Media literacy in video production: An experiment with university students

Abstract

This article describes an experimental academic e-course during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which 178 undergraduate students were asked to become video creators and narrators through a specific methodology in order to become digitally literate and produce original content.

This practical e-workshop took place in the context of the “Video, Image and Audio Editing” course of the Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University and was adapted to the needs of a distance learning course. Its main aim was the students’ familiarization with literacy in digital tools and techniques that until now was only achieved in an actual laboratory setting. 

The research is divided into two phases. The first phase concerns this article and analyzes the methodology of video production as well as the students’ acquisition of digital tools. In the second phase, specific factors will be studied, from the videos produced, through qualitative research so as to determine the audience’s interaction with the narrative content, as well as with the factors that students believe contributed to the interaction of that content.

Students gained knowledge of digital video tools which was upgraded to the capabilities and needs of each student. They acquired video editing skills based on the content through a specific theme and a theme of each group student’s choice. Students increased their literacy skills in both digital media and video projection on social media and gained knowledge concerning the interaction that was encouraged through these mediums. In this laboratory course, a specific methodology was used that included pre-production, production and post-production. The final product included two videos, the first with a specific theme and the second with a theme of each group student’s choice.