Animoto

Animoto **Animoto- Look like a pro! ** (if you are an experienced Animoto user, please skip this activity and edit a movie using YouTube.com/editor instead- Resources found here).


 * Introduction **

WHAT IS ANIMOTO?
Video production has never been easier. Animoto is a web application that creates amazing videos with the click of a button. Users simply choose a song, images or videoclips. Titles and additional text can be added. Selected images can be highlighted using the spotlight feature. The website analyzes the selected pictures, music and video to create a custom video. If you don't like the video, you can remix with another click. The resulting video is produced in a widescreen format, containing the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer. Finished videos can be emailed or embedded on wikis, blogs and other websites.
 * [|Animoto.com/education]**

ANIMOTO IN THE CLASSROOM
There are numerous ways that you can use Animoto in the classroom. It is a tool that has applications across the K-12 curriculum, and can even be a great free replacement for PowerPoint. Biographies, field trips, digital storytelling, science projects and more can all be captured with this quick and easy slideshow tool. Animoto is showcasing many of these great uses on their own website to try and inspire creativity in their members. **21st Century Skills** **Creativity, effective communication skills** and **critical thinking skills** come into play when students use this Web 2.0 tool to design and create videos. Creative juices flow when students suddenly become video producers.

The site’s text blocks have a limited number of characters so students must write concisely and succinctly. The video production process causes students to critically look at their choices of images, text and music to make decisions as to the best choices and arrangements. Critically evaluating each video, editing and revising as needed, and remixing videos develop important 21st century learning skills. The visual, audio, and textual elements in producing educational videos help students create visual messages and strengthen visual literacy skills.

**Common Core State Standards (CCSS)** ** Writing .** Animoto supports the CCSS writing standards when students use it to create a video to present information visually and with succinctly written text.
 * __Text Types and Purposes__ - 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content**. **
 * __Production and Distribution of Writing __ - 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

**Language.**  Writing text slides for their videos can help students learn and utilize new vocabulary.
 * __Vocabulary Acquisition and Use __4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. 6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level.

Teacher Accounts
This feature gives K-12 teachers unlimited access to all of the site’s resources for free. Teachers can establish group accounts to monitor student’s work. After registering for an educator’s account, teachers receive a classroom code and suggestions for setting up student accounts. The site has addressed security concerns by making videos created using the educational accounts private. They can only be seen by the users unless they are emailed to parents or embedded on a web site or linked to from another site.
 * Discovery **

CURRICULUM RELATED EXAMPLES
Think about how quickly students will pick up vocabulary or key concepts when watching the videos created by their classmates. Alternatively, think about how thoughtful, students might be in their production knowing that their video will be seen by all of their classmates, not just the teacher. Authentic audience is another critical 21st Century criteria.
 * [|Bill of Rights]
 * [|The Children's Crusade]
 * [|Hermann Hesse]
 * [|Right Angles]


 * ‡ HELP Videos: **<span class="wiki_link_ext" style="background-color: #ffffff;"> **- Students Signing up for Animoto and Creating an Animoto Project**
 * ‡ HELP Resources: Animoto Cheat Sheet **
 * Additional Animoto Resources **
 * [|Animoto Frequently Asked Questions]
 * [|Using Your Classroom Code: A How to Guide]
 * [|Getting Started with Animoto for Education]
 * [|How do I set up accounts for my students?]
 * [|Can other people come across my students' videos or contact my students through the site?]


 * Task **
 * Create an Animoto video (must be over 30 seconds)- topic can be related to school or for fun
 * Go to Animoto's Education site []
 * Click **Apply Now** /**Sign up today** to obtain an educator's account
 * Provide your name, school e-mail address, grade(s) and subject(s) taught and school website address: www.dist113.org
 * Record your classroom promotional code for distribution to students; this code will be emailed to you as well
 * This code is good for 6 months and will allow up to 50 students to make full-length videos
 * For middle school and high school teachers with more than 50 students, contact Animoto via email or Twitter, let them know how many accounts you need and they will update your account to meet your needs.

**Blog post for Week 5- Prezi, Voki and Animoto** For this week's blog post, reflect on how these production tools can change the learning environment of your classroom. Explain some different ways you can use any of these tools in your teaching or how you would have your students use these tools to create. This week's blog post you will practice embedding- embed your Prezi, Voki and Animoto this week. If you can't get them all to embed in one post, break it up into three separate posts or just use the URL link instead. As always, be sure to comment on the blogs of three classmates. If you notice that one classmate is not getting as much attention as others, please be kind and share the love.

media type="custom" key="22613030"
 * Here's a reminder on how to embed.**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">STRETCH

Additional Web 2.0 Resources
This course could not possibly cover all Web Tools. For additional resources and further exploration, check out this website- @http://web20guru.com/by-category/