Abstract:

In this paper, I will present a case study of a global video project involving forty students from three countries, collaboratively engaged in trans-national movie making with their mobile phones.

In March, 2012, Screen Arts students at Unitec Institute of Technology in New Zealand were given iPod Touches and iPad2s to construct mobisodes – short films designed for optimum delivery on mobile devices – for a course nicknamed “ENTERTAINMENT LAB FOR THE VERY SMALL SCREEN” (ELVSS).

Collaborative engagement occurred with students at Salford University and Université de Strasbourg who were enrolled in similar courses. Employing Web 2 platforms to collaborate across both space and time, these international teams (each containing members from all three countries), created work exploring environmental sustainability.

This paper explores the course, its history, processes and outcomes, before proceeding to theorise the implications of these events on teaching practices, mobile-device use and international collaboration as a social tool in and of itself.

I will describe the challenges to mounting a project of this nature (alignment of learning outcomes, curricula and schedules across institutions; the technical/logistical considerations involved), exploring both the solutions to these challenges and the processes and transformations the students experienced.

Keywords:

ELVSS12, mobile movies, m-learning, e-learning, international collaboration.