The Basics of Movie Maker.

Getting students to easily edit together video/pictures, audio and text should not be a daunting task. Windows Live Movie Maker builds upon on the foundation of its predecessor Windows Movie Maker 2.6 by retaining its simplicity, but by giving the user the capability to edit a variety of different file formats, rather than the constraints of just manipulating a standard .wmv file.With the introduction of 'plug & play' video cameras and the ever progressive advancement of mobile phone camera technology, a basic video editor must be able to bring this footage in and allow the user to start editing it immediately. Gone are the days of end users tolerating lengthy conversion processes so that they can work with their content!

A free product like this will never be perfect, however it does what you want it to do, in terms of being able to simply edit together a sequence of visuals with some audio and text. Simplicity is the key, Movie Maker and for MAC users iMovie cannot be compared to the powerhouse software of the video production industry such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro. If the tool is simple then it will not take away from what is being taught/learned, however if countless lesson must be spent on teaching a tool then undoubtedly the tool has become the primary learning outcome.

The current generation of students pick up basic computer programs extremely quickly. This quick 5 minute video tutorial on the basics of Movie Maker as well as this hand out should be more than enough to get your students to level of being able to start editing their 'movie' together.

Open 'Hand out for Movie Maker' here.