I find that even though one of my true passions in life is the love of film, I am apprehensive, and in fact have yet to show a video in the classroom. There seems to be some backlash against video and film in education that I really don't understand but somehow feel as a residual of some era or event I wasn't a part of.
I feel as though some of the greatest lessons I have learned in life have come from film. I feel as though I have the ability to travel the world and experience things I'd otherwise never get the chance to experience when I immerse myself in film. Most nights my evening unwinding consists of watching a movie, either an old classic, something foreign to mull over, or some hollywood pulp to help me forget the day. I remember with great fondness the few days we would get to watch movies during my elementary schooling. Most often they were educational films but twice we had the privelege of watching theatrical releases and both were quite educational. The two feature films I was shown in elementary were Ghandi and A Tale of Two Cities. It's hard to argue against the educational merit of either of those films.
As I approached graduating from college with my communication degree, one of my plans (I run sequential plans to account for circumstances which may be beyond my control) was to attend the Peter Stark Production Program at USC. Please don't think that I lack a commitment to education because I don't, it's just film production is one of my dreams, and I choose to follow my dreams and encourage others to do the same.
So my questions to others out there are: Does film, or do videos, have a place in education? If so, in what aspect? Can anyone explain to me why there seems to be an opinion out there that videos shouldn't be used?
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your thoughts and opinions.
