The Magic is Back

My name is Jeff Peach, I am the computer teacher at Magnolia Intermediate School in Grass Valley, CA. I have been using HyperStudio since it was originally introduced on the Apple IIGS in the early nineties. I didn't think it could be improved... I was wrong. HyperStudio is back and it is better than ever! Since last May we have been using HyperStudio 5 daily, averaging between 200-300 students a day. HyperStudio 5 has brought new energy to our lab.

One of the missing pieces in our lab environment was a good multimedia software for Mac OSX where the students could be creative with their own drawing. The programmers have put some serious energy into improving the drawing capabilities of HyperStudio and our lab is on fire with excitement! Now, in every project we look for an opportunity to add a drawing component. The ability to switch graphics between objects and backgrounds has made it extremely simple to edit student drawings. The intuitiveness and ease of use is as strong as ever. So many times with software instruction we spend too much time teaching the software and not enough on the curriculum content. With the power of 'Places to Go' and 'Things to Do,' for any object, the possibilities are endless. We spend most of our time just getting out of the way of our students. Students who are anxious to move on and figure out what to do, without our intervention. That is the sign of a well designed software and Hyperstudio 5 has made my job easier. I spend more of my time working to 'kick it up a notch' and stay ahead of the kids, not playing catch-up.

Another improved and exciting feature is the ability to add videos. Students used to spend a lot of time typing their content into text objects. Well, the students are still creating and writing in the classroom, but when in the lab, Hyperstudio 5 allows their creative words to be seamlessly recorded as a video, using the built in camera on every Macintosh. This generation's media of choice is video, and HyperStudio 5 has made it simple to incorporate this feature into each student's project.

We were shopping for an animation software, but not any more. HyperStudio 5's animation features are as strong as ever. Whether you want to just drag an image across the screen or tell a whole story with a cell animation, HyperStudio 5 fills that need. We have students animating levers, erupting volcanoes, demonstrating forest succession, and creating tide pools. We are tricking our students into learning! They are motivated by the software's features to animate; all we are doing is slipping in the curriculum. Hyperstudio 5 allows our students to be in control as they have fun working as multimedia authors demonstrating their knowledge of curriculum.

The Magic is Back and ready to go. I don't work for HyperStudio, HyperStudio 5 works for me.

Jeff

Jeff Peach Technology Curriculum Specialist Magnolia Intermediate School Grass Valley, CA