TECH: HIT> Hyperstudio vs. Astound

["Kathryn K. Lafferty" <klaffert@PEN.K12.VA.US>]

The following are the responses I received to a query asking
for opinions on using Hyperstudio vs. Astound.  I had seen
Astound demonstrated, and have had a chance only to play around
with hyperstudio by myself for an hour or two.  Judging from
the responses, I think I'll stick with Hyperstudio!  Can't wait
to learn how to use it!  Thanks to all who responded!
 
Kathy Lafferty
----------------------------------
Love Hyperstudio! I've used it all school year with my 7-12th
graders. Most of them become better than I am. Age doesn't seem
to matter as far as using the program. I know my colleagues use
it as low as 3rd grade with success. Haven't used the other
program so can't compare--sorry. The slowest learners were the
teachers.
 
I got a copy of Astound (they made me an offer I couldn't
refuse!) when it first came out and I really like it. My 6-8th
grade students can dabble without a lot of assistance . However
it has a lot of business type features that kids don't need and
that may be distracting.....it's also a memory hog. From what
I've seen Hyperstudio does everything you'd want with an easier
interface.
 
I have not used Astound, but HyperStudio is an outstanding
program for elementary aged kids. It exceedingly easy to learn,
is not a memory pig, inexpensive and school site licence allows
parents to make copies forhome, and makes great multimedia
presentations.  We use it in all grades, 4 year-olds to fifth
grade. In fact the kids have made some great stacks on New
Mexico history that may be published. One of these stacks was
made a class whose teacher had not previous experience with
hyperstudio.
 
I talked to one of our instsructional computer specialists
about Astound earlier and she says that Astound is not that
easy to use.  I have a copy of Hyperstudio but haven't had time
to try it.
 
I am the K-12 Media Specialist and have used Hyperstudio on the
Mac with elementary kids.  I love it!!!  Of course, I used
Hypercard before, and Hyperstudio is so much better.  We are
using it with 4th graders - they now know a whole lot more than
I do.  They have done 4 projects with it.  I haven't used the
other program you mentioned, but am looking forward to hearing
what others say about that.
 
I am working with elementary students using HyperStudio, and we
think it is a terrific program.  Our 4th and 5th graders are
really taking off, and some 2nd and 3rd graders have had
success also.  I have not heard of the other program.
 
UPDATE ON MEMORy ISSUE: I was writing on the fly..... on our
LC520 we had problems with Quicktime before we allocated 6m of
RAM to Astound...since kids often leave programs open (simply
closing the active window) it can be a problem.
 
I've used Hyperstudio with 2nd and 3rd graders and we love it!!
In addtiion, a 3rd gradre teacher and I tAught a 6-week prf.
development course on Hyperstudio.  I'm answering this from
home--it's our spring vacation wekk but I'll be back in school
on Monday.  Send me another message if you'd like me to send
you any ofthe products the kids created on Hyperstudio..
 
HyperStudio, hands down, for elementary! Astound for jr. hi.
and up. I've worked with both.  HS is _so_ easy for students to
use and can produce presentations from the very simple to some
pretty sophisticated stuff. It's easy to do multimedia
presentations with it - record sounds, spoken or from CDs;
control (play) segments of a laserdisc; import QuickTime movies
made from laserdiscs or regular VHS tapes. The kids love it. I
even prefer it for the jr. hi. but Astound could be used at
that level. I have it on 20 of the 30 Macs in computer lab
(part of media center) at the jr. hi. and will be installing it
on half of the computers in lab (also part of media center) at
the elem.
 
Hi, We use Hyperstudio Mac version (Win is out this spring?)
and like it.  Hyperstudio was written for kids to use in the
classroom.  It is relatively friendly, although both kids and
adults have to problem solve sometimes more than other times,
to figure things out.  Astound is actually a commercial
multimedia authoring tool, that is probably more expensive.  I
am not convinced that commercial tools don't do several things
easier and better than educational tools...Pagemaker vs.
Writing Center, for example.  I bought Premiere for video
editing and hope to learn it well enough to have kids use it.
That is the issue, can you learn Astound well enough to
interpret it for kids and teachers to get them started?  Will
it be costlier? Why not get both as single copies and compare
them?  Even if you decide to expand one, the other will be
better for some projects.
 
 
--
Kathy Lafferty
klaffert@pen.k12.va.us
Patrick Henry Elementary School
Alexandria, VA