Alarm, Inform and Inspire: Using @WeVideo to Create PSAs about the @UN #GlobalGoals for Sustainable Development @GlobalGoalsUN with @BullisHGS

Written with my colleague, Dr. Sara Romeyn, our Director of Humanities and Global Studies

Students in Dr. Romeyn’s trimester elective, Contemporary Global Issues, were recently tasked with the job of investigating one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. After conducting research, students were asked to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) of approximately four minutes in length that would provide information about the issue, explain the importance of the goal, and provide potential solutions towards meeting the goal. Students were asked to “alarm, inform and inspire” with their videos.

Why We Chose WeVideo for This Project

With the goal of this project centered on having students deliver a strong message through visuals and narration, asking students to create a video PSA seemed like the perfect option. As a school, we have been making a concerted effort to expose all our students to some video editing as part of their high school experience. Towards that end, we are investing in a site license of WeVideo so that:

All students have the same editing experience, regardless of what device they are bringing to school (we are a bring your own laptop school)
Video projects can be worked on collaboratively
Work is automatically backed up and previous versions of the project can be restored with Version History
Students have access to a vast royalty-free asset library

About the Project

The final project was graded using a rubric that evaluated the following components:

Introduction: definition of topic and connection to a Sustainable Development Goal
Alarm: explanation of the importance of this goal
Inform: What is the cause of the problem? Why has the problem developed? Who is impacted and where is this a problem?
Use of statistical evidence
Inspire: How can we help? What is working to address the problem?
Quality of bibliography and quality of research
Quality of voice-over narration and editing
Quality, variety and reliability of images used in the video

Students addressed a wide range of topics and goals, from the health of the oceans (Goal 14: Life Below Water) to child marriage in Bangladesh (Goal 5: Gender Equality) to public transportation in Jakarta (Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities)