For my first blog post on emerging technologies, I chose a website called www.animoto.com. Animoto falls under the category of digital storytelling in the technology world. The best part is that Animoto.com is a free site, so all you have to do is register. I like Animoto because it creates videos out of pictures. You can add captions to explain what is in the video, and the website also lets you add a music track to the video. The website is very user-friendly. After you sign-up, you just click “Create Video.” You then choose whether to create an Animoto short, or to create a full-length video. A short contains 12-15 images according to the site. Of course, the full length video requires video credits, which I would need to purchase. Since I’m a poor college student, I decided that the 30-second video would be just fine! I clicked on that option, and then I just had to upload pictures into the program from my computer. It was that simple! Another great feature on the site is that they provide a button called “Tips for this section” during each step of the video creation process.
I think that this website is useful for creating a digital memory album. I could see myself creating a class photo collage for my students to view at the end of the year. They could even make their own videos, and we could use them to learn more about each other. This website could be a great icebreaking activity to do at the beginning of the year. Plus, it is a great technology to use for personal reasons as well, since it cuts down on paper and is good for the environment.
One tip that I have for anyone new to the site is to be sure to hold down shift or control when selecting what photos to upload to the site. Control is the better option, because it will select individual pictures, whereas shift selects all the pictures between your two mouse clicks. Also, make sure to click “Add More” and not “Continue” between uploading your files. Otherwise, the program will prompt you and ask if you are finished uploading photos. I kept hitting “Continue” by mistake, so that was annoying.
All in all, I give Animoto a solid 10. They provide users with great tech support, and the end product is wonderful! They even have a feature under the pushpin icon at the end that automatically posts your video on Blogger! So, be sure to check it out, and enjoy the sample video I created below.
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