Cyberbullying: Close to Home
![Picture](/uploads/8/7/3/6/87361546/imovie-2013.png?260)
One of Apple's most valuable characteristics is the user-friendliness of all their most useful apps, and iMovie is no exception. Before this project, I could not imagine taking valuable class time to teach my students how to use an app that I assumed they would most likely never need aside from the occasional assignment. However, in DED 318, I learned how to use the program, made my own trailer from an iMovie template, and uploaded it to YouTube...all within two hours. Although my first project has a few shaky areas I could improve on after the deadline, I feel that it came together much more effectively than I expected.
The app usually costs $4.99 in the App Store, but I was able to get it for free in this case, and many schools with iPads for their students may include it at no cost. I used the "Trailer" part of the app and will focus on that in my reflection, although I intend to write about the "Movie" option later on in the semester. The trailers are especially useful for teachers because many options are preset, and students have plenty of creative room, but not so much that they will waste time on tiny details and lose track of their learning objectives. Even so, I definitely would recommend using it 9th grade and older only, unless a teacher is willing to devote a great deal of class time to teaching the ins and outs of iMovie. High schoolers have enough experience to work together and work their problems out, whereas middle schoolers might become frustrated and give up.
As a teacher, I can see myself using this to introduce books. Perhaps I would come up with a reading list and make a trailer for every book on it, so the students could watch them and get more excited about choosing a story. I am not particularly fond of the idea of using this to assess what they've learned, because I don't feel that there is enough room for detail or analysis in trailers, unless they wrote a short paper to accompany the project.
The app usually costs $4.99 in the App Store, but I was able to get it for free in this case, and many schools with iPads for their students may include it at no cost. I used the "Trailer" part of the app and will focus on that in my reflection, although I intend to write about the "Movie" option later on in the semester. The trailers are especially useful for teachers because many options are preset, and students have plenty of creative room, but not so much that they will waste time on tiny details and lose track of their learning objectives. Even so, I definitely would recommend using it 9th grade and older only, unless a teacher is willing to devote a great deal of class time to teaching the ins and outs of iMovie. High schoolers have enough experience to work together and work their problems out, whereas middle schoolers might become frustrated and give up.
As a teacher, I can see myself using this to introduce books. Perhaps I would come up with a reading list and make a trailer for every book on it, so the students could watch them and get more excited about choosing a story. I am not particularly fond of the idea of using this to assess what they've learned, because I don't feel that there is enough room for detail or analysis in trailers, unless they wrote a short paper to accompany the project.