When It Comes To Instructions: Is Less More?

How can teachers and schools ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy?

I have used the program movie maker in French class for 3 years. It allows students to create neat video projects using voice and text over still images or even video clips. The students are usually proud of their projects and more willing to show them to their peers. Every year, I revise the project to match the students' ability level.
In the process, I also refine the instructions, breaking it down into small steps, allowing more classtime, giving more details about due dates and providing more specific checklists. However, it seems that every year, the projects are more and more difficult to complete a) following the instructions b) on time.

This year, for the final project of the semester, I met with our MS tech coach, Ms Cofino , asking for suggestions on how I could present and organize the project to ensure success. I tried to apply the following:

1) Presentation of the project in class, providing some examples and stressing the details of the calendar.
2) Brainstorm of ideas (on paper)
3) Story board (on paper)
4) Script (Online, using google docs to allow students to work simultaneously and the teacher to oversee participation and collaboration)
5) Checklist for the script (to allow student the time to reflect on their script, making sure that the CONTENT of their project demonstrated mastery of the new language skills)

Then we moved on to the project on the computer program (movie maker). I had a check list for this section as well.
1) Demonstration of how to use the program movie maker (if necessary)

2) Import and organize all images, using transitions.

3) Add subtitles & record Audio

4) Finalize the movie and publish

Final stage: presentation

1) Complete the final check list for the entire project and turn in the project on stushare.

2) Present to classmates and peer evaluate the projects.

After 7 classes, all broken up stages, 3 checklists, class time and 2 weekends…still, students don’t read the instructions, nor do they use the check lists to ensure that they met the requirement for the CONTENT of their project.

So I thought I had covered all the bases with a structured project, but maybe less instructions is more for this generation of students? I would agree that students today can figure out how to use any tech tools by trial and error (vs. reading instructional manual), but how do we ensure that they follow instructions and meet the requirements for the content?

I am open to suggestions. What works for you?