I did use it as part of a Confirmation project since I work in a Catholic school. The students had to prepare a Movie Maker slideshow on their individual saints. They added music and effects. All in all it went very well but Movie Maker is very glitchy and freqently froze. Also if your students are saving to a flash drive, they have to save all pictures and music files to both the hard drive of the computer that they are using and their flash drive. I enjoyed viewing the projects but it does take patience.

I have used Windows Movie Maker in the classroom with student projects. If you have not used Microsoft Photo Story which is a free download, you might want to look into it.  Photo Story is much easier, but it will only allow you to use digital photos. 

Rosemary

Patricia,

Yes I have used Windows Movie Maker in class with my middle school students. It's easy to use and the students. The hardest thing about it is that you have to have the correct type of video files to import into the program. Write me back if you need more help.

Matthew A.

USA

That's a great idea! I'll have to try that. My 5th-8th grade students use them for expository subjects (expositions inform or explain). They can work in groups or individually. Some of them choose to bake a cake and ice it on a weekend. Then they write out the steps, take photos, etc... and put it all together with audio. They love doing these. Because our students graduate in 8th grade from out parochial school, lots of time they want to make a "memories" video their last year. So I give them free rein to do this. Those go into our digital yearbooks that I sell at the end of the school year for a fundraiser.

Windows movie maker ?India

                       India has so many s/w Engineers who capable  for producing High level Applications

I use Movie Maker as a tool to help students create public service announcements. We go to the PBS site http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/body/smoking/index.html and learn about the harmful effects of tobacco use. Then the students take that information and create a public service announcement. Students love this project and it is quite easy to use Movie Maker to complete the project. I also use movie maker to create short animations.

I use PhotoStory with my students, it is MUCH more simple than moviemaker. Photostory allows you to take still pictures, add text, music, and or voice narration. You then add the type of transitions you want and then the program fuses it all together into a little video. My 5th grade class did the life cycle of the butterfly. We took pictures of the different stages with title slides, set it to music and Voila. It loads in Media Player and the kids love it Most of your newer computers come with Photostory preloaded, but it is offered as a free download from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspxaA

I'm using it now with 4th graders and it's going great. I used to have it on my xp computer but had a lot of trouble with it freezing etc. now I have vista with a lot of memory and it works like a charm. So I'd test it myself first before getting students on it. We are making a movie, and I have them separated into groups--writers, directors, editors, producers and sound people. I think the software is easy enough to use, and you can always go google for "video tutorials microsoft movie maker" You can just use a series of photographs, lay a music track over it and let them have their way with the transitions and titles for each slide. Always with these type projects I make students storyboard or plan first, then execute, and this is great for groupwork.

Could you share what you use for video editing? There are so many out there! Thanks, Mary Anne

I have used Movie Maker and it is not bad. However, this year I found out about a free download from Microsoft Office called Photo Story 3. The teachers I showed it to seemed to like it better than Movie Maker. Follow the prompts on each page to see what to do next. Plus, you create your own royalty free music.

Yes, I have. It was a great experience. I used it for them to create a movie project of how they spent their spring break, documentary on the Holocaust and a documentary on their neighborhood. The critical thing is to find out the permissions that are allowed from your network administrator.

G'day from down under - we are a Mac school, but I use Final Cut, and the kids learn it faster than you or I ever will, and get amazing results - well worth movie making at any age!!

Here's a cute idea that I used for a Mother's Day project. I had my students create interviews with a partner about their mom. One student would ask the question such as, "Why is your mom special?" and the other student would answer. They then recorded their interviews on the free program, Audacity. As they recorded with a microphone sitting in front of them, I took a picture. I then used Movie Maker and dragged the audio and pictures into the show and then burned them on a CD. They were adorable and the mom's loved them. For those kids without a mom in the picture, they did an interview about an aunt or grandma. Lots of Fun! Kim

We just recently did a project with Movie Maker in grades 9 and 10. Students used digital cameras (not video cameras) to make short clips (a couple minutes) then used Movie Maker to cut and paste these together into a video that lasted several minutes. The students found it quite simple to use and the project was a success. However, Movie Maker crashed frequently. We tracked it down to problems with audio background - after reinstalling Media Player, things were much better. I'll certainly do this again next year. The students had great fun, and some uploaded their videos to YouTube. That said, I don't think Movie Maker is a substitute for Power Point. If you want to make a slide show, Microsoft has another free tool called Photo Story - you put in all your pictures, and it makes a very nice slide show automatically, and the result is better and simpler than with Movie Maker.

John, Thank you for your input. I actually talked to a technology coordinator who uses movie maker rather than PowerPoint because she felt it was less complicated. I appreciate your knowledgeable feedback. If I used Windows Movie Maker it would be used only to enlighten students as to what is possibly available on their home computers. Patty