Sony Creative Software - Education

Technology is becoming more and more tightly woven into our daily lives. Gaining hands-on experience with a wide range of software and hardware will prove to be priceless for students of all ages. It gives them real-life experiences that can result in real-world opportunities and income. With Sony Creative Software applications, integrating multimedia into any curriculum is easy and fun.

Video is widely known as one of the most powerful teaching tools available. Skeptical? Just ask any student to quote some lines from their favorite movie. They'll rattle it off without even thinking. Sony Creative Software video editing applications make it easy for you to enhance your lesson plans with video. Here are 10 ideas to get you started:

It's no secret that some classrooms have occasional challenges with behavior and cooperation. Digital video projects are a great way to foster team building skills and provide hands-on experience with new technology. Here's a suggestion for a group video project�

Group the students into teams of three to five students—preferably pairing up students that don't normally work together, or maybe don't even get along. Let them decide on a topic about which they would like to make a 5 to 20-minute movie. Give them a bit of instructions on using the camera and editing tool such as Vegas Movie Studio software, and then let them go for it!

There are a few rules to the game, however� each student must participate and their names must appear in the credits showing what they did. Some may be camera crew, some actors, while others may do the editing. Make sure that they all get involved. Finally, inform them that their individual grade will be the same as the group project grade. In this way they must work together toward a common goal. You'll be amazed at the results.

Video yearbooks are a popular trend today and quite simple to produce. With Sony video editing software, students can edit together video footage and still images highlighting the year's activities to create a polished movie on DVD.

With easy-to-use and extremely powerful video editing technologies that you'll find inside Sony video editing software, creating DVD additions to the annual yearbook has never been easier or less expensive. Preserving the memories on video will be a project that brings rewards for years to come.

You can use any of the Vegas video editing applications to create video and other streaming media projects to enhance your school's website. For example, students could create a video tour of the school complete with a host/narrator, subtitles, and background music.

In Monona, WI, one middle school teacher has taken her French class to the next level. Using a nice combination of digital video and Vegas editing software, Sarah Hinton creates video clips from her trips to French-speaking countries. The segments include native French speakers and subtitles. Students not only get a taste of the language, but they also see a whole new world of culture and lifestyle.

She says, "Video is a very powerful tool in language teaching. Students look forward to the short video clips they see during our Africa Learning Expedition. I have noticed increased motivation through use of these video clips. The segments provoke questions and discussion in class about culture that most likely would not have arisen if not for the videos."

Use video to document progress in music, dance, or sports. To do this, capture video throughout the year and edit the clips together using Vegas Movie Studio, Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition, or Vegas+DVD software. The finished video can demonstrate to students and teachers how much progress has been made.

At American Heritage School, a private elementary school in Spanish Fork, UT, music students know all about progress. Why? Because they can see it on TV. Practices and performances are captured on digital video and then used throughout the year to let the students and the music teacher see just how much they are improving from month to month.

Mrs. Morris, the school's director, says, "By bringing the camera into the classroom, we have not only delighted these young children with the thoughts that they will be on TV, but we have also used it to bring out the very best in their performance. Students are able to see how much they have improved which contributes to a sense of accomplishment and self-worth."

The possibilities for music departments are endless. Video can be used to show a marching band how well they are coordinating their choreography and music. Choirs can get an idea of how professional their stage presence is. Serious vocalists, orchestra, and band players can evaluate their posture, facial features, and embouchure to help them produce perfect pitch. Teachers can demonstrate proper techniques and create training DVDs for use at home. The list could go on� It's all possible with Vegas and other Sony Creative Software solutions.

More and more high school classrooms around the country are coming equipped with TV monitors. Several creative administrations have discovered a way to put multimedia to use, while encouraging learning, and interaction.

It's the news like you have never seen it before—filmed, edited, and produced entirely by the student body. News items range from sports victories to academic achievement. Community events are highlighted as well as the special accomplishments of students and their parents. News programs can be broadcasted daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on your resources. But, regardless, students are always excited, engaged, and educated by this innovative use of technology.

And the best part is this� Once you have captured all these exciting moments throughout the year, you'll find that implementing Idea #8 is a snap.

The Vegas family of video editing software is the perfect platform to help you create your school's news broadcast.

Turning school plays and drama presentations into full-feature movies is one of the most exciting and rewarding things you can do with your students. And when you harness the power of Vegas video editing software, editing your video footage, adding special effects, creating a soundtrack, and producing the final DVD cut becomes a seamless, fast, and thrilling experience.

Many parents wonder what their children do all day at school. It's time to show them the whole truth! Consider it a "day in the life of the students."

Randomly, but regularly, take some footage of the classroom while you are teaching, while the children are playing, or interacting. These short clips can be easily merged together, set to music, or even given some commentary inside Vegas video editing software. Your new creation can be shown during parent-teacher conferences, posted on the school's website for parents to view, or even sent home on a CD. Students will love making a movie for their parents, and parents will love seeing their child on the "big screen."

Slideshow presentations can be used for almost any subject and are easy to create using any of the Vegas video editing applications. You can use slideshows to enhance your lessons, or ask students to deliver reports in slideshow format.

Video editing applications such as Vegas Movie Studio software are an easy and fun way for students to showcase their best work in a multimedia presentation. For example, art students can use Vegas software to create a slideshow featuring their best work, with titles for each slide and a voiceover track to comment on their pieces.

Competing with MP3 players, video game systems, the internet, and other technology is no small task. Let's face it� grabbing students' attention is not as easy as it once was. So why fight it? Use it to your advantage!

By bringing rich audio technologies into the classroom, you communicate with students at their level and meet them on common ground. Plus, by using the ideas we've listed on this site, you'll be able to capture their attention, maximize your time, and foster an environment of learning that is powerful, effective, and innovative.

Most students today are rarely without their MP3 players, so why not put it to work for you? A number of innovative schools around the country are doing just that.

Consider your lessons and select a number of them that could be presented audibly. You can use Sound Forge or Sound Forge Audio Studio software to record your lesson, make edits and adjustments, and convert it to MP3 format. This audio portion of your lesson can be part of their homework assignment or an extra study help for reports that they can listen to on the bus, in the car, at home, or even in between classes. The best part is, you'll only have to do it once and then the file can be burned to a CD or posted on the school's website, a ready-made resource for years to come.

Podcasting, also called netcasting, is a method of communication allowing anyone to create audio files and post them on the internet to download. Sound Forge Audio Studio and Sound Forge software are perfect for recording, editing, and producing professional-sounding podcasts.

You can use Sound Forge or Sound Forge Audio Studio software to help students analyze different types of sounds. For example, you can ask your students to create dialog that portrays the sound of various environments and use the built-in audio effects such as echo, reverb, and pitch-shift to create these environments with the software.

Music has a way of getting students to learn, when they don't even know they are learning. From memorizing to understanding contextual messages, music drives the message home. So why not find creative ways to integrate music creation into your curriculum and capitalize on this powerful form of education? Here are 7 simple ideas to get you started.

With so many schools turning to multimedia teaching resources like video and interactive online content, the need for legal, high-quality music within the academic world has never been greater.

Too often, "legal" music, especially background music for video products, is a term that is simply ignored by students. Also, since providing legitimate copies can be costly, many administrations simply choose to avoid these kinds of creative projects all together.

ACID and Cinescore software provide the perfect solution to this dilemma while providing an avenue for hands-on education with real-world applications. You'll be amazed at the music students can create when given the proper tools and technology. Video productions, music projects, podcasts, TV broadcasts (see some of the video editing curriculum ideas), and other multimedia productions will take on a whole new life as they are enhanced with students' original compositions. Best of all, you will get high-performance, exceptional quality music that is license free and void of legal concerns.

Using ACID Music Studio or ACID Pro software is a smart way to help students more easily understand critical music theory concepts such as pitch and tempo.

Fundraiser CDs are a fun alternative to selling cookies and candy. For example, students can make a CD of a school concert and sell copies to raise money for the school.

Composition, drama, and film students can experience the classroom in ways they never imagined. With the ACID family of products, you can easily create mobile lessons that students can download and play on their portable music players. Lessons can include complete descriptions of musical theory, original musical creations that support the theory, and assignments that encourage students to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson through their own scores or songs. These lessons can be posted online for easy download. It is all possible with ACID Music Studio or ACID Pro software.

Many song lyrics were first poems written by romantic, creative, expressive minds. Imagine giving students the power to convert their essays, poems, and speeches into music that moves and motivates people. Several English teachers have empowered their students to do just that. And now you can, too.

Creating music that matches the mood of your literary masterpiece is easier than you might imagine. The simple-to-use music creation technologies found in the ACID product line give students all the resources they need to create original, engaging, and educational music tracks.

Discover how the hundreds of pre-recorded loops, preset musical instruments, and unlimited track mixing can help students create, record, and produce their own musical projects. Click here to learn more about ACID music creation software.

Band, orchestra, and music students go through a lot of theory training. Consider creating an assignment that allows them to fully integrate and understand the theories they are studying. You can do this by giving them the resources to create their own music. Nothing teaches students the intricacies of music more effectively than the process of composing, recording, editing, and producing their own original scores, songs, and performances.

The ACID family of products has the digital technology students need to complete this assignment. Plus it's fun and easy to use. Students can use ACID software to adjust tempo and key on the fly, hear how various instruments interact with each other, and add new loops to their composition in real time, right on their screens. They will know instantly what works and what doesn't—and have the power to easily fix any problems. All the while, they'll grow musically and continually develop their insights and understanding of music.

To feel the excitement of modern music creation with ACID software's easy, powerful, and intuitive approach, download a free, no-obligation, fully functional trial version and experience it for yourself. Download a trial version

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