Plato's+Analogy+of+the+Cave

VIRTUAL CAVE
Plato uses his “allegory of the cave” to teach the people of Athens about his Theory of Forms. The allegory embodies his perspective on knowledge and truth. He proposes that we, as people living on the earth, are similar to the people who have lived their whole lives in the cave. They think that what they know is reality, and what they see is the truth to them, but in fact it is only an illusion and is not the truth at all.

Over the course of the next few days, your group must develop a multimedia (Video, audio, still pictures, etc…) project to represent how the “allegory of the cave” applies to our world. How are we prisoners chained in a cave?

In completing this assignment, your group will need to do the following: · Brainstorm ways that Plato’s theory of forms is relevant in our day and age (this is the difficult part, spend some time brainstorming) · It may be helpful to focus on the symbolism of some of the following: o the cave o the chains o prisoners o the fire o the sun o shadows o puppeteers · Plan your approach to representing the allegory in our world (think outside the box!) · Find images, audio, video… whatever you need, to create the project. We have laptops (2 per group) and a video camera (1 per group) at your disposal. You may not leave the building to film and you may not disrupt any classes to shoot footage. You are your own writers, camera crew, directors, actors, editors, researchers, etc. (Divvy up the roles to get this accomplished, you will not get it done without teamwork and organization) · Organize and edit your project into a cohesive presentation using Microsoft moviemaker

I will try to pair up groups so that there is at least one experienced student in each group, so that the editing will not pose an impossible challenge.
 * I will also assist in the process, as this may be new ground for many of you.

Theory behind activity: using a multimedia approach to bridge the gap between text and student Place students in groups of 5; discuss meaning of how the "allegory of the cave" applies to our world. "How are we prisoners chained in a cave?" Each group had 2 laptops, a video camera. All members of group had a role.
 * Live Blogging of Daniel Mikula's presentation:**
 * Things to keep in mind when planning:**
 * Planning the activity took some time, provided students with a storyboard layout. Placed on network so students could access template on the shared drive so that they can complete in a paperless format.
 * Students may lack experience shooting video as well as inexperience with the video editing software.
 * TIME! Be sure to allot time so that the students have enough time to discuss, plan, shoot and edit their video.

Took approximately a week and a half to complete the project.
 * Benefits:**
 * Encourages close reading (student have to explain and defend their work
 * Actively engages the students in the text
 * Focuses on the visual nature of the text
 * Create a student/learner centered classroom
 * Wider range of student involvement (every student has his/her strengths to contribute, Touches on different learning styles)
 * Helps students recognize the different interpretations of text and it encourages more Active involvement from all students (no one "right answer")
 * IT'S FUN!

[|www.teachertube.com] (keyword: Platos)
 * Examples found:**