video
Windows Movie Maker is a a video editing software available on windows computer systems. This means that most schools would be able to access it easily, with no extra costs. It is relatively simple to use and has everything that would be needed to edit and make a simple film.
I explored Windows Movie Maker and attempted to make a video, from clips that my friend had recorded on his GoPro camera during our skiing holiday.
One immediate issue that I noticed, was how long it took to upload videos onto the software. This would be a problem during lessons because it would use up a lot of valuable lesson time, children would also be sat waiting and not actively learning. I thought of 2 possible solutions for this issue. Time could be set aside, perhaps before lunch if the lesson was in the afternoon, to upload the videos. This means the videos could load whilst the children were at lunch. Another idea would be to get the children to upload their videos at the start of the lesson, and then plan another activity, related to video editing, for the children to do whilst it loaded.
Apart from this, the software was easy to use and orientate. Although, from discussion with others and from my own experience iMovie, available on Apple products, is the easier and a more child friendly option. However, I chose to try out Movie Maker since it is more widely available in schools and therefore it would be more beneficial for me to be familiar with this software.
Children can create films for a variety of purposes and their creation could fit into most areas of the curriculum.
It is also important to be aware of copyright laws when adding music to videos, especially if they are to be uploaded onto the internet. I made the mistake of using a commercial song on my original video and therefore, due to copyright laws it could not be viewed in certain countries, luckily it could be viewed in Britain. As a result, I found a great website providing free legal downloads of songs which can be used for video editing or audio remixing. After explaining copyright issues to a class, this is a site I might use with them. http://freemusicarchive.org
I explored Windows Movie Maker and attempted to make a video, from clips that my friend had recorded on his GoPro camera during our skiing holiday.
One immediate issue that I noticed, was how long it took to upload videos onto the software. This would be a problem during lessons because it would use up a lot of valuable lesson time, children would also be sat waiting and not actively learning. I thought of 2 possible solutions for this issue. Time could be set aside, perhaps before lunch if the lesson was in the afternoon, to upload the videos. This means the videos could load whilst the children were at lunch. Another idea would be to get the children to upload their videos at the start of the lesson, and then plan another activity, related to video editing, for the children to do whilst it loaded.
Apart from this, the software was easy to use and orientate. Although, from discussion with others and from my own experience iMovie, available on Apple products, is the easier and a more child friendly option. However, I chose to try out Movie Maker since it is more widely available in schools and therefore it would be more beneficial for me to be familiar with this software.
Children can create films for a variety of purposes and their creation could fit into most areas of the curriculum.
It is also important to be aware of copyright laws when adding music to videos, especially if they are to be uploaded onto the internet. I made the mistake of using a commercial song on my original video and therefore, due to copyright laws it could not be viewed in certain countries, luckily it could be viewed in Britain. As a result, I found a great website providing free legal downloads of songs which can be used for video editing or audio remixing. After explaining copyright issues to a class, this is a site I might use with them. http://freemusicarchive.org
Video editing in the New National Curriculum:
KS1:
Use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve
digital content.
KS2:
Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.