Thursday, June 5, 2014

Moving Along with Our Favorite Children's Books

So we started a VoiceThread in class tonight. This was the first time we used the program.

Here is what we have so far, and we will add more comments next week.

VoiceThread.




We then experimented using two apps on the iPad to make quick videos. Our goal was to compare the three tools for creating a photo story about children's books.

We won't edit the versions completed on the iPad. That was not the intent. We just wanted to compare different tools to deliver comparable content.

On the iPad, we first used the free version of Shadow Puppet, which allowed us to upload 10 images. We then audio recorded our comments about each of the books. Next, the final version was transferred to the iPad's camera roll, so it could be accessed there to upload to YouTube.

We next experimented with iMovie on the iPad. We did not have the limitation of 10 images, but we also kept each of the clips to 15 seconds to keep the final video short. We used one of the music tracks in iMovie, but did not use other features, except to audio record ourselves for our allotted 15 seconds. The final version was uploaded to YouTube.


Here are the two versions.

Shadow Puppet Version




iMovie on iPad Version






So what do you think so far? Would you consider doing a collaborative photo story like this one with students?

We also used Padlet to create a bulletin board of our favorite children's books. It was easy for us to collaborate online using the tool. Here is what we have so far, shown in a screen shot.








3 comments:

  1. This was awesome. I loved listening to my cohort share our favorite books using three different types of photo stories. I would totally considering closing out the school year doing a collaborative photo story with my students. It was very easy to speak over my photo. My only issue with voice thread is that depending on the type of microphone used the speaker my sound distant. Is there any way to ensure that all slide sound the same? Additionally, having us post a short blurb of our favorite book to practice using Padlet was great. It is simple to use and if I want to use it with my students, they do not need to create an account. I cannot wait to try Padlet with my students on Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was great.. It was nice to hear everyone's reason for loving their book. I think I would use imovie to make an end of the year collaborative story on " What was their best part of the year" because the music make it more fun. Voice thread was easy, but I don't have the necessary equipment" (microphone) to use it in my class. I'm more comfortable using movie maker on my pc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't agree more. It is so exciting to see all the different ways the same information can be presented. I agree with Love that VoiceThread can make a person's voice sound distant depending on the type of microphone. I am encountering this problem while I am working with my students. I love the way the soft music sounds in the background of the iMovie presentation! It makes it more engaging and interesting. I am wondering if I made the right choice by switching my original digital story plan to VoiceThread. Does anyone know if music can be added to a VoiceThread?

    ReplyDelete