​Does having students create video lessons engage them in learning? 

​Teachers have the challenge of identifying different ways to reach students and their different needs. Many times, students are disengaged in class due to the type of lessons or the way they are presented. Students learn in different ways, and as teachers venture into the use of technology, they may find there are different ways to engage a group of students simply by giving them the power to create using technology. Does having students create video lessons engage them in learning? That is a question worth exploring. 

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​The Power of Students Creating Video Lessons
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This capstone resulted from the need to engage students in a large class setting. Having struggled with low student engagement motivated me to try something new that would not only engage students with learning but expose them to 21st century skills using technology. The use of video and creating video lessons gives students the power to engage in a new way, to communicate their learning, and encourages higher student ownership. Creating video lessons not only encourages learning but naturally engages students by using tools that they use in their everyday life. 
The video above is a 90 second video about my Capstone 
FIRST ROUND OF RESEARCH 
​After the first round of research, having students create videos to show their learning showed significant advantages in the use of technology. Classroom data showed that the majority of students felt more engaged in lessons. Through formal self-evaluations and teacher observations, I found that the overall effect of incorporating video-making had a positive impact on engagement as well as student production. There were some areas of concern that were addressed on the second round of research. Factors such as distraction of noise level when recording, issues with platform used to record, and organization were addressed. 
SECOND ROUND OF RESEARCH 
Taking into account student evaluations, the second round of research included some modifications. To address the noise level and organization of how students recorded, the process now included work stations (rotations) where students would work on separate parts of the recording process on different days. Students would start with research, then planning, and finally creating their video. In the second round of research students used Flipgrid instead of Seesaw to avoid any other distractions or unnecessary options and to give students easy access to view other videos created. Student engagement was notably higher according to students surveys, production,  and classroom observations.