Video Slideshows Using Voice Record Pro and iMovie on iPads for a PSA Science Project

Our Go Beyond Challenge is wrapping up this week, as I prepare to show everything we've done at the MACUL Conference in Michigan. This post highlights a project I did with Katie Bryant in middle school Science. 

Katie wanted to have her class create public service announcements about the declining sturgeon population. This is a project she has done at previous schools, but we tried it in a new way, using a combination of Google Slides and iPads. It's a subject that's important to her and the students. They have a sturgeon in a classroom aquarium, which they will release into the wild later this school year.

Students worked in pairs on this project. Three examples of their videos can be found below. First, here's the process the class went through to create their videos:

1. Katie gave the class an introduction about the topic and allowed them to research. They started out knowing they'd be making videos that the community would watch.
2. Using Chromebooks, they wrote scripts in Google Docs, then made a slideshow in Google Slides. We emphasized that they could not just read their slides in this project. Slides should have little or no text. 
3. Students then opened their slideshows on the iPad using the Google Slides app. They took a screenshot of each slide, as a simple way to transfer each one into Photos on the device.
4. Next, students recorded their scripts using the Voice Record Pro app on an iPad. I've used this app for years for quick, easy audio recording, and it's only improved over time. See below for why we started with this app. These recordings were usually 30 - 60 seconds long.
5. Using the process explained below, students transferred their audio from Voice Record Pro to iMovie.
6. They added images from Photos to the audio track in iMovie. It was very intuitive for them to adjust the length of each image to fit their narration.
7. Videos were exported from iMovie and uploaded to Google Drive using the Google Drive app. From there, students could turn them in on Google Classroom, using their Chromebooks. 

If you're familiar with iMovie on the iPad, you might wonder why we bothered with the Voice Record Pro app. Well, I tried recording narration directly into the video using iMovie, but it required the pictures, or at least one picture, to already be in the project. It seemed backwards to add all the images, guess how long they should be, record audio, then adjust the length of each image.

So the video below shows an overview of our process for recording and transferring to iMovie. Students recorded their script from beginning to end using Voice Record Pro. Then we converted it to mp3 (since iMovie wouldn't accept the original file format). We exported that into iMovie. 

Most students did not have experience with iMovie prior to this project, but they picked up the video editing process quickly. Unlike other processes I've used, adding the images to their narration and adjusting the timing of the images was probably the fastest part of this project.

Some students did an extra step of adding music. Unfortunately this wasn't as easy as I hoped. When we first tried to add music, iMovie replaced the students' narration. So we had to do it in two stages. We exported their video (without music). We then created a new iMovie project consisting of that exported video, plus the audio soundtrack. This is pretty intuitive if you're used to iMovie, but it involved just enough taps that some students got confused. Also, they often had the music louder than the narration, so this was something I eventually encouraged them to skip.

Example Videos

Reflections

With some weather related school closing and other schedule disruptions, this project took a few days longer than we hoped. We also had some snags with the Google Slides app not updating properly on the iPads. Katie was very flexible with all of this, and she's happy to try the project again next year. 

She told me the best thing about the project is it's real to the students. The problem is real, with some of the fishing taking place fairly close to our area. Katie has a sturgeon in the classroom that the students see every day. They knew they were creating for a real audience.

The script and slides took a little longer than we expected, but the big surprise for me was how the audio recording posed such a challenge. First, it was a little tricky finding quiet places to record. There's always some unexpected background noise in a school. We got help from teachers on prep, using their classrooms or the library. And a few groups took entirely too long to record. Even though the scripts were short, they'd mess up something and end up doing many, many takes. Some editing of the audio is possible in iMovie, but (using the process I outlined above) it is best if they can get a good recording from start to finish rather than try to edit it afterward. 

We asked students what they liked and didn't like about the project. As we could have guessed, writing the script was far from their favorite. Most students prefer to do an outline at best, then "wing it", but that was not an option for them on this project. Many liked researching the topic, making the slides or recording with iMovie best. I took the opportunity to show them how to use Word Art and add drop shadows in Google Slides, since that was new to many of them.

If we do this again, we will:

• Not assume the iPads are ready to go. 
• Be sure partners share the work on the different devices, so everyone gets a chance to experience the tech procedures.
• Make a better outline of steps for students, so they can be more self-directed on the tech part.
• Coach the students better about volume and pacing as they read the scripts.

Authentic Audience and Authentic Engagement - Interactive Stories Using Free Google Apps

I already wrote a lot this summer about the most exciting, creative project I've been involved with in a long time. I worked with some students to create a story one short piece at a time. What made it amazing was we'd publish the story on the school website, then let the readers complete surveys to tell us what should happen in the next chapter.

This gives the students experience with writing for an engaged, authentic audience. Everyone involved was excited to find out what happens next in the story!

We told our story in comic form, using my favorite method of combining real life photos with comic elements. Of course, it will be much easier to create the stories if they're written as prose rather than comics. I'm calling them interactive stories and I will outline the process below. (There's even a 10-page ebook with tips at the link at the very end of this post.)

We actually ran into a snag in the middle of our comic project, so I resorted to some written chapters just to keep the story going. That gave me some experience with what I'm about to describe.

The Flow of the Project

• Explain the project to the students - This includes the very important aspect of telling them what course content you expect to see in the story. They need to know what they are supposed to learn from it.
• Write the first chapter - Students (the Storytellers) would begin by writing a short chapter to kick things off. It just has to be long enough to introduce some characters and make a cliffhanger that will hook the Readers. I suggest using Google Docs for this, since it's easy to share in a later step.
• Create a short survey - Using Google Forms, the Storytellers create a survey with three to five questions that will help them decide what happens next. We embed the link to the survey right in our story, so anyone who reads it can easily find it. See the link at the end of this post for lots of tips about making good surveys.
• Publish the story - We put a shareable link to our story on our school website. The Readers would find it there easily, read it and complete the survey.
• Make the next chapter - The real learning happens here! Combining the lesson goals, the Storytellers' ideas and the input from the Readers, the Storytellers have to plan and write the next chapter.

That process continues with another survey, publishing the new chapter, getting feedback and so on. As it comes to a conclusion (probably after several weeks) the Storytellers probably will request less and less feedback. 

If doing the story as a comic sounds even better (which I think it can be!) I created this ebook for the process using comics and it includes a ton of tips for getting started and working through the project. 

While it can be so much simpler to have students write the story in Google Docs, much of that ebook will till be helpful. The link below takes you to a free, shortened version that will help with these written stories.

Some tips specific to this written process are:

• Use a fairly large font with generous spacing. Dense text is not fun to read on a screen.
• Even with large fonts and spacing, try to keep the chapters to less than two pages. Your Readers might go for longer passages, but we found many wouldn't bother reading longer chapters.
• Make sure you set up Google Forms so the responses are not anonymous. This is very important if you ask for open ended comments. As the teacher, you might choose to manage the survey responses.

I summed up the Gathering Feedback section of my ebook into a much shorter PDF. You can find it here:

Getting and Using Reader Input for Interactive Writing Projects

If you do this project with a class, I'd love to hear about the results! Please send me an email and let me know how it goes. Include a link to the story too!

Music Creation for the Classroom - Some compiled resources

So much of my blog has been about creativity games, but I realized this week music has shown up now and then.  It has always been a huge part of my personal life and recently I have seen how it can motivate students in school.

When it comes to infusing passion into a lesson, not much can compare to the effect music has on many students.  Some of those who are hardest to reach are also deeply interested in music or musically inclined.

Technology has made it easier that ever for anyone to create something along the lines of a song or music video.

Here are a few thoughts and resources that I have posted previously.

The basics:

• This post sums up a method I use to create original songs and videos in about three hours at the most.
• The main idea behind these projects is to encourage learners to make something that involves passion and creative expression, publish it and learn from it so they can do better next time.  
• It's easy to spend a fortune on good equipment, but in all my efforts with recording I keep it simple.  Even a mediocre musician like me can get a lot of mileage out of free online resources, Audacity for recording and Gsnap for pitch correction.  You'll probably need a mic and headphones too, depending on how you plan to perform and record.
• GarageBand for the iPad is amazing.  For several months I thought of it as just a tool for sketching song ideas.  Lately I have been using it to record short songs like some of those shown below.  I use the iRig Mic Cast microphone and iRig guitar interface with it for recording.

From other posts:

• An overall plan for creating music in the classroom - This was written in the summer when I had some untested ideas.  It still serves as the outline for the projects I have done with students.
• My latest music video with students - Two middle school students wrote this song.  I helped them record it and I edited the video using mostly video and pictures taken under their direction.
• My example of a math music video - When I told students about my ideas, some were afraid to sing or perform on video.  I made this video as an example to encourage them to take the step.
• Scientific Method Rap - This is one example from my first effort to assign a music video project.  The post is the best example here of what worked from start to finish in the classroom.  I did about eight hours of work on this after the students finished, just to see what was possible and how much work it would take.  
• Another rap - This example also came out of the class project above, but without my additional editing.  
• Kevin Honeycutt - Since I first came across Kevin's conference session in 2011 he has been an inspiration to me.  I love how he inspires students to be creative and get their ideas out there.
• Music Video for Tech PD - This is a song we had some fun with for a PD session.  I was encouraging teachers to put some passion in their work and to do something new.  This song was a result.  It also serves as an example of what can be done using just the iPad for recording.

Being Heard Above the Noise

This is pretty much shameless self-promotion, but I will put a teacher spin on it.  When I introduce lessons, especially at the grade 6 - 12 level, I often talk about how technology makes things easier.  However, the problem is that we don't get jobs doing easy things.  So the question becomes, as technology makes many things easier, what's still difficult?  I believe in general it is...

• Finding new ideas.
• Making new things.
• Attracting attention.

And that's how I sum up the 21st Century Learning Skills -- Finding, processing and presenting information.  

This post is about the third item on the list.  How does one attract attention in a world saturated with information?  This makes a great challenge to bring up as the class plans the next project based learning unit.  How can we reach a bigger audience than we did last time?

Well, when it comes to a message or a product, there's no substitute for quality.  But we all know my good idea might not find its way to light before your very similar and equally good idea does.  So there's a lot to presentation and getting the word out there.  I have learned a lot about this from regularly reading Michael Hyatt's blog.  

Finding connections within a niche market and getting support from leaders within it is key.  A couple months back I did some promotions for a game I made and this week it was reviewed by someone with more pull than I have.  He posted a review for my game King for a Day here.  (There's my shameless self-promotion.)  I'm glad it received some praise at that site and the author was kind enough to post the review on several other outlets.

Of course, that's good for his own site as well.  To return the favor, I do strongly suggest you check out the Father Geek site.    Even if a lot of the reviews are for things that don't interest you, I bet you have some students who would love to play with or at least find out about the products.  It's worth skimming over from time to time.

So I remind students to create quality work as judged by their target audience and their own design goals.  Also, get it in the hands of people who will spread the word.  Finally, return the favor as best you can.  None of this guarantees a product will hit it big, but it is the way of our information rich, socially connected world.  Even if you don't come up with the next big thing in your niche market you will certainly make some good friends (though you may never see them face to face) and you'll enjoy the journey.

Game Publishing for the Classroom

Going with my previous post about traditional games in the classroom, here's a resource that I recommend to teachers. It is a print on demand service that specializes in board and card games. Students could use this to turn a class project into a nice edition. Copies could be ordered for family and friends. With just a little more work, they can be made available through the site to the world at large.

The Game Crafter offers options for different sized cards, game boards and several other tokens that work for most games. I have published two of my own projects with them and I'm very happy with the results. The game pictured here consists of three different decks of cards and the accessories shown. It cost me about $20 to order my own copy. It's a little more than what I'd pay for a mass produced game with the same components, but it sure beats having to pay for a minimum run of 1,000 copies. My family worked on the project together and they loved seeing it finally arrive in print. I plan to offer it for sale, but to make a profit I will have to raise that price of $20.

So this won't likely be a direct path to a lot of financial rewards, but the site does have a Hall of Fame. There, designers who have used The Game Crafter as a bridge from idea to a successful mass production tell their stories. Certainly this print on demand service can get a good game into the hands of people who can take it further.

I can't say I've used this in the classroom yet, but I suggest it to teachers and I'm looking forward to the first time we can try it. The service is quite easy to use. The only hard part will be working with the graphics and most of that has nothing to do with The Game Crafter. It will depend on polished the students want their cards and boards to look.

I had a little trouble getting everything sized correctly for their site and the interface was a little frustrating at first. Familiarity with a program like GIMP or Paint Shop Pro will do the job nicely.

Once it's all created according to their specs (templates are available on the site) it's just a matter of uploading. You can order your own copies right away, but there are some additional requirements to enter if you want to put it for sale at the site.

If done right, a successful game project like this could involve all of these learning experiences:

• Game design, with all of the problem solving, testing and creativity that comes with it
• Graphic design
• Setting a reasonable cost through choices in the game design itself, component creation and selection of existing components from the site
• Writing the rules and informational materials
• Promotion of the final product

If it sounds promising, interested students and teachers should start here.