The Technology Generation Gap: Introducing iMovie to English 12 students

          I think we assume that all teenagers are inherently tech-saavy. Recently, after having successfully integrated iMovie into a component of an English 8 project for the novel The Outsiders, I set out to do the same for my English 12 class as we embarked on a culminating activity for William Shakespeare's Hamlet. When I asked the class how many of them were familiar with iMovie, a solitary student raised their hand. When I had previously asked the same of my English 8 class, the majority of students raised their hands. What a difference a few year makes...the grade 8s had begun their technology immersion in Elementary school, while the grade 12s were still relative newcomers.
         Having established some confidence in the "user friendly" nature of the iMovie App through previous experimentation, I was fairly certain that with relatively little technical instruction, my grade 12 students would quickly become proficient. Introducing iMovie trailers to my students was akin to watching a four year old opening presents on Christmas morning. Exclamations of "Wow!"and, "That's soooo cool!"echoed through the classroom. After some time to experiment and familiarize themselves with the basic functions of the App, within two class periods, students had scripted, filmed and uploaded their Hamlet iMovie trailers to my teacher YouTube account. And so, within a relatively short period of time, I was able to successfully bridge the "Technology Generation Gap" between my grade 8 and my grade 12 students.
       
          Hamlet iMovie Trailer samples: