Nutshell Camera App - Pro Filmmaker Apps
Research states that education as a system has changed drastically over time, due to the rising prominence of information communication technologies (ICT), and the impact ICT has had on individual and group learning (Hwang et al. 2021).
Nutshell Camera App (Nutshell Camera [Nutshell], 2015) is an emerging technology that allows individuals to take three consecutive photos, to create a video. Nutshell could be significantly helpful in allowing students to foster their creativity skills and confidence, by allowing them to practice their filmmaking in different subjects.
Watt (2019) states that "...video production facilitates the development of critical digital literacies, which are essential for life, learning, and citizenship today." (p.95) This highlights the importance of an app such as Nutshell, as it encourages students to develop essential critical digital literacy skills.
By allowing students to engage with Nutshell in the classroom, creativity skills will be enhanced as students will be free to create an individualised video sequence of their choosing. This could be useful for a range of subject areas.
Research found that the use of mobile filmmaking apps were significantly beneficial in engaging students in science lessons as it allows them to work in groups to communicate their work (Martin et al. 2019). Nutshell would be a useful filmmaking app in a science classroom, as students could work in groups to record their science experiment or procedure. This allows students to display their creativity, give them a range of choice in their science work, and develop their collaborative skills.
This app would also be useful in boosting creativity levels of students as it encourages students to work collaboratively. Using Nutshell in a group would allow students to share ideas in order to produce a creative piece that suits the class work. This would then improve their communication skills with one another, which is evident in research that highlighted the mobile filmmaking apps were important in fostering group collaboration and improved communication (Smeda et al., 2014).
Although it is a useful app in developing students creativity, Nutshell does have some limitations.
It is challenging to create the video on your own, as you need multiple hands to move things. However, this can be combatted with group work.
Nutshell can be difficult to use for longer projects, as it limits the video quality. Nutshell would be the useful for students in younger year groups where their classwork may have less steps.
Examples of Usage in Class
Nutshell is a useful creativity boosting app for students, allowing them to collaborate to create mini-videos of their class work. Although there are limitations to its usage, teacher's can implement it within group work to make it more functional.
References
Hwang, L. A., Vaithilingam, S., Nair, M., & Ng, J. W. J. (2021). Nurturing academic enthusiasm and creativity among children from vulnerable communities: the role of computers. Behaviour &Amp; Information Technology, 41(12), 2596–2615. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2021.1938227
Martin, K., Davis, L., & Sandretto, S. (2019). Students as storytellers: mobile-filmmaking to improve student engagement in school science. Journal of Science Communication, 18(05), A04. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18050204
Nutshell Camera [Nutshell]. (2015). Nutshell Camera (Version 5/15) [Software]. https://profilmmakerapps.com/app/nutshell-camer
Nutshell Camera. (2015, February 10). Introducing Nutshell [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlKM1LEFr-U
Smeda, N., Dakich, E., & Sharda, N. (2014). The effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms: a comprehensive study. Smart Learning Environments, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-014-0006-3
Watt, D. (2019). Video Production in Elementary Teacher Education as a Critical Digital Literacy Practice. Media and Communication, 7(2), 82–99. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i2.1967
Hi Isabella, I haven’t had a chance yet to use Nutshell in the tutorials, so I really enjoyed hearing your experience and opinions about it. The introduction video you used was very informative and gave me a much better idea of how you can use the app.
I love the idea of students using Nutshell to document a science experiment/procedure and it can definitely be used across subjects and stages.
You effectively supported your points with appropriate literature whilst keeping the post easy and engaging to read.
Is there any way for the app to be moderated by a teacher? Similarly, can you create class groups to share videos?
I agree with Zeyba’s comment about Nutshell being useful in both…
Zeyba Orya 6/03/2023
Hi Isabella, I really enjoyed your blog regarding the use of Nutshell in fostering student creativity. I particularly agree with your argument that Nutshell can be used in groups where students can work collaboratively and create the video together. Given the rise of tiktok and a lot of students using that platform in their own time, Nutshell is a safe and appropriate form of technology that lets students be creative and make their own videos. I love that nutshell can be used in different forms of subjects. This would be a great tool for me to use in my history classes as students can really engage with the content, especially in junior years, when learning about Australian…