Edu for Impact
Welcome To Edu for Impact
Documenting Al Leibman's higher-ed courses and internship program that integrate soft skills with academics.
Purpose OF EDU for Impact
I'm a BMCC (City University of New York) instructor, former TV-news cameraman, short filmmaker and photographer. I’ve created videos (below) that showcase the impactful work that the interns completed in the internship program, SLATE, that I've designed and ran at Brooklyn College. Aligned with that methodology are videos that feauture some of the field work my online students completed in my critical thinking courses. Employers are eager to hire graduates who possess marketable soft skills and my methodology is underpinned by combining those highly sought-after skills with their academic curricular requirements.
SLATE
(Service Learning Aimed Towards Employment)
I designed SLATE to help the interns integrate soft-skill development with iphone videography/photography skills to help them better serve local populations in need. The internship placed a strong emphasis on social media and multimedia for professional purposes and social good. The short videos below highlight the benefits gained by the interns and the nonprofit organizations they served. This is the link to the SLATE internship program at Brooklyn College:
Video highlights of the short internship program that I created and coordinated at Brooklyn College.
I've filmed both of these videos (part 1 and 2) on my iphone. with the same budget. I taught basic videography and photography skills to the interns, which they've applied to support local nonprofits with their social media needs.
(part one: 5 min.)
Video hightlights of short internship program
The interns develop business communication and leadership skills, as well as designing their own Linkedin profiles to represent themselves professionally. They work closely with their assigned organizations to help make a contribution that outlasts their required engagement.
(part two: 3 min)
Online Courses that Integrated with Fieldwork
In select classes, I assign fieldwork assignments in my Critical Thinking classes at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College). In teams or individually, the students integrate text, photos and videos with academic research to investigate issues of critical importance in their own neighborhoods that impact them personally. Using an easy and free template, the students create and own their websites to visually showcase their field-work accomplishments. Samples of their work and their websites are below.
Service Learning Integrated with Academics in General Education courses
Student testimonials about their project-based work in one of my Critical Thinking courses at BMCC.
In our Critical Thinking class at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY), the freshman students applied their course academics by helping clients at local nonprofits. This 5-min. video documents the students' engagement with social media platforms that showcase their engagement and self-empowering accomplishments.
(Video Length: 5 min.)
Multimedia Projects
Multimedia-Research projects develop critically important soft and hard-skill sets for professional and personal development.
(part two: 3 min)
About Al Leibman
Al Leibman has taught ESL, Critical Thinking and Freshman Composition courses at CUNY (BMCC, Brooklyn College and John Jay College) for the past 20 years. During that time, his teaching methodology has evolved towards integrating soft skills and Ai tools into his courses to help his students develop academically and professionally.
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​In addition to passionately exploring innovative methods to provide college students relevant and socially consequential assignments, he's the creator of SEA OF ELEVATION, which serves as his professional video and photography portfolio. His videography/short filmmaking experience is extensive.
He has worked as a full-time TV-news field cameraman/editor/producer (NBC affiliate stations in Sioux Falls and Atlantic City) and as a freelance studio cameraman on live news shows at MSNBC and CNN.
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He has shot, edited and produced short documentaries that have appeared in film festivals. He also has a deep level of expertise with mobile filmmaking, which he has frequently taught. When he's not working, he can often be found swimming at Brighon Beach, Brooklyn through all four season, including in the dead of winter, with his pals, who affectionately refer to Brighton Beach and Coney Island as, “The medicinal waters off the coast of Southern Brooklyn."
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