have teams submit written stories, then have a group at HQ choose which stories they felt would make good videos and pair those teams with a video-team equipped to help teams make professional videos.
Loosen the criteria. The exact 2 minute video criteria is daunting.
Post a nice big "Dean's Homework" on the main page of the website, explaining what it is and how teams can easily submit one.
Dean's Homework has always been something that I hear and think, "That's a great idea! Let's add it to our priority list."
But this is the reality:
April-May: Students busy with end of the year activities
May-July: Students busy with summer activities like jobs, sports and being with their families. When we do team activities it's usually outreach one-day activities, or rebuilding our robot for off-season events.
August-November: Students busy with workshops, training, soliciting funding, balancing school, jobs, other extracurricular activities, and planning our own off-season event.
I love
FIRST. This is my 11th year in the program. I'm the P.R. mentor for my team, and I love things like Chairman's Award and making videos. I think
FIRST is the most important thing that these high school kids will do during their educational experience.
But there is a limit to what we can do on our team. Limited time, limited resources, limited students, limited mentors. And creating a video like this honestly would not have helped improve our team enough for the time and resources that it would take.
For those teams that did create a video: AWESOME JOB! I am in awe of your efforts. Next year, my team will hear Dean's Homework and say, "Let's do this!" Hopefully we succeed. Hopefully it fits in with what we need to do. Hopefully it can be placed higher on our priority list.