Next Vista for Learning

at NextVista.org

Instructions: Creative Spark 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; e.g., made by the student/teacher or 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. Click the link for more specific instructions for each type of media and a format for citations.
  6. Because these videos will be freely available online, 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 the 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 40MB 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. Here is a video about how to find file size in Windows.
  8. The filename should 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 an entry form. For students, a verification form from the teacher. See the navigation links on the right to access the forms.
  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 Wednesday, September 21, 2016. There is a small bonus in scoring for those videos submitted by 11:59p on Thursday, July 21, 2016.

There are two methods of submitting videos for Next Vista's contests.

First, you may use YouTube to upload your video. This is the preferred way for Next Vista. Here's the process:

  1. Make sure you named your video properly (see the rules for guidelines).
  2. Go to your YouTube.com account.
  3. Choose the "unlisted" privacy setting (i.e., not public, and not private).
  4. Upload your video. Because of the way we grab videos from YouTube, the size at the time you upload it can be up to 60MB.
  5. Send an email to videos@nextvista.org with the filename in the subject line, and include the link to the YouTube page, the school name, and the teacher's name. While it will also help us for the names of the student(s) who created the video to be in the message, this is not required.

Second, you can use DROPitTO.me for video submissions. Here's the process:

  1. Make sure you named your video properly (see the rules for guidelines).
  2. Go to http://www.dropitto.me/nextvista
  3. When prompted for a password, use: videodrop
  4. Upload your 40MB or smaller video.
  5. Send an email to videos@nextvista.org with the filename in the subject line, and include the school name and the teacher's name. While it will also help us for the names of the student(s) who created the video to be in the message, this is not required.

In either case, make sure you have completed the entry from linked in the upper right portion of this page.

Do not submit videos as attachments to email messages. If you have questions, contact us at 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. We will provide feedback as we are able.

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.