Animoto

 media type="custom" key="11499096" width="110" height="110" align="right" **Link to Web Site:** @http://www.animoto.com

** Description: **Animoto is a web site that makes creating a short video very quick and relatively easy without the need for loading software or managing cords and connections. Videos can be uploaded to YouTube or downloaded for use in other tools such as iMovie and MovieMaker. Animoto offers "free" subscriptions and also premium "pay" subscriptions to users, HOWEVER Animoto offers free premium subscriptions to educators.  **To create your free educator account:** Navigate to the Animoto web site and scroll to the bottom (see at right) and click on the education link where you will be prompted to register and create a teacher account. Your e-mail and school web site will be requested and checked. Every 6 months (or so) you will need to "re-register" to continue with a premium account.

**Terms of Use for Animoto:** The terms of use for Animoto are 13 years or older. Some discussions have taken place that the teacher is the "user" referred to in the agreement and the students are simply accessing an account tied to the user who signed the agreement for the account You may want to consider your district's interpretation of "terms of use" for students under the age of 13.

**To Begin:**
 * **Step #1:** Create an **education** account (it is free. You will want to do this ahead of time so that you get an account and have the ability to create accounts for your students. If you make the mistake of creating a free account without going the way of the educator account you can e-mail from the site and ask them to link up the account as an educator account--it takes some time but they will take care of you.
 * **Step #2:** Click the **"Create Video" button** at the top of the open window.
 * **Step #3:** **Select a Video Style**--anything other than "PRO" is available for the educator account--you will see a sample then click "Create Video"
 * **Step #4:** **Add Pictures and Video**--You can select from a collection in Animoto or upload your own images.
 * **Step #5:** **Select or Change the Music-**-Music can be uploaded from the computer (MP3 Files) or selected from available music in Animoto.
 * **Step #6:** **Add Text**--Text slides can be added to the video (there is a character limit--a way to get around this is to create text and bring it in as a .jpg file)
 * **Step #7:** **Produce the Video** started the processing feature and readies the video for download--this can take some time but the user can walk away from the computer (even navigate away from the site) while the processing takes place
 * **Step #8: An e-mail is sent to the registered user (the teacher) when the video is done.**


 * Samples:** At the education site there are a few examples at the bottom of the page on how educators are using Animoto--they are worth a look.


 * Ideas for Using this Tool: **
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Media/Literature: ** Create a movie trailer to promote a book/Golden Sower, etc. (see the example above)
 * 2) **<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Science: ** Create a movie mystery that give the properties of an element...and at the end give the name of the element.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Math:** Create a movie that gives "real life" examples of angles--pictures of a right angle, text slides with characteristics, audio of students explaining the characteristics (use Audacity, Garageband, etc. for an MP3 file)
 * 4) **Reading:** Digital storytelling, a biography, author study, etc. Use pictures, video, audio to tell the story in Animoto.
 * 5) **Social Studies**: Teachers are using Animoto for history day projects, to create a video that summarizes their understanding of a unit of study. A teacher provided students a rubric and they used Animoto
 * 6) **English:** Students were assigned a vocabulary word and they created a short video clip that used images and words (synonyms) to create a video in Animoto that was uploaded to the class web page for reviewing vocabulary words.
 * 7) Your idea will go here :)