Windows Live Movie Maker is fantastic to use in the classroom - and it is free!

The next programme that we will take a look at is Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker is a fantastic programme to use -  if you think that creating a video with your photos is too complicated then see what you think after trying Windows Movie Maker. The great thing about it is you can add photos and video, whereas in Photostory 3 you can only add photos.

Which Movie Maker do I use?

There can be a bit of confusion about Windows Movie Maker because if you are using Microsoft XP, Windows Movie Maker is already part of the package. It is what I call the 'old' Movie Maker (and in my opinion it is much easier to use).  You CANNOT install Windows Live Movie Maker  if you are running XP, as far as I can see. So I am going to put two tutorials below - one for XP users which is the old Windows Movie Maker, and one for Windows 7 users - the new Windows Live Movie Maker. 

Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP users
(I am not sure about where Windows Vista fits in)

I found this tutorial on the Internet and it seems to do the trick.  




Windows Live Movie Maker for Windows 7 users

This is the latest Movie Maker - Windows Live Movie Maker. I found this tutorial on the Internet and it also seems to do the trick. On Thursday evening the webinar will focus on Windows Live Movie Maker.





What can you do with Movie Maker?

Not only can you include your best photo shots and some of your clips, but you can also add some really nice video and transition effects. Your movie could look quite professional at the end.

How to get started with Windows Live Movie Maker

If you look at the image above you’ll see that there is a place that says ‘Add videos and photos’. After you do this the media clips appear on the timeline at the side. Then you add as many effects as you like. You can even add titles and credits to your movie. Here is an infomercial from Microsoft showing how to use the Windows Live Movie maker software.

How to use Windows Live Movie maker step-by-step to make a simple movie

Instead of putting my application into SlideShare as I usually do,  I thought I would experiment with Microsoft's Sky Drive. Did you know that when you join the Partners in Learning Network you receive a whole web-based Office suite (almost like Google Docs) with 25 GBs of free space. I uploaded my PowerPoint to my SkyDrive and have shared it so that it can be seen by others. You can watch this full screen by clicking the little box on the right. 

Here is the actual video I made when completing the PowerPoint tutorial above. The beauty of Blogger is that you can just add a video like this straight from your computer without having to go through youTube or another hosting service. 

http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p6ha1ycp091/

What about starting a movie channel for your class?

You can create your own movie channel in YouTube or in School Tube to store all your class’s movies. I believe there is also a YouTube Schools now. When I was teaching last year I opened a free School Tube account because it seemed a safer environment.