Getting access to authentic voice can be quite difficult depending on where you live and how you are able to access you local community but this is a vital and valuable part of Religious Education. It is important to show children that RE is not just for other people but that beliefs and ideas about religious and non-religious ideas are very important in the lives of much of the population.

So the internet if full of authentic ideas and opinions, it can be difficult sorting the wheat from the chaff and making sure that the opinions that you have are ones that are suitable in school and before you invite anyone in it is important that you share with them the ethos of the school and the ethos of your department so that they understand the "ground rules".

Practical Issues

Using recording equipment does require some degree of practice and some trial and error and so it is important that you have some time to "play" with the kit. This should be of benefit to the whole school community and it may be that the students have access to a lot of the kit already - in fact if they have a mobile phone less than 2 years old they definitely will.

Look on the internet to find materials on authentic voices, there are a number of places to look for this and the video sites are some of the best [see the links at the bottom of this page], if you have not checked them out then You Tube and True Tube are excellent places to start. Alongside this is the Children's Voices database from the NATRE website.

You might also have access in your community to all sorts of people who can provide an authentic voice and you should consider how you can get these people onto tape and then use this in your lessons. Getting the pupils involved is always a bonus [see the case study].

If you cannot get people to be recorded then can you get them into your classroom in a "virtual manner?" software such as Adobe Connect or Skype both allow video conferencing to your desktop in a simple and very effective manner.

Activity Description

The class was discussing how different people worshipped and now different communities believed in god. The teacher knew that children in the class came from a range of belief systems and thought that it would be good for the children to be able to share some of these home experiences.

She also knew that the written literacy skills of some of the students were not high and she wanted to develop the visual literacy skills of all the students so she decided that over the course of the next few weeks a variety of the students would be able to take home a video camera and interview some members of their family and/or community

The whole class devised the questions that the 'reporters' would ask their families / communities using some mine-mapping software and the e-board.

The students who had then negotiated with their parents / guardians and communities were then loaned the video camera either for 2 days or over the weekend and they interviews a number of people and took video of their home / sacred buildings.

The students then had an opportunity to edit the video using some story boarding freeware called Photostory3 and present this to the rest of the class.

ICT resource used

• Digital Video Camera
• Video editing software [Photostory 3 freeware was used]
• e-board
• Mind mapping software [Freemind freeware was used]
• Digital projector

Learning Objectives

• To examine the range of ways in which belief is expressed
• To share a range of belief systems
• To compare and contrast personal expressions of belief

Commentary on the ICT use

The use of digital video is much more powerful than recording via notes or even images and notes. The use of digital means that the students can feel comfortable to record and re-record.

The ability to edit and amend the video gives the students confidence that they can offer a quality result to the rest of the class and that this will be a result that accurately portrays their community.

Motivation was increased as they were able to share their stories and work.

• You Tube - link
• True Tube - link
• Children Talking database - link
• What is your worldview? - link