Thanks to blogger Shannon McClintock Miller, a k-12 teacher librarian, I was introduced to a new and completely awesome Web 2.0 tech tool, Animoto. Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that is utilized to produce videos from text slides, photographs, video clips, and music. Miller used Animoto as an element of her digital citizenship lessons. The students were asked to research digital citizenship and then create an Animoto video to “teach the other students in our elementary (school) and globally about staying safe online” (McClinton Miller, 2012).
While Animoto offers different services that require a yearly subscription, it was refreshing to find that they were thinking about teachers. Teachers can apply for a free Animoto account for themselves and up to 50 students. This account allows the use of personal pictures and video clips and includes access to the Animoto music library and video style templates.
As stated by Melissa P. Johnston, “the highly technological environment of 21st century schools has significantly redefined the role of the teacher librarian” and “technology has become a vital part of the teaching and learning experience, and students have to be taught the skills they need to prepare them to meet the demands of a digital society”. Therefore the addition of this tech tool to a school library program would be extremely beneficial. The format itself is exciting and engaging for students and allows for creativity and individualization, but it also allows for higher-order thinking and collaboration. The applications of how to utilize this service in a school library setting are endless. Students can use the videos to create book reports, book trailers, demonstrate understanding of research, and so much more!
A student made Animoto video - A book trailer for Out of This World by Amy E. Sklansky
A tutorial for teachers on how to use Animoto
References:
Animoto
(2018). Video app for schools – easy video tool for educators. Retrieved from https://animoto.com/business/education
Fairfield,
R. (2015, September 1). Animoto for education (tutorial for teachers) [Video
File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgqpwUvZniE
Friedland,
Z. (2014, March 28). Out of this world (5th grade book preview)
[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PetLq1rYY2k
Johnston,
M.P. (2012). Connecting teacher librarians for technology integration leadership.
School Librarians Worldwide 18(1),
18-33.
McClintock
Miller, S. (2012, October 2). Using CyberSmarts eBooks… our students created
Animoto’s to teach others about staying safe online [Blog post]. Retrieved from
https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/2012/10/using-cybersmarts-ebooksour-students.html
I love Animoto and have found it to be a much easier tool to use than iMovie. There are a ton of built in templates that are visually appealing and fun to watch. Its an easy way to take learning to the next, collaborative step.
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