Photo Story 3 Tech Module

Module by: Alice Real

Summary: Photo Story 3 for Windows is a program that allows users to create slideshow presentations. It can be adapted for a variety of classroom uses.

Tech Module: Photo Story 3 for Windows

Introduction:

Photo Story 3 is a computer program that allows users to create video slideshows out of a collection of photos. Captions, transitions, special effects, background audio, and narration can all be added to edit and personalize presentations. While other software like Power Point may provide more features and options in creating slideshows, the user-friendly nature of Photo Story makes this program easily adaptable for classroom purposes.

Photo Story 3 for Windows can be downloaded from the Microsoft website at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx

The latest edition has been created for Windows XP, though the author of this module has successfully run the program on Vista. What follows is a brief overview of the features of Photo Story 3. Links to more thorough tutorials are listed at the end.

Photo Story 101

Upon opening the program, the user is asked to import pictures, which can be selected from any folder on the computer:

Figure 1

This page allows basic photo editing, including correcting color levels, eliminating red eye, rotation, adjusting brightness or contrast, cropping, and adding special effects. Any of these options are available underneath the preview window on the left side of the screen. The order of the photos can also be adjusted at this stage by clicking the left/right arrows on the bottom right of the screen. Photos can be deleted with the “x” button.

Clicking the “next” button on the bottom right takes the user to the “Add title” page:

Figure 2

Here, one can add captions and effects to individual photos.

More options are available on the “narrate pictures” page:

Figure 3

Clicking the button with the red circle lets the user speak into the computer’s microphone and record a description of the photos in his or her own voice.

The “add background music” page allows the user to insert existing music or create music for the presentation:

Figure 4

When creating music, the user can choose from style, band, mood, tempo, and intensity to create his or her own unique accompaniment for the presentation.

The last page presents various options for saving presentation. While size can vary, all presentations are saved in wmv format to be viewed in Windows Media Player.

Online Tutorials:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/tips/firststory.mspx

This is the official Microsoft tutorial to Photo Story 3. It provides step-by-step instructions for creating a basic presentation.

http://www.wcboe.k12.md.us/custom_pages/005/MAIN/photostory.htm

This link provides a list of Photo Story 3 resources compiled by Diane Mentzer of Bester Elementary School in Washington County, Maryland. It includes tutorials, as well as sample Photo Stories.

Photo Story 3 in the Classroom:

Photo Story can be used for a variety of instructional purposes.

Mr. McGrain's Fabulous Fables

This teacher from Kirk Road Elementary in Rochester, New York, had his students write fables and present them using Photo Story. A photograph of their written work is shown as they read their stories aloud. Illustrations are interspersed with the text.

The Five Finger Test (Choosing a Just Right Book)

This Photo Story, from Diane Mentzer’s resource page (see above), was created by a group of fifth graders assigned to demonstrate rules for the library. The students took pictures and wrote captions explaining how to pick out a book.

http://udl4all.pbwiki.com/Examples+of+Classroom+Uses+of+Photo+Story+3

This page provides examples of stories created by middle school students around the world.

Dust Bowl Demo

This demo is located on http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/task/photostory/ps3demos.htm, a page with several other samples of how Photo Story can be incorporated into the classroom. This one in particular presents historical photographs of the Dust Bowl, a presentation that could be useful in a social studies lesson.

Affordances and Constraints of Photo Story

Pros:

1. Photo Story is a user-friendly program that allows students to easily create presentations of their original work or research.

2. The software is applicable across the curriculum.

3. There are limited features that allow students to focus on the content of their presentation, rather than special effects.

Cons:

1. Students may be distracted by the special effects that are available.

2. Teachers will need a method for creating digital versions of student work.

3. There is no option for importing video into the Photo Story. 

Teacher Tips

1. To maximize efficiency, give your students guidelines for their projects but leave some room for creativity.

2. Encourage students with musical ability to compose and record their own background music.

Comments, questions, feedback, criticisms?

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This work is licensed by Alice Real under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0).

Last edited by Alice Real on Oct 28, 2008 12:51 pm GMT-5.