Creating a Curricular Music Video

As you know from our discussion about the digital native concept, it takes a little pizzazz to grab the attention of some of today's learners. In this assignment, you'll learn how to create a short, fast-paced video that you'll use to introduce a concept you're about to teach. These videos will be developed using Animoto.

Let's begin by looking at two examples created by previous EDTEC 470 students.

9th Grade Field Trip by Brian Allen	A Baby's Journey by Nicole Clymer

Your instructor will demonstrate how to create a short video using Animoto. Watch carefully, as there are a few parts of the interface that aren't completely intuitive.

Assignment

Your task is to create a 1 to 3 minute video with the following characteristics:

• All images are copyright-friendly.
• The music is copyright cleared. (EIther use the licensed music provided on the Animoto site or a recording of you or your friends performing. Do not upload an mp3 of your own, even if it's from a CD you purchased.)
• The content serves as a visual preview of a topic in the standard curriculum. (Not a collage of pictures from your vacation in Cancun or your sister's wedding
• The video includes a credits page in which you give attribution to the creators of the images you used.

You may work with a partner if you like...but only one. This isn't big enough a task for three people.

Remember that this video isn't a documentary or tutorial. It's meant to be a motivating preview to set the stage for learning, not a standalone vehicle for teaching.

Steps

1. Decide on a topic and the mood you want to convey
2. Round up images using the sites and techniques you learned in the Finding Copyright Friendly Images module. Be sure to write down the name (or Flickr user name) of the photographer and the name of the site each one came from.
3. Download the images using the techniques you learned in the Getting Images from the Web module. Be sure your images are at least 800 pixels wide.
4. Use Animoto to assemble the video. SInce the assignment calls for a video more than 30 seconds long, you'll need to pony up $3 to make what they call a "full length video".
5. Make a thumbnail image of your video and provide a link on the EDTEC 470 Project page on your professional web site. Here's how. You can use Facebook instead of Twitter if you like. Include with your thumbnail some text explaining what you were trying to highlight in the content and when and where you'd use this video.

Evaluation

In addition to meeting the criteria listed above, your video piece will be evaluated along these dimensions:

• grammar and spelling (the expectation is that there will be zero errors)
• choice of images: do they all carry their weight?
• emotional/intellectual impact: the extent to which your piece moves us to think and feel and be eager to learn more

Above and beyond: If you'd like to challenge yourself a bit more, use some of the visual effects in Picnik under the Create tab to give all of your images a consistent, artistic look (e.g., sepia, vibrance, pencil sketch).

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