For the second year running digitalswitzerland ran a video competition for all Swiss schools, at all levels. As one of the numerous successful Digital Day activities, schools in three linguistic regions of the country participated in the video competition. The jury judged according to several criteria – technical, creative, originality among others.
The theme for this year was “Play, talk, exercise – what does a playground 4.0 look like?”; students were free to interpret the question as they wanted, within a 90 seconds timeframe. Submissions ranged from drone delivery of school snacks, to drone warfare, to virtual gaming through wifi free playgrounds and cyberbullying.
The video competition stimulates discussion on the implications of digitalisation. There has been a lot of talk of FOMO (fear of missing out) and loneliness due to social media, as people no longer talk among themselves. We see this also in the videos that were submitted, with a playground where children sit around and chat with each other over social networks rather than speak to each other and play becomes something to be questioned. The beauty of the video competition is that students can team up and work on the video as a small project, involving several people or in some cases a whole class.
The primary category first place winner imagined a selection of online and offline activities for their film, illustrated with animated Lego pieces. The second grade class in Igis (GR) underlined the importance of having a wifi free zone, although some activities required QR codes. The video closed with a Scrabble word, showing that board games too are important as social and learning tools, not just online games.
The theme of cyberbullying was the focus of a winning team in the middle school category, in Poschiavo (GR). This is a major concern for parents and children alike. There is no single agreed-upon definition of cyberbullying. The following elements have been identified as common features of cyberbullying: the use of electronic or digital means; the intention to cause harm; a sense of anonymity and lack of accountability of abusers as well as the publicity of actions. The problem with cyberbullying as opposed to real life bullying is that it can go viral, it never stops and neither parents nor child can easily close the door and switch it off.
The use of digital tracking and imprints on the city was the subject of the winning video, in the high school category from the Collège Voltaire in Geneva (GE). The second and third prizes in each category covered different subjects. All the creators who submitted films used filters, cutouts, and lighting very imaginatively.
The videos came in from all over Switzerland, which shows that students today have talent, imagination and drive. They are also thinking about major issues and advantages related to digitalisation. Let’s make sure we keep these discussions alive to keep humans at the centre!
