At first I was going to do all three projects using Smilebox, a free download and if you tell them you’re a teacher you get the best version for free. But then I decided it would be better if I just did one story in Smilebox and then one in Photostory3, another free download and the third in Windows Movie Maker. I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to compare the three different processes and see the pros and cons of each. You can see all three stories on my wiki.

So, here’s what I’m thinking about each program at the moment:

Smilebox

Pros

• Colorful
• Choice of layouts-scrapbook or slideshow, I selected a slideshow
• Lots of music selections
• Easy to embed into a webpage.

Cons

• Limited #of slides for a slideshow
• Can’t add narrations
• Even though I downloaded Smilebox at school I couldn’t save it from home and take it to school to work on it.

Photo Story3

Pros

• Easy to record voices
• Picture and voice are kept together as one unit so easy to move around on timeline
• Music can be added

Cons

• Can’t edit recording but it is easy to delete and redo
• My file became corrupt and I couldn’t edit it. When I searched for a solution I didn’t find one but I found others have had this problem.
• No reminders to add a title slide or credits
• I put in a page turning transition but it does not show up in the finished product.

Movie Maker

Pros

Recordings can be done in Audacity so that the mistakes and long pauses or ummmms can be deleted.

Cons

Voice and picture were two different files and moving them around on the time line was not easy.

A little tricky to get recordings and pictures timed correctly.

At the end of the project I figured out I didn’t have to use Audacity and could narrate right on the timeline. I tried this but the voice went right on top of the next voice because I hadn’t put more space in the spot.

I’m not sure if music can be added or not.

I put in a star transition between the slide but it does not show up in the finished show.

Final Thoughts

If a teacher came to me and wanted to do a digital story I would recommend Photo Story 3 if the children were going to be doing the project. If the teacher is putting it together and they didn’t need narration I would also recommend Smilebox. I’m working on a Snow in 6 Words project thanks to Martha Thornburgh for the idea with my third graders. We’re building it in PowerPoint and when we’re done I may have them move their slides to Photo Story 3 and then post them on the wiki.

Your Thoughts

Please let me know your thoughts on these programs. What do you see as the pros and cons? Share tips and tricks that will make this easier or recommend other products to try out.

Thanks!