Audio+Visual

Audio/Visual Screencast : My focus--Movie Makers

Screencast on Windows Movie Maker: [] **I could not, for the //life// of me, figure out how to NOT chop off the bottom of the screen while using JING--I could see it while I was "filming," but the playback chopped it off. The audio and title tracks are actually off-screen... sorry!**

This assignment came at the //perfect// time. I recently has a teacher ask me how to use a movie maker in her classroom for a 5th grade poetry project she wants to do in a couple of weeks; she wants them to add images and possibly videos to explore each line or stanza of the poem, and possibly have them narrate it. But, she said, it had to be EASY and she didn't want to download anything if at all possible. After looking at a variety of movie-making software, I decided to choose the ubiquitous Windows Movie Maker. In my opinion, it is the easiest to use for beginner learners (especially with the overview "storyboard" feature) and those students who can move on to the more advanced work using the expanded "timeline." Here are a few of the others I was looking at:

WeVideo

Very similar to Windows Movie Maker, this software takes advantage of being online and the ability to work from anywhere. It also has a ton of audio clips and sounds right there for you to chose from, as well as some really neat graphic features (like ticker at the bottom of the screen-scrolling "breaking news" and a count down). It also allows you to layer audio on top of each other, allowing advanced students more to play with. However, the fact that it //is// online makes it subject to internet availability; if internet is down, like my school frequently is, students wouldn't be able to access their projects. Not to mention, I decided to chose a program that my elementary students could use, and I think WMM fits that bill a little better. That said, I //love// WeVideo and all of the options it has! And, of course, it is (to the best of my knowledge) totally free!

Animoto

Very different in setup, Animoto is more of a slide-show than a video, even though videos can be included. Only 30 sec. videos can be made for free, but Animoto gives sample music, pictures, and "themes" for all of the slides. I didn't find this did enough for my student's needs, at least without paying for more access. Still, it creates really interesting projects: I //made// a video in about 30 seconds and it turned out really professional-looking. This can be used, I think, for a collage of videos and images. I know my students in Cameron would use Animoto to do just that with their feature photos to advertise their school's newspaper.