Abstract of

Making Meaning on the Screen: Digital Video Production About the Dominican Republic

Jason Ranker

As part of an inquiry and digital documentary video project, two 12-year-old students studied the Dominican Republic. Over the course of their research, the boys (one of whose parents moved from the Dominican Republic) focused their project on two aspects of the culture of the Dominican Republic: contemporary music (bachata and merengue) and famous baseball players who have familial ties to the country.

Through the use of digital video software available at the school, the boys produced a digital video by weaving together images from the Web with music and informational audio tracks that they wrote (based upon their research), recorded, and imported into their documentary video project. The article provides a reference point for teachers to try out digital video production in their own classrooms, as well as discussing the importance of such projects in light of the new, digital literacies that they enable students to practice.

Abstract from Ranker, J. (2008, February). Making Meaning on the Screen: Digital Video Production About the Dominican Republic. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(5), 410–422. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.51.5.4