This easy-to-use and very functional presentation app allows you to turn your camera roll into stunning multimedia presentations. You can use your own music, photos, and videos in making a project that can be easily shared with family, friends, colleagues, etc. The Wall Street Journal called them “supercharged videos more akin to music videos than slideshows.” This simple alternative to iMovie is free on iOS and Android. Animotos can also be uploaded to YouTube. Check out the Animoto below highlighting the New England Student Showcase and sponsors of this year’s New England 1:1 Summit  (which you can still register for by the way!)

How Teachers Can use Animoto

In the classroom, Animoto is a great way to introduce new content and gets students engaged from the start. Teachers can also create them as welcome messages during open house and/or back to school nights for parents and embed them into their classroom website. The best thing about this tool is that it is very easy to use. As the Animoto website explains, “cinematic artificial intelligence is used to analyze the multimedia content in order to create a custom video.” This allows the instructor to focus on the instructional content versus investing a lot of time in learning how to use a new technology tool. In other words, very little technical skills are required to make an Animoto.

How Students Can use Animoto

As mentioned, Animoto is a free and simple way to create presentations for the classroom. If your students don’t have access to iMovie, Animoto could be a very suitable alternative. It can also be used for digital storytelling. At the beginning of the school year, students could create “About Me” Animotos to introduce themselves to their classmates. The videos could then be embedded into the class blog, or individual student blogs as portfolio items. At the end of the school year, students could create “Year (or Semester) in Review” Animotos highlighting what they learned in the class or they could create videos highlighting how they plan to spend their summer vacation. Because Animoto has music, photos, text, and videos, it is a much more exciting way to present information. It also pushes students to think creatively. Animotos can also be created on iPhones. Once completed, students can Tweet links to their Animotos using a designated hashtag.

Content Specific Examples-High School Level

At the high school level, Animoto can be integrated into a wide variety of content areas. English students could create videos explaining a specific chapter in a novel. Science students could create Animotos documenting a lab experiment. Foreign language students could make Animotos about the culture and customs of a specific country and tell their stories in Spanish, French, or whichever language they are studying. Social Studies students could create Animotos that demonstrate their understanding of historical events and figures. Business and marketing students can use Animoto to create promotional videos showcasing a business idea or a prototype of a new product. The possibilities are only limited by a student’s creativity. Check out the example Animoto Mrs. Scheffer’s Digital Literacy/Web 2.0 students created on the topic of creative credit and copyright.

There are many themes to choose from! Some recommendation include:

For Valentine’s Day  try “Coming Up Roses.” To promote a school dance or upcoming fundraiser take a look at “Dance Party.”
To create an action movie trailer-type video “Inferno” in a good choice. For an overview of a summer vacation “Life’s a beach” is a no-brainer! Club advisors can also use Animoto to advertise meetings and recruit new members.

If you need even more features, you can upgrade to a paid account. The chart below outlines the differences between the “Lite” (Free) account, the plus account, and the pro account. The main upgrade benefit that is presented is the ability to create a 30 second video, a 10 minute video, or a 20 minute video.

 For those who are planning to actively use Animoto often and with great specifications, there are also business plans available. Below are the plans that are for those looking to revolutionize their professional presentations.

Animoto is so easy to use, CommonSense Media has deemed it appropriate for children as young as nine. At the middle school level, students could create book trailers. Check out this awesome example of a trailer about The Hunger Games. As mentioned earlier, as the school year comes to a close, keep your students engaged and give Animoto a try. Your students could create a digital memento of everything they’ve learned and the friendships they’ve made since September. This project would not only be a great way for your students to show off their creativity, it would be an excellent digital portfolio item they could share with their parents.

Summary-Pros and Cons:

Features of Animoto include:

• Over 50 different video styles
• Hundreds of songs in the built-in music library
• Caption your photos, trim your video clips, and create title cards
• Share videos via email, Messages, Facebook, blogs/websites, Youtube, Twitter, or even by simply downloading it to your computer
• You’re only limited by your own creativity

Setbacks:

• Limited to 30 second video for free version
• Free accounts have limitations such as video styles

So what are you waiting for? Check out Animoto today! You won’t be disappointed!

If you have any questions or want to brainstorm ideas on how to integrate Animoto into your curriculum, contact Mrs. Scheffer. Help Desk students are also available to come into your classroom and work with your students on this, or any other type of iPad/iPhone app.

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