Jan 13, 2014
Education
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the public launch of FilmEd., the new online community and toolkit that facilitates the use of media in the classroom and unites filmmakers and educators from across the globe. At filmed.sffs.org, teachers who are interested in integrating film and media into their curriculum and filmmakers who are interested in developing educational content and audiences for their films can now connect, collaborate, and share ideas and resources through FilmEd.’s online community. The latest initiative in the Film Society’s ongoing efforts to promote media literacy and global awareness in our nation’s schools, FilmEd. is a powerful new tool for anyone interested in bringing cinema into the classroom.
“We’ve been developing this project for almost two years and are thrilled to finally see it come to fruition” said Joanne Parsont, SFFS director of education. “After more than two decades working with films and filmmakers in the classroom in the Bay Area, it’s great to finally have a forum where we can share our resources with educators and artists everywhere and to create a community where the power of film intersects with the power of education.”
FilmEd.’s resources include:
• The Curriculum Guide provides a comprehensive framework for educators interested in implementing a media literacy curriculum and/or experimenting with filmmaking projects in the classroom. For filmmakers, the guide also offers resources for developing curricular materials for their film and creating an outreach strategy to connect with the educational community.
• The Lesson Exchange is an interactive database where educators can share their best media literacy and media arts curricula and filmmakers can identify outreach strategies to match their project. SFFS’s library of viewing guides and media making lessons is also available for download.
• The Discussions forum allows educators to trade tips and ideas and to ask one another for advice in implementing media in their classrooms.
• The Media Gallery is an exhibition space for media projects created by young makers. As films are made in the classroom, educators can upload them to this space and share with the community.
• The Community section helps users connect with a network of teachers, filmmakers, teaching artists, and other media professionals across the country.
The Film Society is working with both NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education) and NAMAC (National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture) as national partners in the effort to engage educators and media artists across the country with the FilmEd. tools and community. “By bringing together media makers and educators, the San Francisco Film Society has created a partnership that is a model for organizations interested in media literacy education,” said Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, NAMLE executive director. “On behalf of NAMLE, I want to express my excitement about the FilmEd. resources and their potential to transform classrooms all over the country. I can’t wait until NAMLE members get their hands on these resources.”
“As the field-service organization for the independent media arts, NAMAC is committed to promoting the vibrancy and value of media arts education and practice,” said NAMAC Executive Director Jack Walsh. “That is why NAMAC is proud to lend our support to FilmEd., an initiative that optimizes the intersections between practice and pedagogy and that encourages the use of media arts as a critical tool for 21st century learning.”
Throughout its 23-year history of educational programming, the Film Society has served more than 100,000 students and teachers throughout the Bay Area and developed a range of programs that engage young people with both the viewing and making of film. FilmEd. evolved from the Filmmakers in the Classroom (FITC) program, which launched in 2010 to bring teaching artists directly into underserved Bay Area K-12 classrooms to train students and their teachers in media literacy, film production and storytelling. The FilmEd. project was funded by the Hearst Foundations, which allowed for the adaptation of the FITC curriculum into an online open educational resource, where it can now support educators and filmmakers on a national scale.
For more information about SFFS Education visit sffs.org/education.