Sixteen Ball State University students hope their $10 introduction to theater DVD will serve as a spark that helps drive down the cost of college textbooks.
Their semester-long effort began as a project to develop a course supplement for professors, said Michael O'Hara, project supervisor and Ball State theater professor. O'Hara soon learned that the students working on the project had other plans.
"They wanted to create something that was student-focused," O'Hara said. "They believed that students would be a better market for the DVD."
So, what began as the creation of a teaching aid evolved into a mission to introduce thousands of students to theater and create an affordable alternative in the multi-billion-dollar textbook market.
"Explore Theatre: A Backstage Pass" will be published in the fall by Allyn and Bacon, a subsidiary of Pearson Education. More than 5,000 copies will be distributed nationwide. Ball State will use the DVD as a supplement for its introductory theater classes.
At some universities, these classes can exceed 300 or 400 students. Guiding that many students on a field trip through a theater would be a difficult undertaking, O'Hara said.
"With the DVD, students can march through a theater and have their questions answered as they go," O'Hara said. "They can click on icons and read profiles and stories about each area of the theater."
For example, clicking on the "lights" button reveals the secrets of lighting design and how light affects the appearance of the stage and the actors. The DVD also features actors in period costumes who explain different aspects of ancient, Renaissance and modern theaters.
"We created an 18-year-old man who speaks of a play he just saw in ancient Greece," O'Hara said. "Another actor tells of the incredible special effects of the 18th century."
The students wrote 47 scripts, filmed, acted and produced the DVD, created a Web site and the DVD's interface, developed the pitch for potential publishers, and much more.
To ensure the team had a broad span of talent to achieve the tasks, O'Hara brought together an eclectic group of students with a variety of majors. The team worked at Ball State's Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, the sponsor of the project.
The center, founded in 1999, allows students and professors to immerse themselves for one semester in pursuit of a single project that explores the connection between the arts, humanities, sciences and technology.
By the end of the semester, the team is expected to create a product, such as an exhibit or a media production, to illustrate their collaborative research and present it to the community in a public forum.
In the end, both O'Hara and the students were pleased with their work on the project and with the skills they honed. One student said the final project exceeded any expectations that she had. Another student touted the practical skills the project allowed her to develop.
"I've gained so much experience with technology, camera work, software like Final Cut Pro and audio editing, that I will take with me when I go to Los Angeles next year," said Jamie Marshall.
Producing a quality product made marketing the DVD a no-brainer, O'Hara added.
"Most intro textbooks carry simple CD-ROMs that have practice quizzes, but they're not really an integration of pedagogy and technology," O'Hara said. "We offered Allyn and Bacon a quality teaching tool that they could take directly to market with no development costs and no delays."
RSS