Week 7 (Thing 14 & Thing 15)

Last week you found photos, this week it is time to use them.

Animoto is a free service that automatically produces videos from your photos, video clips, and music. Basically they put everything together, add some transitions, and voila, a cool looking video.

Already you're thinking 'forget powerpoint, I want Animoto presentations'

Animoto has a great intro video (as they should!) so start here to fully understand how it works (click on the "Learn More in 60 sec" video)

14) Explore Animoto and see what other people have done to use this ? video service. Go to the Example Videos http://animoto.com/showcase and watch a few.

a) create an account at Animoto.com

b) create your first Animoto video piece. Topic is irrelevant at this point, just play with it and see what comes out.

15) Post to your Blog how you could use Animoto in the classroom. If you are feeling comfortable, put a link to your Animoto video too.

here's an example - http://gjsd23.blogspot.com/2010/10/animoto-video.html

How to Add Animoto video to your Blog in 10 easy steps...

1. Watch your video on Animoto
2. At the end select the "embed" button
3. A new window pops up - click "Copy Code" button
4. Log in to your blog
5. Create new post
6. Click on the tab on the right that says "Edit HTML"
7. Right click in the main body section of the post (where you would normally type your blog entry)
8. Select paste
9. Go back and give your post a Title
   
10. Click "Publish Now"

Animoto Video

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Week 6 (Thing 11, Thing 12 & Thing 13)

Websites like Flickr & Photobucket have changed the way we use images. Flickr is perhaps the most prolific of these sites and has turned photography into a community of sharing. These photo sharing sites are also great examples of tagging (something we will explore more soon) as a means for assisting our keyword searching.

If you are already a Flickr or Photobucket user then you have a slight advantage here. But you still need to explore more - you might find something you didn't know about!

For this week you do not need to set up an account with these photo sharing websites at this time. Once you have a great idea for your classroom, you'll probably want to create an account in whichever of the 2 you prefer. But, right now, no account is needed to explore.

11) Explore Flickr or Photobucket (I am a fan of photobucket because I like the way they layout their search) and see what images are available. Be sure to browse for any type of image, but also try one or two of the links below for more info about the sites.

Note: Flickr has some great Groups where themes are used, or even a class can upload an image to their "class group".

Flickr Tour:

http://www.flickr.com/tour/

Flickr Groups FAQ:

http://www.flickr.com/help/groups/

Photobucket Overview:

http://pic.pbsrc.com/help/PhotobucketHelp.htm

What's New (Photobucket) - good for how-tos and ideas:

http://photobucket.com/?whatsnew=1#tabs

12) explore these outstanding example of how images tell a story...

Farm to Food - http://www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/discuss/72157603786255599/?search=farm+to+food

Gender Miscommunication - http://www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/discuss/72157594311362023/?search=gender+miscommunication

More examples, general discussions and tips for "Tell A Story in 5 Frames (Visual Storytelling)" can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/

13) Post to your blog how you could use Flickr or Photobucket in your classroom, both in teaching a topic and in getting students directly involved in using a photo sharing website (expanding on the ideas above is OK, just relate it to your classroom and expand a little).

P.S. A Note about Flickr etiquette & tagging photos... a) As educators certain issues are always lurking in the back of our minds. Photo tagging etiquette is something that needs to be of a concern to you at this point. If you are going to post a photo of somebody else in a public place, like Flickr, get their permission first. Also, if you are going to tag a picture with someone's name please use discretion when you tag students, in fact, I would go so far as to say Don't Tag Students by Name. b) Only post photos taken by you, or give credit to the photographer. c) When creating a photo sharing based assignment for your students be sure to go over Photo Sharing Etiquette with them as part of your introduction.

Note: In case you haven't noticed, you should be adding a Blog entry every week as we explore these Web 2.0 technologies. Feel free to add more than one entry (remember, someone might be subscribing to your blog via RSS!).

Hoorah! Over halfway through your 23 Things.