What’s special about Prem Tinsulanonda International School for middle schoolers? Our grade 7 students tackled the question, “How may we design a digital campaign that aims to promote Prem’s Middle School to other middle school students?”…

Now we need your help!  Grade 7 is attempting to measure the quality of what they produce in part based on the impact it has. Next week Prem’s social media feed will feature student-produced promotional videos. With the help of our marketing team, Grade 7 will be tracking comments, likes and shares to help them piece together the reaction to their work. 

These videos are the product of a project-based learning approach, and authentic assessment, across Individuals and Societies and Design lessons. Students make authentic products: something that professionals do, with an actual audience and real-world application. In this case, production of that will be used as marketing material to attract prospective students to the school. 

Learning that is relevant and meaningful are key to project-based learning. Throughout this experience, students explored how we communicate to influence others. They contemplated how different media serve different purposes and we should be intentional in our use of media. This project required extensive ideation, message crafting, wordsmithing, technical skills development, workflow management, collaboration and resilience. 

Our circumstances certainly helped us practice real-world skills! Even though school campuses in Chiang Mai were closed over most of the duration of the unit, we did not shut down or slow down the project. Instead, we learned how to storyboard, how to compile shortlists, how to compose video scripts and how to clearly communicate instructions. We learned the industry names for camera angles and movements. This allowed students to liaise with our in-school videographer who was able to capture footage for students according to professional standards using technical vocabulary. Once back on campus, students supplemented the footage using their newly honed camera skills.

Erica Denison

Curriculum Leader for TOK,

TOK & Design Teacher