https://spark.adobe.com/video/2nibFHIzbGIjP
The Web 2.0 tool I chose was Animaker. This was a website I have never heard of before but I am so excited that I got to explore the site and learn more about it! The students in my classroom LOVE technology, but a lot of them are unable to read. The first thing that came to my mind as I was exploring the Animaker site was how great it would be to make an animated social story for my kiddos. Later on, after I made the video I navigated the site a little more and found that you can do a voice over as the presentation is playing. I got so excited because this was the only downfall I had with Animaker. Now that I can play a social story and do a voice over with it...it felt like Christmas! I played the social story to the student (the one I presented in my video) and she absolutely loved it! She wanted to keep watching it over and over again. I was a little worried that she wasn't focusing on what the video was saying and just the animations but later on in the day when breaktime came, she started saying this social story and looked up at the smartboard (where I played the video). This was so great to see because not only did she love it but she also retained the information from the video and it was effective.
Animaker has many other uses besides making your own individualized social stories. They have many categories to choose from such as education, food, service, travel, sports, etc. I could see this site being used to make video to explain facts, advertisements, meeting criteria, introductions, and many many other uses. I love this site and I already have it bookmarked on my computer. I highly suggest visiting this site if you are ever looking to make a quick, simple, animated video. This is also great for higher level students that are able to use technology effectively. Animaker would be a great suggestion to them if they needed to make a video for their presentation or other type of school work.
This is a new tool for me as well. Thanks for explaining it and for the excitement for the program and showing it to your student!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this tool, but it looks very easy to use. I think my students would love making stories themselves for projects. I sometimes have students read stories or make projects for a first grade classroom, and that would be fun too. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI wish this was something I had known about in my previous classroom. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but right around the 22nd or 23rd day in a row of reading the same social story, I know I was losing my mind, and not really giving the effort and justice that something that I know is important deserved. Not only that, but the same pretty bare cartoon images don't hold a candle to what your Animaker looked like. Definitely something I will keep in my back pocket if I'm working in that type of classroom again.
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