iMovie advice for Pupils

[jacg]

I'm a teacher and I'm getting some of my students (aged 10-13) into iMovie. I have never really used iMovie much, but being a FCP user I kind of get the gist (and regret some of its limitations). However, I think I try to pass on too many details at once and I wondered if there was a default way to learn iMovie. Eg. trim before timeline or after? Has anyone got kids into iMovie before? What's the least pushy way of getting them going? (ideally one that involves media they can film and capture themselves). Any good links?

BTW, it warms my heart every time they look at our 17" iMac and exclaim "cool".

TIA

 

[virividox]

i cant really give advise on how to teach,

but i know that when i was that age i hated it when i had a set of instructions to follow, i liked it when our teacher would just let us experiment with the computer. Once in a while they would do a quick demo to show simple things, i guess in ur case your demo would be transitions, incorporating music, and such

i think when kids are a littel older 14 + then they might really wanna be serious about it and actually have a guided plan, but 10-13 most kids just wanna have fun

 

[GigaWire]

iMovie is so simple that allowing them to "play" will not only help them learn what they are doing, but will also motivate them to become better at it without getting terribly lost in the process.

Start by showing them something that you have done with iMovie, something that will impress them. From there, show them how to capture, manipulate clips on the shelf, amd then how to trim. Let their curiosity drive them to either figure it out, or ask you, but by showing your example movie to begin with, then they have a reference point from which to ask you questions, rather than you explaining all the parts that made up that movie. They'll see what they can do from your demo movie (so make it flashy!!) and instead of dealing with abstract concepts like the process, they can simply say "You know like that part in your movie where..."

 

[Kingsnapped]

Just show them the basics... dragging full clips from the shelf, etc. Eventually, they'll want to shave that five seconds off the end of one and you can show them how. iMovie is simple enough, that they'll learn features as they need them. I would hope you have some kids around who know how to use it already (I've become a staple in the graphics design class at my school...).

Delete the sound effects from all the computers... kids and iMovie sound-effects are the devil's playthings.

 

[jacg]

Thanks for the suggestions. "Let em play" is about right - I just need to hold back when I see an ugly jump cut. It's true that you don't need to know much to get started - I have been impressed by how quickly they get the hang of it.