A movie as an instructional strategy?

This past year we sent a notice to faculty about showing movies in class.  The general tone was to remind all of us that we have a Board Policy regarding movies and that they are not to be used as downtime.

However, I do believe there is a time and place for the use of movies and video clips in education.  There is a reason that YouTube is the third most visited website in the world behind Google and Facebook.  We communicate with video and graphic images now more than ever.  We must develop sound instructional practices that use video to engage our students.

A staff member recently sent me a link to an interview with George Lucas who makes some interesting points about using film.  The teacher shared information about how for many students – the use of film allows them to understand the concept of “symbolism” and then they apply it to the text they are reading.  Our students are “digital natives” and we need to consider how we engage them.

I wonder how parents feel about the use of movies to teach?