Student-Created Content

Creating content is another way to engage students in learning. Having students create content has been further enabled by technology. Previously, students could only create content on paper employing limited resources and access to a public library. Students from the Net Generation can create audio content as a podcast, access the Internet for additional information, create multimedia slide shows with PowerPoint, and use a variety of other content creation tools. The assessment of this work is typically done through a rubric or team grading (collaborative) method to ensure that all students participate equally and reach a certain standard indicated by the rubric. Learning is a social event whereby students can learn from one another.

Some of the advantages of student-created content are:

• Students can keep the content and refer to it when needed.
• Students are typically vested in the content since they created it.
• Students demonstrate visible evidence that learning has occurred.
• Students are more engaged in the learning process.
• Students tend to enjoy creating content.
• Students can develop content assists in the process of acquiring knowledge.
• Students can develop content that strengthens their comprehension of information.
• Students can develop content that allows them to strengthen their critical thinking skills.
• Students can develop content that encourages independent thinking.
• Students can work on shared projects fostering a sense of community and collaboration.

Collectively, content-creation tools are known as Web 2.0 technologies. These include:

• Blogs
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• RSS feeds
• Social networks
• Video and photo sharing sites
• Tagging of information

 

Watch this video and discover how students can encourage student-created content and engagement: