Technology Review & Redesign – Phoebe Shang; WeVideo (www.wevideo.com), an online video creation tool, is accessible to children at various grades and levels.

WeVideo (www.wevideo.com) is a collaborative online video creation tool that allows users to upload their own media clips or use stock media clips to produce their own video. It has a video editor that provides tools for editing the video easily. WeVideo offers its users several options to share their work with others like through Facebook and YouTube. Three customer options are listed on its homepage – personal, business, and education. In this article, I am going to evaluate the educational effectiveness of WeVideo by lining it up with the criteria of creating new media content for children.

Diversity: For Almost Everyone
Rather than providing its users with diverse contents and resources, with its seemingly simple layout, WeVideo functions as a platform where diversity happens. The simplicity and convenience inherent in this cyber space appeal to students of both genders, at different ages, and from varied ethnic groups. As a matter of fact, when students engage in the process of video creation, either independently or working with a group, a set of skills are brought into full play – creativity, problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. In short, the actual power of this web-based editor resides in the fact that no matter what your level is, you have a place to go and a place to start.

Accessibility: Limited by Its Own Form
With its value deeply rooted in visual pleasure and sense-making, WeVideo has very limited application in special education.

Interactivity
It encourages peer interaction both online and offline in unexpected ways. Some students are shy in class and may not dare to talk to others, but they will not be afraid to create a video and share what they are thinking. When they get out of their shells and create a video, they are sending a personal and authentic message to their peers and opening up a line of communication. In this sense, WeVideo affords the kids an outlet of expression and highlights their life in a positive light. But, more importantly, the social and collaborative nature of this platform encourages group work during which students feel more connected and engaged as a team. When children invite others to create and edit a video, they have the conversations together and help each other. They get a chance to a leader as well as a team player and hone their social skills.

Education & Artistry
On WeVideo webpage, there is an Academy partition in which articles and demos on editing techniques are offered to users with varied levels of technological proficiency. After a grasp of basic editing skills, young users can move on to more advanced techniques such as adding texts and annotations, making rolling credits, and adjusting audio levels.

Value
Apart from providing the younger users with the liberating thrill of artistic creation, WeVideo connects with them on a much deeper level by putting their perspectives in the center of attention. The longing to be heard and seen is in the human nature. Feeling empowered and confident, kids tend to channel their newfound creative freedom into a wider range of topics and explore new territories of expression. A popular category of teenagers’ video making is bullying at school. One video, for instance, starts off by reenacting the bullying drama at the school gate, on the playground, in the classroom, and in the cafeteria. Then it is followed by reversed scenes where a peer stands up for the bullied girl and expresses the value of fairness. What is interesting about this production is that the bullies in the video are played by children of color while the bullied part is played by a white girl. This unusual character set reflects the amount of design effort the video makers put into their execution.

Safety
On the other hand, the innate freedom and liberation of the WeVideo platform can translate into lack of supervision and even condoning of cyber bully with some kids who record private or humiliating moments in their peers’ life and release them through WeVideo. In the education section specially reserved for schools, a student is asked to contact his/her teacher or administrator to be added as a user on their school’s account. But other than that, the control on improper sharing is limited at best.

Room for Improvement
So far, I’ve detected two areas in WeVideo where exists some space for enhancement.
1 Resources on the Website
Basically, WeVideo presents itself as a toolkit in assistance to video-makers. Some project-based learning programs integrate the WeVideo platform into their daily learning. But I see possibilities of more effective integration between WeVideo and school teaching. For instance, taking advantage of its partnership with other media platforms such as YouTube, WeVideo has the potential to offer its users more images and video clips. With materials more specialized and subject-relevant, WeVideo will make its way into a science class or a journalism course.
2 App for iPhone and iPad
The WeVideo app for iPhone and iPad has fewer functions than its website. Considering the difference in children’s access to a computer, an update of the app will lead to a wider and more effective application of WeVideo.