With schools implementing 1:1 programs, class
sets of iPads, or BYOD (bring your own device) programs, teachers are looking
for effective ways to implement this technology into the classroom. Rather than providing administrators’ worst
fear and using apps as a reward or just playing games, integrating technology
into the classroom in a way that provides an engaging environment for students
while helping to fulfill academic goals is the ideal situation.
While there are many apps available to teach
SAT words or learn your colors in Spanish, these aren’t the apps that students
are excited to use. While there are
highly addictive apps like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings, these aren’t the apps
that educators find valuable to convey content.
Instead, focusing on apps that help students create something to
demonstrate what they have learned is the ideal marriage of engaging and
valuable.
If you have a lesson that has students a
poster, perform a scene, write a story, or any other form of creative
expression, it can easily be modified to incorporate iPads or iPhones in the
classroom by having students create a multi-scene video as an output. While there are apps such as iMovie that can
provide students this capability, cost can become an issue. Instead, the Vimeo app is one that meets the
creative need and is the right price: free.
Free has several advantages including it’s easier to convince your IT
department to install it and you don’t have to spend your own money, but even
more important, if you are teaching in an environment with students who have
iOS devices, it provides them the opportunity to download the app on their own
device to try it out before class or to use their own device in class.
Creating videos with the Vimeo app is
simple. There aren’t a ton of bells and
whistles, but there is everything needed to create a high-quality product and
leverage student creativity.
Storyboarding
Much like creating professional videos (or
writing papers), it is important to storyboard what will happen. Storyboarding allows students to put pen to
paper and detail the scenes they want to record. This will help them think through the
finished product before getting lost in the process of using the device. This also allows for multiple students to get
involved if it is a group project rather than limiting usage to a single
individual as typically happens when using the device.
When storyboarding, it is important to also
include portions for title screens (with still image or video backgrounds) and
audio narration. These elements will
help the students create a video that includes a bit more polish than a typical
iPhone movie.
Recording Video
While you can use the Vimeo app itself to
record video, it is simpler to use the native Camera app. Students are most likely already familiar
with it. They have the ability to record
a video, trim the beginning and ending, or delete the entire clip. Students can create several clips until they
get a version they like before moving into the Vimeo app. Leveraging their storyboard, they can ensure
they have all of the clips they will need for their finished product.
Editing the Video
Editing in Vimeo is simple. You click the giant + icon to add a new
clip. To reorder clips, you simply hold
the clip and drag it to a new location.
You also have the ability to add transitions between the clips. The transitions include slightly obnoxious
pans and a good fade, but students may enjoy incorporating them between their
clips and still images.
Simple titles can also be added. The one negative of the software is that
there isn’t the ability to include titles in the same timeline as video
clips. This causes an issue if you are
attempting to have a simple title on black then begin the movie. This effect can be achieved simply enough,
though. Instead of using a solid color
background, students can take a photo (of a color, drawing they’ve done, or
other background) and use that as the background to their title, running it in
the video row for the same duration as the title in the title row.
The final feature is the ability to add
narration or background music. While the
music might help with home movies, the narration is a potential benefit for
classroom-based works. The pitfall of
the narration is that it only allows 10 second clips. You can have as many clips as you desire, but
each is limited to 10 seconds, which can take some planning in the storyboard
and scripting portions of the video planning.
Exporting
Videos can be saved back to the device’s
Camera Roll (where they can be uploaded to YouTube) or uploaded to Vimeo. Vimeo uploading, while simpler, can cause
some issues as a free Vimeo license allows only 10 uploads per day – no big
deal for an individual, but if everyone in the class was using the same
account, it won’t work. Instead, videos
may be graded on the device or on YouTube if many multiples are required.
Conclusion
Two primary issues were encountered with the
app. When using the app was that it
would sometimes close automatically without saving the project. While this wouldn’t set the students too far
back because of the utilization of their storyboard, it is helpful to
periodically close the project to save it and return to it to ensure progress
has been saved. More important than the timesavings,
this will help minimize student frustration with the assignment. The other issue experienced was that students
would record video with the device vertical instead of horizontal. The app doesn’t have the capability of
rotating video clips, and rotating the clips in other apps doesn’t impact their
rotation in Vimeo.
PS: Currently (September 2012), Pinnacle Studio for the iPad is free. This appears to be a much more fully featured application that may be worth a look. As it moves into the pay category, you may want to compare Vimeo, Pinnacle Studio and iMovie to determine the application that best meets your needs (and budget).
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