Basically you upload videos -- and it makes it easy to grab from other online accounts like Facebook and Picasa -- pick a song from the ones they have on file or upload your own mp3, add some text and tell it to make your video. A 30-second video took less than 5 minutes to render.
Videos can be watched on the Animoto site, posted to YouTube or shared through a variety of social media platforms. An embed code is also provided for posting on websites or blogs.
There are a variety of accounts available, but educators can sign up for free accounts.
A Lite plan is free but videos are limited to 30 seconds and can't be downloaded. The Plus plan is $5 a month or $30 a year, but you can make videos up to 10 minutes and you can download them to your computer or mobile device and watch offline. DVDs are available for an additional fee with some account types. Neither account has a limit on how many videos can be created.
The first video is my experimental version, although it has no connection to my class. The other videos were created by educators, students, or institutions. As you can see, Animoto has been used a variety of ways: to create promotional videos, to review for an exam, to preview a curriculum unit, and to tell a story.
A Lite plan is free but videos are limited to 30 seconds and can't be downloaded. The Plus plan is $5 a month or $30 a year, but you can make videos up to 10 minutes and you can download them to your computer or mobile device and watch offline. DVDs are available for an additional fee with some account types. Neither account has a limit on how many videos can be created.
The first video is my experimental version, although it has no connection to my class. The other videos were created by educators, students, or institutions. As you can see, Animoto has been used a variety of ways: to create promotional videos, to review for an exam, to preview a curriculum unit, and to tell a story.
Advantages:
- Another alternative to the traditional slideshow or handout
- Very easy to create -- instructions are clear
- Easy to embed in Blackboard, YouTube or Facebook
- A different kind of assignment option for more video-savvy students
- Free version is available -- although limited.
- Could record your own sound using Audacity or Garage Band and upload your spoken words or music to site.
- No templates, so each video is unique.
- Monthly or annual fee to create videos longer than 30 seconds and to download videos to your computer.
- Text space is very limited -- do not expect to replicate a 40-slide lecture here.
"Animoto." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
Further information:
"Animoto." Teachinghistory.org. U.S. Department of Education, 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
"Animoto, a Web 2.0 Tool Supporting 21st Century Learning Skills." Web 2.0 Teaching Tools. N.p., 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
"Web 2.0 Tools - New Possibilities for Teaching and Learning: Animoto." Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP). Purdue University, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
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