PHOTO BOOTH

I can see "Photo Booth" as a useful tool for students to work on presentation skills. 

Some of my special needs students (& others), who often experience difficulty writing, benefit from being able to rehearse verbally before applying pencil to paper.  Recording their thoughts could add a level of independence to their work.  I wonder: Compared to a voice recorder, would the video aspect be more of an incentive or simply a distraction?

One sticking point: My district has NO Macs.  My family has NO Macs, apart from my son who’s living in the City.  I suspect this may be a problem for many of us in this class.

Having said that, this may not really be that much of a problem.  We can’t specifically use “Photo Booth,” but any computer with a web cam can take pictures or video.  Manipulating the results might not be quite so intuitive, but… 

I recently learned about Flip Cams.  I was impressed with the ease with which they can be used.  I suspect my third graders would have no problems filming with them.  These video cameras have some advantages over cameras attached to computers, in that you can go off into a quiet corner with an attractive backdrop to film an interview or whatever.  You can go off site.  You can vary your shooting perspective.  Flip Cam software may be required in order to upload footage, I’m not sure.  Who knows, maybe you can use “Photo Booth.”

I have on my Windows computer, "Windows Movie Maker."  It claims it accepts digital or analog material, and that you can edit, and add titles & credits or special effects.  You can save your movies to your computer, the web, burn them to a CD, or send them via email.  I have never tried it, I’m just reading from the program, though it looks fairly easy – drag & drop clips and such.  I’ll have to make some video, try it out and let y’all know.