Solo Project: Giacomo Striuli

Resources Requested

Stipend 1 AY: $1,400.00
Stipend Summer: $400.00
Sound Editing Software: $100.00
Student Assistant: $500.00

To scan texts, editing video clips, other related tasks.
One person at $7.00/hour for 70 hours.

Equipment: $30.00

Total: $2,430.00

Project Info

Start Date: July 1, 2003
End Date: June 30, 2004

Milestones: I am completing a multimedia DVD (4.7 GB) and CD (0.68 GB) of video clips and presentation of authentic material by the beginning of the September 2003. I will continue to work on the presentations (scanned documents/ images/TV/Film/Songs and voice commentary narration) with the goal of completing PowerPoint presentations for inclusion in the multimedia DVD/CDs, and for inclusion on Angel during the upcoming academic year.

How would you use the equipment/software after the Project?

To continue to develop multimedia PowerPoint presentations or integrated audio-video projects for the courses I presently teach (language, cinema or Modern Italy Studies), as well as for other cultural presentations aimed at fostering Italian studies for undergraduate students and SCE.

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Deliverables

Angel/Course-Related: All course materials developed through this grant would be made available to students through Angel.

Multimedia CD/DVD: A DVD compilation will enable the instructor to put together a greater number of videos than could be placed on a CD of video-clips taken from the movies that will be viewed by students in the Italian Cinema course. A DVD is the ideal vehicle to study segments of films for aesthetical and thematic purposes. It is also well suited for a large screen for classroom screening. In anticipation of the proposed DVD players that are to be installed in the classroom of Feinstein this Summer, the DVDs will be ready to use as early as September 1, 2003.

Enhancement of Instructional Practices: I am just beginning to use PowerPoint to create integrated audio-video for language learning and teaching supports, but I am very excited and am committed to the use of such technology in the classroom. I will be able to create my own presentations, add my voice and narrated commentaries, voice-overs, songs, TV clips to both PowerPoint slides and actual video clips. The intent is to provide the students with a variety of “authentic materials” such as news/interviews/songs that are produced by native speakers for native speakers; as such, they will be very useful to language students. This is truly a very different approach from the loneliness (and boredom) of the language laboratory students have been accustomed.

Journal Entry: Rivista di studi italiani

Professional Presentation: I plan deliver a presentation at the forthcoming Fall Language Workshop sponsored by the Rhode Island Teachers of Italian next Fall 2003 to be held at Providence College. I plan to present my multimedia DVD or CD at future conferences.

Other: I plan to share my project and expertise with my colleagues in the Modern Languages Department or with any other instructor with similar interests. I will make available the materials to those who may request them.

Primary Objective

The primary objective of this project is to develop one or more multimedia DVDs and CDs of selected authentic materials which integrate video (TV/Films), audio (voice narration/songs), web, for learning and as teaching supports.

The new technology -- and in particular PowerPoint -- makes all this possible. The creation of video and computer assisted activities will enable me to select specific video clips and presentations that are relevant to my courses. These will incorporate audio, video, and cultural materials that will be useful not only for my language courses but for Italian Cinema and Modern Italy classes as well. These projects aim to be useful to students both at the undergraduate level as well as students of SCE:

• Italian Cinema: primarily video

• Modern Italy: Video, audio, graphic combination • Language Courses/Italian Culture and Civilization: video, audio, graphic. There is a lack of authentic material available through publishing houses; my projects intend to integrate the new technology to remedy this by:

  • Angel for all courses

  • PowerPoint presentations in multimedia CDs and DVDs for use in the classroom and in Angel

• The software/hardware requested: Video:

  • To capture clips from VHS and TV

  • To edit and compress video files

• The software/hardware requested: Audio

  • To capture and edit existing clips

  • To edit and compress all clips to streaming format for use in Angel, CD, DVD.

  • To capture and edit my voice narrations/ readings/ commentary for use in PowerPoint or for audio overlays on video clips.

The new use of such software will enable to capture video for my Italian Courses so that students will be able to study selected scenes and comment upon them via Angel and in class. Undoubtedly, the technology will benefit my students' learning as well as enhance my teaching ability. Students will find essential reading materials scanned and placed online. They will be able to analyze and evaluate scenes that contain crucial information relevant to aesthetic and thematic content whose capacity is needed to fulfill the requirements of the Fine Arts. PowerPoint makes it possible to integrate materials that simply are unavailable or unattainable. Language students will be able to listen to my readings about a city in Italy such as Milan while reading the text which will be hyperlinked to important Italian inks in the web such as that of the Milan's homepage or the Catholic University of Milan (video, audio). This can be done for Modern Italy in fulfillment of the Social Science requirement students will be able to watch an Italian news broadcast or study the way Italian live and work by means of selected video clips with voice-over commentary in English. Also interviews with famous or almost, songs, selections from TV shows will provide a source of authentic texts that are essential to language as well as cultural proficiency.

I am confident that the new technology and its integration in learning and teaching will be very beneficial. Students will be able to come to class better prepared, and more focused because of the creation of materials that can be used individually (multimedia CD/DVD/Angel) and in the classroom. In the past I faced the obstacle of having to narrate the visual connections that provide the overall structure of a particular film. Hopefully, in the near future, the students will be able to examine the selected clips and understand/comment on their significance before class. Class discussions would be more cogent since they will be better prepared and their contributions more meaningfully. My role would be to lead and guide the discussions. Needless to say, not only the students but the course will be better organized and focused. The technology will improve the learning of my students as well as my teaching. Such additions as the DVD and CD may not replace class notes but will be very valuable supports. I am very excited about the integration of technology in my teaching. It opens a well-paved road into future academic journeys.

Assessment

I will create testing materials which relate to the video-clips and other content presented using the new technology (DVD, CD, PowerPoint, Angel). This will provide allow me to gauge the effectiveness of these projects. I will also ask students to give specific references to these materials in their papers/exams. Student feedback will also be important. I will ask them in a questionnaire to evaluate/rate the use of these DVD/CD presentation and activities on the basis of design/technical elements with special emphasis on content/impact on their usefulness with questions such as “Were they helpful? Explain in detail why or why not” “Did these video-clips help you to better analyze the films” “What impact did the Multimedia CD did have on your learning? In what sense, be specific and explain well” such questions may give me an assessment of the effectiveness of the new technology in my courses.