Four Free Online Audio Editors

Well is that time of year again where students start to create projects. As always I spend time talking about copy-write
laws and what is and is not acceptable use of others material. This always leads to a lot of frustration on the part of students as they look for music and audio files to add to their movies, podcasts and radio plays and other assorted multimedia projects. To help my students I have over that past years bookmarked many different sites for students to use in creating their own music and audio files. There are many different options out there for students to use. The following four however seem to be the ones that my students have used over and over again. They like the simplicity and they all provide just enough instruction and materials to make it easy for students to create their own audio files. But the two best things about these four sites are that they are free and online.

One word of warning!! Have students create these files as the last thing that they do for their projects! They enjoy making music and can spend hours on these sites.

1. Creaza    This is a free audio editor that is great for making podcasts, sound tracks and other audio projects. It has a simple to use interface that is typical for this type of application. Like most audio editors Creaza allows you to add files along the timeline and over multiple channels. You can also record sound and add it to your project. This is a free application but does require that you create an account.
2. beatlab    Allows you to simply create your own background music and short music clips for videos and podcasts. This is a simple to use site that can be a lot of fun.
3. Musicshake     This another free site that allows you to create sound tracks and audio tracks. This site is great for making podcasts, sound tracks and other audio projects. It has a simple timeline interface like other audio editors that allows you to have multiple channels. This site also works connects well with YouTube and Facebook. It is worth a look.
4. FileLab Web Applications    This site allows you to edit audio and share them on the web. This is a free site and quite simple to use. Can only be used on a Windows machine. Again another typical audio editor.

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10 Free Video Editors

Free Video Editors

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

Over the course of the year I have been looking for a simple free video editors that I can use with my students. In the process of reviewing the many different options I decide to post my results to save everyone the time looking at the variety of options out there.

If you know of any others please let me know and I will post them here as well.

Free Video Editors: Editors that are free to users.

1. Animoto Easy to use and creates great looking videos. Students have really enjoyed this application. However, you can only create 30 second videos for free and you are limited in editing in the free version. You must register to use the free version as well. Animoto will provide educators with a free code to allow their students to create full length videos for FREE for 6 months otherwise this application only has free 30 second videos.
2. One True Media Easy to use and creates nice looking videos. Charges for anything more than 30 seconds and limited to 15 minute of finished video per month. Must register to use free portions of this application. They do have a mobile app for the pay version. This application only has free 30 second videos.
3. Flixtime This site also is easy to use and you are able to create 60 second videos. However you have limited resources and are unable to add transition, voice and create HD videos. This application only has free 60 second videos and are limited in effects.
4. YouTube This editor allows you to do the basic editing effects to videos upload to YouTube. You can add text, audio and voice, transitions, trim clips and combine YouTube videos. You must have a YoutTube account. Difficult to use ion schools since it is often blocked. This application is FREE!
5. Stroome.com Easy to use video editor. Allows you all of the basic video editing features and share with many different social networks but does not provide ability to download file or upload to YouTube. This is a free application.
6. Creaza This is a free editor and allows you to upload directly to YouTube. As far as I can tell there is no real limitation to the free version however if you upload your video to YouTube using the free video it will place a Creaza logo in the lower right corner. This is a limited free application.
7. Masher Very simple and easy to use video editor. Has a good collection of videos to use from the BBC. Easy to add and edit with the basic features. Can embed videos and email but can not upload to YouTube or download them. This is a Free Site at this time.
8. Stupeflix This is a great web-based editor. Simple to use and has many options that are easy to apply to your videos. It even includes an option to integrate to your webcam. This site offers free one minute video. This is a partially free website.
9. FileLab This site allows you to edit video and audio and share them on the web. This is a free site and quite simple to use. Can only be used on a Windows machine.
10. Magisto Simple free video editor. It has limited transition and effects but is very simple and organized well. Does a lot of the editing and transitions for you.

For more information of video editors and other resources check out my video project resource page at the following link. Click Here

Uses of Augmented Reality in the Classroom

As many of you already know I am a bug proponent of augmented reality. I have written quite a bit about it here on this blog. Recently, as I have been discussing with many of you about having the students bring their own devices to school. This influx of technology in the classroom at no cost to the district could be a real help to developing augmented reality lessons. With that in mind I found a great video that shows many different things educators can do with Augmented reality.  Watch the video below and I am sure you will get some great ideas.

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3 Great Movie Clip Websites to Gain Student Attention

With spring break behind us and summer right around the corner the natives are becoming restless. This new excitement in the air can be difficult to deal with at times in the classroom. This is why I have found that adding movie clips from popular films to my entry tasks to be very effective in gaining students attention. These short 1-2 minute video clips seem to calm them down and get them thinking. Once this happens I then can steer them into the topic that we are going to cover in class.

So where can you find these types of video clips? If you know movies well you can look up clips on Youtube and other video hosting websites like Vimeo. If you don’t know movies that well or you can not think of one to meet the needs of your lesson try one of the following three websites.  These sites will allow you to search movies by topic, mood, genre, time period, event, plot and other criteria.  Making it easy to find the clip you need to fit your lesson plan.

1. This site will allow you to search for movie clips on a specific topic that you are going to cover in class. This is the best site for finding topic specific movie clips for your classroom.  Click here to go to MovieClips
2. Jinni is like MovieClips and allows you to search movies by mood, plot, genre, time period, place etc.  Click here to go to Jinni.
3. Anyclip is another video hosting site that you can search for movie clips to use in your classroom. However, this site you need to know movies it does not provide the easy search options found on the other two sites.

School Resources Part Four: Online Presentation Programs

Image via Wikipedia

Over the past couple of years students have found a variety of ways to present information to the class.  Many of their presentations were very creative and unique below is a list of some of the programs that they have used in the past and I will be link on my website for the kids this year.  Again if you know of any others or have anything to add about the sites link please drop me a line.

Presentation Programs

1. AuthorStream

2. Empressr

3. Eyespot

4. PhotoStory 3

5. Prezi

6. SlideShare

7. ThinkFree Show

8. Thumbstacks

9. Toufee

10.Zoho Show 11.280 Slides

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Getting Ready for the School Year! Classroom Resources: Part One: Video Editors

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rakka/429664395/

Well, it is that time of year again to begin looking ahead to the upcoming school year and begin collecting resource for my students to use.  This seems to be an annual event for me searching the web and creating project lists and other links that I think the students will find useful in my classroom.  I have always found that it is better to have list from students to use rather than have them search to save time and maximize time spent on topic.  However, This year I thought that I would try something  new.  Since I am very active with my PLN (Professional Learning Network) I thought that I would post my lists here for all to see so that I can receive input from others.  This may allow me to find resources that I missed or find out that one of the resource I have bookmarked really would not be suitable to use in a classroom setting.  So over the next few weeks I will be posting links for you to look at and consider.  Please let me know if you have used these resources before and how they worked out.

Here are my first list.

I have a project based classroom and have used some of these resources before.

Online video editors for my students to use.

1. Animoto
2. Flixtime
3. Jaycut
4. Stroome
5. Movie Masher
6. Kaltura
7. RiffTrax
8. Motion Box
9. One True Media
10. Veoh
11. Ustream
12. CaptionTube
13. Photobucket
14. Youtube Editor

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YouTube A Bandwidth Problem? Try This!

In our school district YouTube has been the source of many different conversations and debates.  The amount of good content and the inability to use this content has had many of us teachers frustrated.  So our district unblocked YouTube on teacher computers only.  We were excited about using this resource in our classrooms and promptly began using YouTube.  This brought up another issue within our district and that was bandwidth.  As more teachers began to use this resource we found our bandwidth was often maxed out and the district wide slowdown of our internet service became a big problem.   This became a huge frustration for many teachers wanting to use their new resource.  The answer was simple and only took a little time to decimate the information to teachers to fix this problem.

The workaround was to download the video in the morning and keep it cached or download the video for the day on to your computer.  This solved the problem in our district for now.  Obviously, our hope is that our district will improve our bandwidth, so in the future this will not be an issue.  Until then however this will suffice and keep our teachers moving in in the right direction with technology.   Here are a list of programs we recommend to our staff to download YouTube videos.  (We did tell teachers to only keep them on their hard-drive for the day they were using the video in class and we also discussed copyright laws.)

Get your YouTube Video here!

1. 3OUtube: http://3outube.com/
2. YouTube Video Downloader: http://download-youtube-videos.org/
3. aTube Catcher
4. YouTube Downloader
5. Orbit Downloader: http://www.orbitdownloader.com/
6. KeepVid : http://keepvid.com/
7. VideoDownloader
8. DownloadYoutTubeVideos.com
9. VideoDL: http://www.videodl.org/
10. YTD YouTube Video Downloader

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Fun and creative ways for students to make online video projects

Over the past year I have begun to transform my class into a project-based classroom.  This constructivist approach to learning has allowed me to really incorporate technology into the classroom.  Students are creating projects that contain many different technologies, and I have been able really become a type of consultant in the classroom pointing out technologies and information for them to use in their projects.  It is my students who have  become quite creative with their projects, and they have begun using a variety of online resources to create videos to show their learning.  They have created all types of videos from short animated videos to fully edited movies.  I have kept a list of the many different sites students have used to create their projects for other classes.  Take a look.

Online video resources for students:

• Memoov: http://memoov.com/ A unique video site based in Israel. They provide the characters and settings and you provide the audio for each of the characters.  These videos can be created and shared on a variety of websites like YouTube and others. My students found it simple to use and very intuitive. They were able to create interesting videos in just two days.
• Voki http://www.voki.com/ Voki allows users to create talking avatars to present information.  You can use your own voice or choose from voices provided for you.  This is an easy and fun website to use.
• Go!Animate: http://goanimate.com This site allows you to create animated stories to present information or quick stories.  They have many different options and objects to choose from and are constantly adding new material.
• Xtranormal: http://www.xtranormal.com This is a Text-To-Movie site that takes a typed script and animates the voices for you.  Then you add expressions and movement to the characters and create unique videos.  My students love to use this website to create videos. However,      there can be questionable material on this site at times.
• Dvolver http://www.dvolver.com This site allows the user to pick a scene and characters then type in the dialogue to create your videos.  Simple site with limited scenes and characters,      but with some creativity students can create some great videos.
• Zimmertwins http://www.zimmertwins.com/ Like devolver this site allows students to create animated cartoons with written dialogue.  Again, it has limited scenes and characters just like devolver.  The quality of the final movies is quite good.
• Digital Films http://www.digitalfilms.com/ Like the two sites above, this site also creates animated cartoon movies with written text. I have not had any students use this one yet, but it seemed fairly simple to use when I took a quick look at it.
• Aniboom http://www.aniboom.com Aniboom allows users to create animated characters and create aniumated stories.  This site is a little more complex than others listed here, but it can be used by Jr. High and High School students.
• Fluxtime http://www.fluxtime.com/animate.php Like Aniboom, this site creates animated cartoons and scenes; however, it does have a bit of a learning curve and may take students some time to learn how to use it.
• Animasher http://www.animasher.com/ This is a fun site that allows you to create a variety of different types of animated movies with real video and 2 dimensional pictures.  This is lots of fun, and students can really get creative with this website. Students can even load their own video and images.

Video editing resources online:

• EditorOne: http://editorone.ideum.com/ EditorOne is an easy online editor that allows students to create videos online and share them with a variety of sites.  This is very easy to use and has some great video clips for students to use.
• Photo Peach: http://photopeach.com This is an online slideshow creator that students can use to quickly and easily create slideshows to present information or a story.  It’s a simple design and easy to use.  Students can make these slideshows in a matter of minutes.
• Animoto: http://animoto.com This is a video editing website that allows users to use their own images and video to create their videos.  This website does produce high quality videos that look professional and are well put together.
• Stupeflix: http://www.stupeflix.com/ It’s another video editing site that integrates well with Flickr and Twitter.  This site, like the others, allows you to create your own videos with your material.
• Masher: http://www.masher.com Masher provides you with a lot of different footage to use along with your own material.  Also you can add a variety of special effects, and you can share this with many different online services.

Other visual resources:

• Tiger Film Dub http://www.tigerfilmdub.com/ This site is a lot of fun!  You add the subtitles to Chinese movies.  Kids loved playing with this site, but often got off task. This was so much fun that I often got off task with them as well.  This could be used for projects, but be careful there is some content that is not appropriate.
• Classic TV http://www.grapheine.com/classiktv/index.php?lang=uk I found this site on Larry Ferlazzo blog, and it goes right with Tiger Films Dub above.  This site provides you video that you can dub over with your own message.  Again, lots of fun, but students can get off task really easily.
• Overstream http://www.overstream.net This is another site that allows you to add subtitles to foreign movies and to present your own satire or message.  Kids love to play with this site and can get very creative.
• ToonDoo http://www.toondoo.com This site allows students to create cartoon strips to present an idea or concept.  It’s a neat way to see if your students truly understand the topic discussed in class.
• Big Huge Labs http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php Here students can create movie posters to show that they understand concepts presented in class.  This is a lot of fun, and, while limited in scope, students can use this to create some neat projects.

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