For this week's Top Picks List Friday, we are featuringwebsites and apps for making videos and animations.Teachers know that video making is a tried and true way to get kids engaged in building, demonstrating, and sharing knowledge. These apps and sites feature user-friendly tools and features that make it more fun than ever to get kids’ productions edited and polished.
To see the rating of each app, game, or website, visit the Top Picks List, Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation.
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Easy Studio - Animate the Shapes!
Kids can learn basic animation skills, along with sequencing, following directions, and how geometric shapes can interact to create objects and designs. As kids use the tools onEasy Studio - Animate with Shapes!, they also use their imagination and fine motor skills to make new digital creations. Read full review. |
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Creaza Cartoonist
Creaza is a cartoon creation website that allows kids to make their own online cartoons and mini-movies. They can use pre-drawn characters and backgrounds, or draw their own directly into a panel, then add sound. Read full review. |
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Generator
Generator is an free online film resource that gives kids the training and tools to make their own short films. Since it's from the Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI), some info is Australia-specific, but it's still applicable to any budding filmmaker. Read full review. |
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Domo Animate
Domo Animate is an online animation platform where kids can create their own short video animations. From Go Animate, the site is basically a testing ground for the company's product, but it's a great place for kids to learn animation and storytelling skills. Read full review. |
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ABCya Animate
Use ABCya Animate to show kids how animations are created. Once kids understand how animation works and how to use the tool, they can use it to create short animated movies to demonstrate their understanding in many other subject areas. Read full review. |
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Pixorial
Pixorial is a website you can use to store, edit, and share videos. No matter what the subject, Pixorial allows users to upload video from a computer, film directly from a webcam, or even have video converted from vintage formats. Read full review. |
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WeVideo
WeVideo is a video-creation site that lets students create, edit, and share video content in one place. It's cloud-based, which means that multiple people can collaborate and work on the same video from different locations. Read full review. |
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Toontastic
Toontastic is a digital storytelling tool that teaches kids how to organize and present story ideas through cartoons. It employs a "Story Arc" that contains five sequential scenes to guide story structure (Setup, Conflict, Challenge, Climax, and Resolution). Read full review. |
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VoiceThread
VoiceThread provides students of all ages an online platform to create and share media projects that can incorporate video, image, voice, and even drawings. One of its most valuable assets: allowing for collaboration opportunities as well as audio or video feedback from readers and viewers. Read full review. |
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Mozilla Popcorn Maker
By helping kids annotate audio and video clips from the Web, Popcorn Maker encourages kids to research their topics and combine what they learn with their own ideas through pop-up word balloons and thought bubbles. Kids can also bring in and remix audio and video files they make in class and upload to any of the services that work with Popcorn. Read full review. |
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Animoto
For teachers trying to engage students in digital storytelling, Animoto might not be the best tool. Creating a slideshow is simple and straightforward. But they trade ease of use with the automated process for editorial control. Read full review. |
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Explain Everything
Your students can learn crucial 21st-century skills with Explain Everything. They can learn how to present information using multiple forms of expression (images, text, video, and audio) through digital technology. Read full review. |
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Capzles is a social-networking and storytelling website. Users can combine photos, videos, blog content, and music into explanatory slideshows and share them with friends
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