December 19, 2011

Animoto


http://www.darcyandbrian.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/animoto_logo_lg_blackBkgd.jpg
Animoto is a website for creating digital stories and it is by far one of the easiest sites to use for this purpose. In order to create a video you choose a style (theme), add pictures and videos (facebook, picasa, flickr or upload), select music (upload or choose from Animoto library) and produce your video with preset effects and transitions.  You can also add text to your videos as well.  Creating an account is easy on Animoto and as an educator you are upgraded to a Plus account (full length videos) for FREE.  Students can register for a free Lite account and can create an unlimited number of 30 second videos.  The reason that Animoto is so popular is because it's easy to use and the quality of the completed videos is unbelieveable. Recently, Animoto unveiled an iPad app which will allow you to create and view videos on the go.  Check out the webinar below to discover how you can create your very own Animoto digital story.



 

Now What?
Animoto is an excellent classroom tools for creating exciting presentations and video.  The 30 second time limit forces students to summarize the information being presented and lends itself to focusing on the important content.  I've seen this tool used in a variety of ways including visual depiction of a vocabulary word, pictoral representation of an event in history, book trailers and more.  If you are using Animoto in your classroom be sure to leave a comment and share you experiences.

1 comment:

Brandt Schneider said...

I don't quite get animoto. I got the iPad app. I use this for Mothers Day cards, Vacation recap etc...