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Minnesota 5th and 6th Graders Outgrow PowerPoint with New Video Editing Software

When many of us were in grade school, the latest technology in the classroom was a white board and a dry erase marker. Obviously, times have changed. Students as young as ten are already adept at creating class presentations using PowerPoint. Now PowerPoint is becoming passé as kids explore video editing with Ulead video editing software.

Shaping and developing young minds in this digital era has forced teachers to think of new ways to prepare kids for the world they will eventually face. Chris Kreie, the Media Specialist at Oak Point Intermediate School, enjoys the opportunity to challenge students with new technology. He therefore installed Ulead VideoStudio on the PCs in the student computer lab.

“Ninety percent of the kids have never seen anything like this,” says Chris, who researched various consumer video software programs before deciding on VideoStudio. “Creating presentations on Ulead VideoStudio challenges the students in a new way. And it’s great that the program is so easy to use.”

A group of sixth grade students recently used the software to create a social studies presentation. Each student researched a different country and made a five-minute presentation on video. The video presentation was both interesting and well-developed, so much so that Chris submitted it to the local cable channel which ran the 30-minute video.

Another popular project is the personification of an object. The project requires students to choose an inanimate object, draw it, and scan it into the computer. The goal of the project is to give the object a personality and present it to the class. Students are able to quickly and easily assemble their images into a video slideshow complete with transitions, titles and narration.

Other video projects include newscasts, commercials and poetry readings. “We just finished a poetry unit where the kids acted out a poem on video. It’s really fun,” adds Chris.

After completing a video project, students will present their video to their class. They also have plenty of opportunities to show off their work to parents, teachers, and school staff members at various school-related gatherings.

For more information on Oak Point Intermediate school, and their curriculum, visit their Web site, http://www.edenpr.org/oakpoint/index.html.