I am always amazed at the incredible pace at which new online applications and services get released. Each one seems to out do the other and provide a fantastic free service in exchange for your attention, and user information.

That was until I found Animoto.

Animoto takes the cake!

Click here to see what I created in less that 4 minutes!

Animoto.com is a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos, each a customized orchestration of your images and music.

Amazing!

What a great way to show off our new library in a new and easy way.

Back to school parent night is coming up this week at ISB and no doubt many teachers will rely on Powerpoint or iPhoto to tell their class story. Who will dare go with Animoto?

I’ll find someone

Big thanks to our new 21st century literacy specialist Kim Cofino for the photos.

Hat tip to Robin Good and his “Be Smart, Be Independent, Be Good” blog for this resource. A fantastic resource on the world of online publishing. If you are looking for a web 2.0 maven, he is mine.

ANIMOTO is…………………….

Just finished watching “A Crude Awakening. A powerful documentary that provides an excellent overview of the current state of fossil fuel and energy consumption across the globe and the issues that it generates. The movie reminded me of just how powerful audio and visual media can be to teach others. In just under two hours I not only had a new and interesting perspective on the global energy crisis but more importantly I had new questions, thoughts and ideas that I had never had before. I was interested in more discussion and I wanted to share my perspective. The power of visuals , music and media to enhance teaching and learning is incredible. Of course balance and timing are key to the success of any teaching aid. Show them too often or too long, students tune out. We can all remember teachers who put movies on far too often and the effect it had on the class. That is not what I’m talking about. I am talking about the well time clip that ties in perfectly to your lesson and unit. The one that explains and shows things in way no image or written passage ever could.

Now with great screen capturing technology like the one that comes with SMART board notebook , Camtasia tor even just OS X (Apple + shift + 4) these moments can be captured and revisited. So many new and cool ways to make thinking and questioning go DEEPER!

I just had to share this one moment from the film by capturing this very important diagram.

Questions I would ask students to promote deeper thinking:

What does this diagram say about what we value?

Is the price per gallon proportional or disproportinal to the return on investment?

What questions would you ask? 

Geography, Social Studies , T.O.K and History teachers take note. This film is gold!

You can order a copy here.