Over the past three weeks I have been examining the different ways in which I, as a language teacher, can make the most of the Animoto Education Programme.
In week one, I produced a video to reinforce vocabulary which could be used either as a starter or a plenary. Pupils could watch the actions and read the key phrases (daily routine and time) as text on the slides.
In week two I decided to experiment with using Animoto to elicit writing after pupils had been learning about places in town. Their task was to watch the video and write about what they saw, using some key vocabulary I inserted as text slides, but not as many as in week one, and I added some basic spoken instructions in the target language.
Finally, in week three, I explored the possibility of revising or introducing a grammar point, rather than vocabulary. On this occasion, as well as images and text, I decided to add spoken target language utterances to reinforce comprehension.
What will I be doing next? My next step is to continue creating activities for my pupils but also to promote the use of Animoto by pupils themselves, perhaps using competitions and prizes as an incentive.
How I think Animoto was useful:
- It was intuitive and easy to use
- It simplified the creation of professional looking slideshows
- It added a wow factor to the lesson
- It engaged and motivated my pupils
- It is free for educational purposes
- It could have an option to add text to the slides
- The full screen option is a little erratic and when it does work the picture is grainy. Perhaps the people at Animoto could look into this
- It could have an option to upload or record voice comments for particular slides
- It could offer the user more control over the slide show, for example: control over speed and sound track
I am aware that Animoto is built for simplicity, but I don’t think that making these improvements would detract from the original philosophy. Overall, I think that the people at Animoto made a brilliant decision allowing free access to educational institutions and that Animoto is a fantastic tool that teachers and pupils can use in various exciting ways.
I would like to thank Helena Butterfield, Anthony Evans and Jonathan Lecun for taking part in my Animoto Challenge and special thanks to Rebecca from Animoto for keeping track of said challenge.
Have you anything else to add?
This post is tagged animoto, education, grammar, plenaries, revision, starter, video, web 2.0
