IMovie

This week, I decided to tackle IMovie '09, which I spoke of briefly in last week's post. I'm fairly familiar with it, and unlike alot of other software applications that maybe only do one thing or another, IMovie is open-ended and versatile enough that it's well-suited for any user (teacher or student) to do just about anything they might conceive of in the classroom. As you'll see in my tutorials, I tried to go into a bit more detail for the teacher tutorial and be as brief and succinct as possible for the student tutorial. This way I figured the teacher could have more of a background and be able to point out the features of IMovie to the students, while the students can have more of a free-range experience, experiment, and try out some of the plethora of tools and effects.

I wanted to mention that I used a neat little Mac application called Screenium to create a video of my actual laptop screen so you could see not just me but me actually demonstrating IMovie '09.

Teacher Tutorial Part 1

Teacher Tutorial Part 2

(Forgive the weird formatting on this one - I'm half cut off after I edited in IMovie, imagine that!)

Student Tutorial

References

Using IMovie to Enhance Learning

A media specialist at Kate Sullivan Elementary School in Tallahassee, FL presents an practical guide to using IMovie in the classroom, although her focus is more on elementary school students and the projects their teachers have designed for them with IMovie specifically in mind. Some excellent projects and suggestions!

Powerpoint Presentation on IMovie in the classroom

This instructor brings up a very good point about compatibility and conversion. Some students may not have Mac's, and in this case it might cause a compatibility issue for the student to continue working on their project at home. Also, third-party video converters such as VisualHub are not always readily available to students, and are sometimes difficult to access on the internet. The Apple website offers several video converters that can assist converting between video formats.

Sample IMovie Lesson Plan

An example of a lesson plan using IMovie and Comic Life, which is a photo template creator in which you can add splashy comic book effects as the title suggests. I like how this lesson plan integrates a field trip with IMovie, where students can document everything they see and hear at the museum and reframes their learning in a way that's interesting and fun - long after they've left the museum. A great listing of resources and a keen consideration of all the tools students will need to create the finished project.

Tips & Tricks for IMovie '09

Like I mentioned in the teacher's tutorial, IMovie is what you make it, so you might as well make the most of it! Techradar.com offers 10 IMovie tips - some I was aware, others I was not. But as I've found in working with IMovie, if there's a certain effect you want to achieve it's best to simple Google it, and most times you'll find your answer. I like how this website suggests space saving tips for your hard drive, as IMovie is a bit notorious for gobbling disk space. IMovie '09 has made many things much easier, but if you really want to fine tune the effects and appearance of the video, trust the experts.

IMovie '09 on Apple.com

The Apple website best sums up IMovie and it's many user-friendly uses and features. They've really tailored it nicely to show all the things you can do with IMovie, but I think the most important thing about IMovie, particularly for teachers is that it can be cut to fit any lesson plan, class project (individual or in groups), and give students a sharp tech-tool to use to better enhance and express their learning in a way that's collaborative, creative, versatile, fun to use, and professional-looking.