Thursday, March 20, 2008

Class 29: iMovie

Note: today we are having class in room 233, Aderhold hall!

Today we will begin digital storytelling using iMovie. You will be working in small groups to create an original story about your subject area. Please turn in a sheet with the names of your group members after the class. Your group should include 3-5 members. There will be 5 groups in total.

Please read the project requirement carefully before you start your project.

Now let's look at a few examples of digital stories to gets your brains churning about your own ideas.

The use of video in education has been around for a long time, but it is just in recent years that it has become simple for classroom teachers and children to create and edit their own educational videos. The Apple Learning Interchange gives multiple examples of using educational video for teaching content standards.

I will be at the AERA conference in NYC from this Saturday (March 22nd) to Thursday (March 27th). (Yay~!) So no attendances will NOT be required for Monday and Wednesday of the coming week (March 24th and March 26th). However, you will still spend equal or even more time to work on your iMoive project with your group members. But I bet it will be fun!

Here is the arrangement for iMovie project:
Monday, March 24th:
  • You need to get the video tapes from Ms. Gretchen Thomas. She will be waiting in our classroom at 12:20 pm (616, Aderholod).
  • You also need to check out the reserved video camera from OIT (room 232).
    • You will want to ask the OIT staffs to show you how to operate the camera. Make sure to ask them to show you how to use a plug-in microphone on the camera if you decide to record the audio on the spot.
    • There is a check-out limit of 5 days. But since there are other classes using those cameras, please try not to keep them in your hands too long. Remember the battery needs to be charged before you can use the camera. Usually one battery needs at least 3 hours for charging, depending on the type of camera. Double check this information with the staff when you check out the camera.
  • Meet your group members to brainstorm the topic of your iMovie project and the details. Since this is a group project, the topic of your video will not be restricted by grade levels and subject areas. Be creative with your video production! Use humor and originality to capture the essence of your topic. Of course, this video still should be for educational purpose and should not involve any inappropriate contents.

From Monday, March 24th to Thursday, 27th:
  • You will take video footage and probably some digital pictures.
  • You will also choose the background music if you decide to use some.

Friday, March 28th, Monday, March 31st and Wednesday, April 2nd:
You will use iMovie to edit your videos, add voice and music, and make transitions between clips (if needed). You will work in those editing suites in room 602 Aderhold (the five-member group will work on the suite in our classroom). Note: please bring both your tapes and your camera back to class.

You'll want to review the project guidelines for this project -- but keep in mind that you need NOT capture more than 5-8 minutes of raw footage. This will be edited down to 2-3 minutes of video. We will use iMovie for editing. iMovie HD is the software available in the iLife suite on Macintosh computers.

NOTE: I encourage you to reserve the Editing suites for extra editing time in case.
To reserve the Editing suites, you need to go to the OIT office with your UGA ID card.

PCs have a similar software called Movie Maker -- but it is not as easy to use in its existing version. Today you'll learn the ins and outs of the software using the practice materials I provide.

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