iMovies in elementary school

My 6th-grade daughter and her classmates have been making iMovies during their library time. I was impressed that the librarian had 11 videorecorders to loan out to the students in order to create their movies. They created 30-second videos on subjects ranging from "how to turn on an iPhone" to "how to greet someone" and "how to kick a soccer ball". They had to download the clips onto one of the 34 library computers and edit them to delete unwanted parts. I don't remember using any visual recording technology when I was in elementary school!

I'm glad my daughter is getting exposure to video editing software. It will come in handy if she wants to make a digital story at some point in her educational career. I liked the way the librarian gave them freedom to choose their own topic, and told the students they could be in charge of their own time as long as the noise level stayed reasonable. It was a very motivating assignment for them, and students that were done early happily recorded other groups' projects. There was a lot of autonomy, but the students were busy and focused. The videorecorders were easy to use with a minimal amount of explanations. And my son, star of "how to kick a soccer ball" enjoyed his few seconds of fame.