Review by Patricia Monticello Kievlan, Common Sense Education | Updated November 2016

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Animoto

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Create snazzy video slide shows with simple, flexible features

Common Sense Says:

4

Rating Details

Teachers Say (72 Reviews):

4

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Grades

7-12 This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

Great for:

See subjects & skills

Animoto is a digital slide show creator.

Users can add up to 20 photos or video clips to create their own video slide shows.

Users can choose photos and music from their own devices or online.

Pick styles to add effects to your slide show.

While there are several paid pricing options, educators can request a free account to share with their students.

Pros: Eye-catching final projects are fun to make and simple to share.

Cons: Lack of features means presentations won't have much depth.

Bottom Line: Slick music videos and slide shows are easy to make, but students need more controls to personalize them.

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Your best bet for Animoto is to draw on its strengths and recognize its limitations. For an art project or maybe a book report, it could be useful and engaging. It's certainly fun to create slide shows and satisfying to watch the finished presentations. Also, it's a bit of a primer on video-editing software. Choices are limited, which makes the site easy to use, but it also means the teaching potential is limited.

If you're using a lot of video in the classroom, you might be interested in our teaching tips and resources here: Get Students Thinking Critically About Video.

Tool Overview

Making flashy video slide show presentations with Animoto is simple. First, select Create a Project, and the site walks you through each step. Choose a theme, upload short video clips and and your own images or images from a Creative Commons site such as Flickr. Then, upload your own songs or songs from the site, and add text if you'd like. Like magic, the site creates a video and publishes it to your Animoto account. The finished product is a modern and engaging presentation that's appealing for kids and adults.

Once published, users can share the link, grab an embed code, export to other video sites including YouTube, or download a version to the desktop. New themes for projects and new music tracks, sorted by genre, are added regularly, so there's always something new.

Learning Value

While Animoto is cool, it won't let teachers or students express their ideas in a complex way. For teachers trying to engage students in digital storytelling, Animoto might not be the best tool; creating a slide show is simple and straightforward, but the ease of use means that you automate a lot of the creative process and don't have much editorial control. The main problem is you can't adjust transitions; the site syncs them to the rhythm of the song, which is fine for a vacation slide show but has limited potential in the classroom. Also, you can't add your own voice narration, so the emotional resonance of digital storytelling gets lost.

It takes a little doing to get free access to Animoto: Educators have to apply to request a free account, and then they have to set up special Gmail addresses for their students to grant them access. While that's a great way to get access to an otherwise paid tool, some teachers may not feel that jumping through these hoops is worth it. Still, if you're willing to take these steps, Animoto is an awfully fun way to make a professional-looking slide show.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

4

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

4

A highly satisfying and easy selection-and-upload process for music, images, and video clips means kids will have fun creating slick-looking content.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

3

You can't control transitions or add narration to stories, so there is a lack of depth. However, arranging images and videos to music is a great way to hone creativity and storytelling.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

4

Simple videos on the developer's website show how to build a video project, and the home page offers plenty of advice.

Common Sense Reviewer

Patricia Monticello Kievlan Foundation/nonprofit member

About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Teacher Reviews

Write a review

Creativity and deep thinking in simple steps
1

Jennifer B.
Tri County Junior-Senior High School
De Witt, NE

4

September 30, 2015
Sizzling Slideshows in a Snap
1

Amanda X.
Ditmas IS 62
Brooklyn, NY

5

November 8, 2013
This is a great tool to use to have students "show what they know".
1

Kathy S.

4

November 4, 2013
Presentations quick and easy!
1

Kim P.
North Fairview Elementary School
Topeka, KS

3

October 24, 2013
Animoto helps students focus on the content instead of transitions of a presentation.
1

Lisa B.
Hershey Middle School
Hershey, PA

5

April 29, 2013
With a little practice students can create gorgeous and creative videos

Erin W.

4

June 30, 2016

See All 72 Teacher Reviews

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2017 All rights reserved. Common Sense, Common Sense Media, Common Sense Education and Common Sense Kids Action, associated names, associated trademarks, and logos are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. (FEIN 41-2024986) Teaching strategies and digital citizenship tools for educators.

Writing
W.7: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.7.6	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
W.8: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.8.6	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
W.9-10: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.9-10.6	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
W.11-12: Production and Distribution of Writing
W.11-12.6	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

Animoto

Create snazzy video slide shows with simple, flexible features

Subjects and Skills: Animoto

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Tool Overview

Learning Value

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Key Standards Supported

Writing

Teacher Reviews

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