Animoto is an easy-to-use video production website that gives users the opportunity to create unique and professional-looking videos at no cost. This website is user-friendly and by simply setting images and video clips to excerpts of music, users can produce beautifully polished videos that would impress any audience—kids included!
For this project, I signed up for a free "Educator" account, which gave me more capabilities than a free "Lite" account. Although the Lite version gets the job done, it has a few restrictions that make it difficult for anyone to get their message across. For starters, the free version limits video length to only 30 seconds. The video quality isn't as advanced and there are fewer customization options, limiting the creativity you can put into your videos and making it challenging to produce a product that is truly yours.
Luckily, the company offers an upgrade for educators. By using a school email, you're able to apply for a free Animoto "Plus" account, which is typically $5 per month or $30 per year. It's features are a little more advanced than the Lite version, giving you access to more video styles and the ability to download your finished products.
Creating a video is easy, and once I got the hang of it I felt confident I could knock a few of these out in under and hour. If you're not tech-savvy (and even if you are), here's a step by step guide:
- When first creating a video, the site will prompt you to choose a style. This will be the template of your video and will set the theme for what you're creating. Some templates are simple, like Classic, which is just black and white. Other templates are elaborate, incorporating different designs and effects throughout the course of the video. These options allow you to tailor your product to your needs.
- Next, it's time to choose the music that your video will be set to. By clicking the tab towards the top of the page with a music note on it, you have the ability to search through several music libraries comprised of songs from a variety of genres. To select a song, click the song you want and then click "Add Song." Animoto also gives you the ability to upload a song of your own by selecting the option "Upload Song."
- Once you've chosen your music, you'll be asked to start uploading photos and videos. To add these, you can either click on the tab towards the left-hand panel that says "Add pics & vids" or click on the "+." Clicking on these activates a pop-up window that allows you to choose photos from the Animoto Image Library or upload photos from your computer. You can also upload photos from several social media outlets, including Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Picasa, Flikr, and SmugMug making it easy to access pictures from anywhere. To upload a picture or video, simply click on whichever option suits your needs and follow the subsequent prompts.
- It's at this point that you have the ability to really customize your video. To place your photos and videos in the order you desire, just drag and drop them into the appropriate spots. For further customization, you can add text slides, spotlight particularly important photos and change the length of each slide using the features on the left-hand panel. If you'd like to caption your photographs, you can do so by hovering over each picture and clicking "Caption..."
- When everything is in place and you are pleased with your product, you can click "Preview Video" under the left-hand panel to see and hear exactly what your video will look and sound like. Once you've reviewed what you created, you can add a title and produce it!
While there are tons of great things about Animoto, I found one drawback that made it difficult to work with. When trying to
reference all of my photographs, there was no way to include a large amount of text at one time. To solve this problem, it's best you write what you want to say in a PowerPoint presentation. After you've written everything down, you can take a screenshot using your computer's features, use Jing, a free screenshot tool download, or save what you've made as a JPEG image. To save your PowerPoint as an image, click "Save As" and instead of saving it as a Power Point Presentation (.pptx), you can select JPEG image. Once you've done this, the slides you have created are saved to your computer as photos. You can then upload the PowerPoint photos to Animoto, solving your issue.
For this assignment in particular, I chose to create two hooks that focus on the Essential Standards for second grade Social Studies and Science in North Carolina. These short videos are not meant to teach content, but instead capture the students' attention and give them a glimpse into what they will be learning about.
This video is meant to introduce the North Carolina Essential Standard 2.H.1.2, which aims to "Identify contributions of historical figures (community, state, nation and world) through various genres." The unpacked standard found on the Public Schools of North Carolina website gave specific examples of historical figures that students are expected recognize. It also prompted teachers to focus on using specific examples of historical figures from North Carolina.
Since the video is only meant to hook viewers into the lesson, I chose forgo any facts or information and only included photos and names of the various historical figures. The music in the video is upbeat and catchy, which will make students enthusiastic about the lesson and eager to learn. And, in order to keep the video relatable and motivational, I chose to add a section at the end that asks students how they will change the world.
In my lesson, I would leave room for a closing discussion that would allow students to share how they plan to do just that.
This video is meant to introduce the North Carolina Essential Standard 2.P.2.1, "Give examples of matter that change from a solid to a liquid and from a liquid to a solid by heating and cooling." Although the standard only focuses on liquids and solids, I chose to include gases as well. The states of matter tend to operate as a group, and I felt it would be good practice to introduce it if only to condition students into always thinking of them as "Solid, Liquid, and Gas."
The video does not go into how liquids and solids can change forms, but it does include several types of solids, liquids, and gases in order for students' to easily identify them in the real world. I also included two video clips that aim to emphasize the fluidity of liquids and how they are different from solids.
Originally, I had considered making this a review video. I thought it would be interesting to use the "Shuffle" feature on Animoto and play the video in class, asking students to shout out whether an object was a solid, liquid, or gas after the lesson was over.
While Animoto can be used for almost anything, I find it can have the most impact in a classroom. It not only serves as a hook to get students excited about lessons, but it also can be used as a review, a quiz, an out-of-class assignment, and in several other capacities.
My favorite way to use Animoto is in a collaborative effort. Since I am still teetering back and forth between my love for second and third grade, I would hypothetically incorporate it into a third grade science lesson on the parts and functions of a plant. The specific standard for this lesson is 3.L.2.1. As a class, we would come up with definitions for the four vocabulary words: roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. These would be included on text slides throughout the video.
We would also take a nature walk around the school's campus to take several pictures of the four parts of the plant, stopping along the way to touch and closely observe them. When we reconvene in the classroom, we would make an Animoto together using the pictures and videos that we took on our nature walk. I would make the video have four sections, separated by the parts of the plant. Each section would be introduced by the definition my class came up with.
I think that this is a great way to incorporate technology into a classroom, especially at a young age. Although it would take seven and eight year olds a long time to learn to produce an Animoto, by doing it together I can both educate them on the lesson at hand and introduce them to a new technological tool.
Overall, I am so happy to have been able to explore Animoto. There are so many ways that this product can be used, especially in a classroom. Understanding how to produce a quality video, in barely any time, and at no cost allows teachers to get their point across in a creative, engaging, and effective way. What more could you ask for?
References
[Animoto logo] Retrieved February 11, 2015, from: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130725233014/logopedia/images/7/75/Animoto-Logo-300x300.png
[Nature trail children walking on trail] Retrieved February 11, 2015, from: https://www.plt.org//stuff/contentmgr/files/1/c144544bcd9ce727795f589fa6fbbd80/files/nature_trail_children_walking_on_trail.jpg
