Educational Value of Animoto

Mythology Animoto Video

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Make a video of your own at Animoto.
 Animoto is a great tool to use in the classroom. You can use it to create an introductory video for a unit that your students will be diving into. I created one to introduce mythology to my Modern Fantasy class. These videos help to grab students' attentions and they are also easy to create. My journalism students can create quick and easy videos to show off their photo journalism. You can upload your own music or choose from the many options that Animoto provides for you. Animoto is a great way to engage the students and have them use a creative Web 2.0 tool to aid in their learning.

Educational Value of Wordle

   Wordle is a site that allows you to create a word cloud by pasting or typing words into a text box. The more often a word appears, the larger the word will be on the wordle. So, why use wordle? 
   It is a creative tool that can be used by students when completing projects on vocabulary, reading, essays, or papers. It is a great tool for students to use in the brainstorming phase of their writing. 
   Wordles also help to teach students skills and can help a teacher assess a student’s basic technology skills. Joan Young, a teacher, was quoted in the blog “New Teacher Boot Camp Week 1 - Using Wordle”, “When students create their own Wordles, they practice and learn keyboard commands like copy and paste. While observing students composing a Wordle, teachers can informally assess students' basic keyboard skills” (Dabbs 2011). Wordle can help students edit their work by showing them when they have overused a word in their writing (Dabbs 2011). 
   In my English II class, students have a word of the day and an activity we do is in pairs students come up with sentences using the words of the day in a wordle I create for them. 
   It is also great to use as a story idea tool. Students in my Modern Fantasy class are expected to create a short story and we use wordle as a class to get them started. They each have to come up and enter in a superpower a character could have, a character trait, and a place, then we create our wordle. One at a time, they pick one superpower, one place, and one trait that one of their characters will have and incorporate them into their short story. Wordle is a creative outlet that students can use in my English class. It helps them with their writing skills, and their development of ideas.

References:

Dabbs, L. (2011, July 05). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/new-teacher-boot-camp-wordle-lisa-dabbs