Case Study
The Étude Group:
Video ads for social media
How might we showcase the value these schools bring to young learners?
The Étude Group is an innovative public charter school network in Sheboygan, WI. Étude infuses academic learning with the arts to offer authentic, experiential learning.
The schools use research-supported practices to build a culture of thinking, creativity, and trust. One challenge for Étude is sharing the value of these newer practices with the community.
In this video campaign, I helped demystify big ideas by showing students demonstrating them:
Interdisciplinary education
Project-based learning embedded in a design thinking framework
An arts-integrated approach to academics
Social and emotional learning
Child-centered decision making
A school culture of trust and accountability
My Roles
Storyteller, Interviewer, Videographer, Video Editor
Tools
Storyboards, PadCaster Studio, Adobe Premiere
Time Frame
6 months (videos produced in 6-week release cycles)
Collaborators’ Roles
Brand Strategist, Social Media Strategist, Content Writer, Graphic Designer, Photographer
Interdisciplinary learning can be a tricky concept for grown-ups to understand. When a first grader can demonstrate it, her school’s values shine through.
Process
As a full-time innovator and occasional street performer, I think of the design process the way I think about juggling.
You have to plan and practice your throws to know where the balls are headed in order to catch them.
But occasionally you have to improvise. Maybe a passerby is walking and texting, and you realize you have to redirect your focus to keep them from crashing into you.
In the same way, every step of the design process brings new discoveries, and sometimes you have to revisit a few steps of the cycle before getting back into a familiar groove.
Understanding the Étude schools, their students, and the community
The video campaign emerged from a larger plan to share the schools’ stories of success with the community.
