Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Description

Cellphones play a significant role in our lives. They allow us to communicate, connect, and engage in ways previously thought impossible. However, cellphone use in most classrooms is still prohibited. In this 3-hour workshop, we introduce participants to the concept of “cellphilms,” as a way to reappropriate cellphone use in the classroom for the production of knowledge. Cellphilms are 90 second videos shot entirely on a cellphone and that convey a single message. Participants in this workshop will be asked to produce a cellphilm and in the process, will learn how best to organize the production, collection, and evaluation of cellphilms for a variety of assignments (from a cellphilm exercise in a discussion based tutorial or laboratory, to a cellphilm as the final assignment for a course). We will discuss how the development of a cellphilm requires students to brainstorm, film, screen, and edit their work – a process, MacEntee et al. (2016) say, “promotes multivocality and reflexivity” (p. 10).  It prompts students to consider the viewer and their interpretation, and therefore requires students to reflect more deeply about the choices they make while filming.