Animoto is a slick new web app that takes your
pictures, mashes it with audio, and creates a music video that can be exported to
YouTube or embedded in a variety of social networks or blog.
Here's a Animoto short video I created using moblog pictures I took on a recent trip to San Francisco. I uploaded my pictures from Flickr, picked a slick track by The Dimes, and Animoto did the rest!
There are lots of ways you can use Animoto in the classroom. Animoto is a natural fit for project based learning activities. This is a great way to get students actively interested in history, literature or even science.
And unlike the open web, Animoto provides teachers and students with a controlled environment for them to create and share video. Other sharing options include email to a friend, downloads (for Pro accounts) and some sort of iTunes integration.
Creating a music video with Animoto is also a great way to open the conversation about copyright and Creative Commons. One of the barriers for educators using this type of technology is fear about using music and all the copyright issues that pop up when using an audio track in a video project.
Animoto has done the education community a great service by providing a wide variety of music that can be used by students and teachers. Creative Commons also has a wide selection of music that can be used in an Animoto movie.
You can import your images from all the major photo sites, including Flickr, Facebook, Picassa Web Albums, and Photobucket. Film shorts are free, and full-length videos are $3 bucks. All in all, Animoto sports some really amazing technology.
I have no doubt that the education community is going to create some really amazing projects using Animoto. And towards that end, I've created a public YouTube group, AnimotoEDU, where you can share your classroom project with other educators.
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