I’m sitting in a very packed room with Rushton Hurley (I’m actually hiding from the fire code folks up front where they can’t see that I’m exceeding the room limit). Low Tech Advice:

• time limits
• violence and martial arts (think high school boys)
• podcasts and slideshows – ask the students “Is this what you want other people to hear.” Ease kids into projects so they care about a quality produce
• alone or with others – helps kids who don’t have the equipment
• alternatives – you can give students non-video options such as posters (but they’ll want to do video!)

Resources: These resouces can be used as long as you cite them:

• www.partnersinrhyme.com
• www.podsafeaudio.com
• www.jamendo.com
• audacity.sourceforge.net/

Titles and Screenshots:

• using save-as in PowerPoint (use save as > save as type > save as jpg option)
• screenshots
  • Google Earth or Sketch Up
  • PicLens – plug in for your browser – perfect fix for those with “iPhone envy.” Great tool for teaching vocabulary, for instance.

Free Photos:

• CreativeCommons.com- KIds need to read the attribution requirements; otherwise, they’ll go to Google and not only violate copyright but also pick something that will pixalate like crazy.
• Morguefile.com (newspaper term) – Huge file sizes, which are good for video.

Motion Experience:

• Motion should ahve a purpose (pans, faces, eyes)
• What to do if you’re on PC? Use PhotoStory3 – great, great tool and free! Import pictures > customize motion option > save. If you’re using panning, you want the motion to be different all the time (which is shortcoming with default panning (Ken Burns effect). Oh, and you can create music in Photostory. A bit “elevatorish,” but you have options. Tip: don’t use a favorite pop song because that’s what your listeners will concentrate on — not your movie.

Moving Beyond Freebies

• Macs – Final Cut Express
• PCs Adobe Premiere Elements – $99 (BHphoto.com) – It’s a memory hog, so you’ll need a good video card with lots of RAM. Remember to render often, not just save. Big advantage of having multiple tracks. Key frames feature is cool, allowing you to add great effects., such as translucent text floating across an image. Want a good mic for camera: lavalier mic.

Why do we do video?

• another way to show learning
• good for ELL, LD kiddos
• impact (“favorite thing”)
• audience – we need to expand the audience so that kids really stretch

Good news… You can contact Rushton via www.NextVista.org or rh@nextvista.org. Fabulous session!