Post-Production – “The More I Know” - Week 5 post

The message we wanted to share with our PSA is that technology helps students' futures. In the pre-production phase, we came to a group decision on "The More You Know" by watching several other PSA's that spoke to us. We used GoogleDocs and email to communicate with each other, and we tried using GoogleWave as well. One of us thought that having the students in the PSA would be a good idea, and we built upon that base with ideas about the narration. For the production phase, all of us wanted a genuine message from the students, so we each sought out different students whose dream careers involved some form of technology and who wanted to talk about it on camera. We work in different districts and ended with a group of students from different parts of Texas. Audacity was used to record the opening and closing narration, and it was very easy to export the files into mp3 files. Flip video cameras were used for filming, and it was easy to share the files with our editor. We finally decided on uploading the video to YouTube because of its simplicity. Most blogs and wikis work well with YouTube, and the sharing capabilities met our needs. We could improve our PSA by providing a variety of shots. With a background and better lighting, it could jump up a level in its professional appearance, however, with the available resources, the video clips seems to match well. Copyright was only needed for images taken from Google images, and the rest of the video clips and wording was original material created by us. I think the PSA holds a meaningful message and hope to inspire other teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms. We want their future companies to choose them as the innovators of their staff! 

“If something has never been done before and it’s truly innovative, how do you find the people to do it” (Nelson, 2008).

Resource: 

Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collaborative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video. 

The More I Know - PSA Project

PSA Project

My group has been working on our PSA about using technology in the classroom. We all feel that it is important to incorporate digital skills with our students and want to motivate others to do the same. Our idea is to have a "the more you know" theme through the length of the PSA (60 seconds or less). We are filming students who know that technology will help them in their future career dreams. Watching kids talk about their futures always inspires me to be a better teacher. That is the goal I have in mind for our PSA...to inspire other teachers.

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial Podcast

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial Podcast
ET8012
EDLD 5363

Video Editing Analysis - Week 2 post

After reading several articles during my Multimedia Video Technology Course, I chose three video editing software applications for my analysis. Adobe Premier Elements was recommended to us by our professor, Dr. Kay Abernathy, Windows Movie Maker is already loaded onto the computers on my campus, and Wax is a free, online software that I had never heard of. All three of them were mentioned in some of the articles I read this week. Of the three, I think that Movie Maker is my favorite. 

Windows Movie Maker is a simple-to-use video editing software that teachers and students alike can use for projects. Adobe Premier Elements, while wonderful for more advanced users, may be overwhelming for a beginner or a middle schooler. There are many options and effects that can be used, including Hollywood-style themes, to make a very professional end product. Advanced users will love all of the options available. Wax seems pretty easy to use, however, since it is freeware, sometimes it can be unreliable. I had a trying time with downloading the software, since there were 4 links to places for downloading. Some of the links did not look very professional, and I was hesistant to trust them. I ended up downloading a version that had “debug” in front of it, and while it worked out okay, I will admit that I was nervous for my computer system!

Since I teach sixth grade, I feel that Windows Movie Maker is the software I would use in the classroom. Once you open the software to Movie Maker, the prompts are easy to follow and before you know it, you have created a video file. I imported my video photostory from last week’s assignment and within a few clicks, I had a new file ready to save to my computer, make a CD, share via email or the web, or send to a camera.

The strengths of the Movie Maker software include being able to import many file formats for video, audio, and images. The system is very intuitive, and it breaks it down into 4 main steps: capturing, editing, finishing, and sharing. The options available for transition and effects were enough for a beginner to be happy. It was also easy to adjust audio files so that it fit the mood of the story.

Weaknesses of Movie Maker include not being able to import mp4 files, however, this did not affect my decision to use it. Most mp4 files are not allowed, which is fine, considering copyright law. Movie Maker also does not have any preset images for use. Again, a beginner would appreciate the ease of importing his or her own material.

As a teacher, I would feel very comfortable introducing Movie Maker to my classes. "Media production demands writing and rewriting, research, group effort, and clarity of thought." (Garrison, 1999) Students will find it fun to be creative while showing mastery of content with such an easy-to-use video editing software option. The Help Menu is very user-friendly as well, and teachers and students will find that troubleshooting any issues will be easy by navigating the Help Menu. The only other pieces of equipment needed are a camera or video camera, and a microphone!

Click here for the table of strengths and weaknesses posted on my wiki.

 

Resource:

Garrison, A. (1999, Winter).Video basics and production projects for the classroom. Center for Media Literacy. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article3.html.

Video Editing Podcast

Why Windows Movie Maker is a winner in my book - video editing podcast for EDLD 5363