Going beyond storytelling with Redlands USD
Case study background
The Redlands Unified School District (USD) is the governing body of 26 public schools in the Redlands area (San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles). In late 2022, it introduced 17 Rapidmooc studios with the aim of promoting creativity through Digital Storytelling and scaling up the use of video in teaching (Case Study Part 1).
The initiative has been a resounding success, with the studios having a positive impact on pupils in many areas beyond the original project scope, including some amazing initial results on reading levels.
How Rapidmooc is
used in K-12 schools
The original case study
Digital Storytelling
The first part of the Redlands project centered around digital storytelling. The fleet of Rapidmooc studios has made it a “walk in a park” for students to create amazing videos. They have been able to unleash their brilliance and creativity, making school broadcasts, movies and a wide variety of other media as part of their lessons. On top of that, the studios have removed the need for teachers to set up complex AV equipment, giving them more time to focus on students and their work.
Three new use cases
It has now been over a year since Redlands deployed Rapidmooc studios across its 26 schools. Over this time, the teachers and students have found several new use cases for the studios beyond the original digital storytelling project.
01
Improving reading literacy
During their digital storytelling activities, particularly when using the integrated teleprompter, the teaching team noticed that students who struggled with reading were more motivated to improve their literacy so they could be on screen or part of a movie.
Based on this, some Rapidmooc studios were redeployed to classrooms where a significant number of students were falling behind in their reading grade levels. Here, they were used as a literacy studio and the preliminary results were impressive: in less than just three months, half of the study group went up by one whole reading level in less than 3 months.
How Rapidmooc is used as a literacy studio :
Choose a book
Read
Instant feedback
Dawn Deponte
3rd grade teacher at Lugonia Elementary
“The Rapidmooc has been a great addition to our reading program. It helps the students work together and support each other to improve in reading.”
02
Video/picture booth for events
The amount of video content generated by the schools and their pupils skyrocketed with the arrival of the Rapidmooc studios. In light of how driven students were to express their creativity through video, the teaching staff of Redlands USD decided to organize an annual Film Fest (with Rapidmooc as a proud sponsor) to showcase pupils’ incredible work.
During the event, a Rapidmooc studio was used as a photo/video booth for attendees and nominees for the complete red-carpet experience. For some upcoming events, it is planned to have these photos/videos sold by the school to help raise funds thanks to the studio’s QR code feature.
2 film fests
Redlands USD has held two film festivals (2023 & 2024) to showcase pupils' work
03
Artificial Intelligence Literacy
The proposed Artificial Intelligence Literacy Act 23 will grant federal funding to develop AI labs that offer students hands–on experience with AI.
Our new, AI-powered video assistant, built into the Rapidmooc studio, provides exactly that. With a host of new features, it gives students the opportunity to experiment with artificial intelligence and play with prompts to create even richer stories and visuals.
Conclusion
The Redlands United Schools District has incorporated Rapidmooc studios into their educational environment with much success. The studios have proven to have a real-life impact on student learning, not only helping pupils express their creativity through digital storytelling but also motivating them to improve their reading skills and providing an opportunity to interact with AI.
Through all these benefits, Rapidmooc studios are quickly becoming a must-have for any innovative school striving to teach digital fluency in an equitable manner to their students.
“It has transformed how children think about reading and writing”
– Roland Hosch, Teacher