How I Use It
Projects for Students
Public Service Announcements (PSA)
Book Report/Book Trailer
Research Presentation
All about me/autobiography/biography
Vocabulary Movie
Explore a geographic region or location
Demonstrate math concepts in real world
Create news videos about a current or historical event
Video scavenger hunt
Animate poems
Projects for Teachers
Welcome video for open house
Use as introductory hook for a lesson or a wrap up at the end of a unit/lesson
Video about field trip/sporting event/classroom activity
Create a video field trip
End of the year video
Explain a concept with pictures/videos
My Take
Why I Love Animoto
Some of the features that make Animoto a fun, easy, useful tool and my first choice when creating quick video are:
-It is easy to use for any age group - I have used it with students 2nd grade and up
-It has a great user interface - meaning it is really easy to use
-You can easily edit your work after you have produced the video
-You can use a combination of both videos and photos
-There is an extensive collection of audio for you to use with your video - no worries about copyright issues.
-You get a professional looking result.
-You don’t need to have high technical ability to get the most out of this program
-Your videos can be easily shared in many ways and are also stored on the site for you.
-There is an Android, iPhone and iPad app along with the web-based version.
-It offers an upgraded account to educators for free!
Limitations of Animoto:
-You are restricted to 90 characters of text (40 for the title/50 for the subtitle). The text function serves as a title slide. My students have found creative ways around this. For example if your students needed to explain the unique features of an animal, rather than describe it with words they could find photos or video that focus on that particular feature. You can also have your students use audacity or garage band to record their own voice over and then upload the audio file as the audio track instead of music.
-There will be an Animoto logo at the end of your presentation.
-The video is created for you. You choose the order of the pictures/videos and the music, but the program compiles the finished product.
