Next Vista for Learning

at NextVista.org

Instructions: Made in the Cloud 2011 Video Contest

Ready to enter? Here's what to do:

  1. The first rule is to follow all the rules. If any of the rules are ignored, your video cannot be one of the finalists, though it might still be added to the NextVista.org library.
  2. The concept you cover can be for any grade level.
  3. The instructional portion of the video can be no longer than 90 seconds. You may use up to another 60 seconds for credits.
  4. Follow the VERY specific rules related to the use of copyrighted content. Any image or music used in the video must be copyright friendly, and taken from specified websites. Many entries in previous contests ignored this rule, and good videos were unable to be considered as finalists.
  5. All media used must be properly cited in credits at the end.
  6. Because these videos will be posted in the online library at NextVista.org, you will need release forms for anyone identifiable appearing in the video. Release forms are not to be sent to Next Vista; students should give these to your teacher, who will confirm in the online entry form that he or she has signed release forms for anyone identifiable appearing in the video. You may use release forms we make available if your school does not already have something similar that parents approve related to content posted online.
  7. The finished video should be less than 30MB in size, and can be in any of the following formats: .avi, .m4v, .mov, .mp4, or .wmv. If you don't know how to check the size or file format, ask someone to help you.
  8. The filename must follow a specific format and must match the information included in the online entry forms. The format is the name of the video with the name of the video editor (or the person identified as the leader of a group), and all words should be separated by the underscore character. For example, if the video is called "Cell Division" and by a student named Maria Cortez (we'll also assume it is an .mp4 file), then the name would be: Cell_Division_by_Maria_Cortez.mp4
  9. One may enter as many videos as one wishes, but each one will require the proper entry form(s) (for students, the Student Entry Form and his, her, or their teacher to fill out a Student Entry: Teacher Verification Form; for teachers supporting a student entry, just the Student Entry: Teacher Verification Form will do; for teachers submitting their own video, the Teacher Entry Form is what you need.).
  10. Videos eligible for the finalist round will be scored using these scoring guidelines.

Submitting Videos

Each video and the proper entry form(s) must be submitted by 11:59p on Sunday, August 14, 2011. There is a small bonus in scoring for those videos submitted by 11:59p on Sunday, July 31, 2011.

How you submit videos depends on their file size. If less than 5MB, please attach the video to an e-mail. If between 5MB and 30MB, use the free service at YouSendIt.com (or another online large file transfer service, such as box.net). Either way, send the videos to videos@nextvista.org.

We are unable to check each entry for rule violations ahead of the deadline. Check the rules carefully (feel free to use this checklist), and if you have questions about specific rules, send them to videos@nextvista.org.

All videos created as part of this contest which meet quality standards for NextVista.org will be highlighted in the Next Vista for Learning online library, and the finalists will be promoted in our monthly international newsletter.