Lori's Learnings: Multimedia Sharing AKA Social Media Mashups

Reflections on the Process of Learning about Mashups
Mashups?! Hmmm…
On Halloween? That brings to mind…the Monster Mash!

Here is my mashup song. Sing it to the tune of the Monster Mash:
(For catchy lyric purposes, mashup has been shortened to mash)

She made a mash
She made a VoiceThread mash
The VoiceThread mash
It was a web-based smash
She made a mash
It caught on in a flash
She made a mash
She made a VoiceThread mash

What is a Mashup? Here is an introductory video.
My good friend Wikipedia gave me these answers:
• Mashup (digital), a digital media file containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video, and animation, which recombines and modifies existing digital works to create a derivative work.
• Mashup (web application hybrid), a web application that combines data and/or functionality from more than one source
There are also music and video mashups defined.

So haven't we been using mashups basically since we started this Web 2.0 course? Ahh connections! How I love you.

Further enlightenment came via Trailfire…

Social Media in Plain English - An introduction to Social Media via a story about a small town with many flavors of ice cream. So this is where the social and sharing aspects fit in.

ANIMOTO

Using Animoto you can create 30 second videos (about 15 pictures worth) for free. For longer videos in low resolution it will cost $3.00. The upgrade to high res will cost you another $5.00. If you are an avid user, there are packages available.
Animoto is an application that will allow you to input pictures and music, and create a custom slideshow from the result.
Animoto is so good it won a 2009 Webby Award. The Judges’ Choice and the People’s Voice awards for ‘Best Service & Application’ category to be exact. Here is the animoto blog celebrating their win. Some other positive reviews about Animoto were done by Joel Spolsky, Kim Hjortholm , AppApeal, Karthik Shankrila and The Tech Mag Blog.
I had already discovered Animoto while working on my videosharing blog. This was my original Animoto video:

I had so much fun making this one that I just made another! This video shows highlights of my trip to Whistler last month:

I clicked the '1-click remix' button three times to see what it would come up with. I was happy with this one.

VOICE THREAD

The video Whats a Voice Thread anyway? shows how to use voice thread with examples.
With a voice thread you can upload images into a media presentation with audio, video and text. You can even doodle right on there and it's interactive.
Now I'm excited to try out this threading of my voice!

Just have to sign up for Voice Thread - check
Take the tutorial - check
And start threading!

I loved how user-friendly this site was. Especially how easy it was to re-record each voice clip. Once I had all my clips recorded and saved I listened to the whole voice thread together...
What's this? Is that really me talking? Uh-oh. My voice sounds fake, like I'm reading a script or something. Yikes!
No need to panic. Voice Thread gave me the option to upload pictures from another voicethread. Perfect. No need to sift through the 2000 pictures again.
I deleted my initial attempt by clicking the little trash can icon on each picture.

Before I recorded for my second attempt, I told myself to just pretend I was showing pictures to a friend. Ok, that helped. Much closer to my real voice.

I like how Voice Thread gives the user the option to add multiple identities. This is useful for using with a group of students for example. Also I can have different photos for personal and professional voice thread identities.
I decided to change my identity photo but couldn't figure out how to do this so I turned to the help section. I found out that when adding multiple identities users are given the option to edit all identities. So I clicked on my photo icon and clicked 'create another identity.' From there I was able to edit my existing photo. Voila!
I also found that I can only create up to 3 voice threads for free. After that I will have to pay about $60 for either the Pro package or a year of the class subscription in the K-12 package.

Mashups for Professional Use

VOICE THREAD

The VoiceThread for Education wiki has information and examples of voicethreads created in educational contexts.

I found this voicethread of Web 2.0 Tools for the Classroom, which could use more comments and sites from Web 2.0 students...will have to get back to this.

I like this idea of using a voicethread for Literature Circles. This one is done by seventh and eighth grade students at a middle school:

I came across the K-7 Mathcasts 500 Project. The goal of this project is to create a library of 500+ mathcasts for K-7 math using many student & educator voices on voice thread. I added them up and it looks like they have met their goal – there are currently 514 mathcasts!

There are so many ways I am inspired to use voice threads professionally. Literature circles, story readings, projects, show and tell, math concepts, introducing any concept in any subject really...the list is endless.
I have several friends that are teaching overseas. I think it would be fun to have students use this tool to reach out to children from around the globe, showing and telling them what it is like here and vice versa.
I think my staff would be impressed with this tool and I would like to introduce it at meetings or professional development days.

Potential problems/risks?

Inappropriate comments - We need to ensure that we are teaching students how to comment on others work and how to accept comments on their work.

Students struggling with using formal language - One class worked on a novel study project using VoiceThread and "although the students were comfortable creating online content, they struggled to create content with an academic focus and tone appropriate for an academic task. The informality was particularly a problem when they recorded the narrative. The same students who regularly engaged in formal class presentations in other media struggled to record scholary presentations in VoiceThread." (Bomar, S. A Pre-Reading VoiceThread: Death Comes for the Archbishop. Knowledge Quest, Mar/Apr2009, Vol. 37 Issue 4, p26-27). - It is important to practice the proper use of the tool, especially considering voice, within the classroom.

Privacy - the same concerns here as with most other Web 2.0 tools I have blogged about. I would use cartoon faces instead of real photographs for student identities. Also first names only.

ANIMOTO

There is an Animoto for Education site where teachers can "bring (their) lessons to life."
Some bloggers are anti-Animoto as far as its educational value goes. However, one of our fave PhD bloggers, Joyce Valenza, disagrees. “Animoto is a magically-easy way to grab attention, produce professional-looking public relations products, archive an event, visually showcase our best, and create new visual contexts.” Go Joyce!
I concur. Also I think the 30 second time limit could be a good thing. Teaching students to keep it short with main ideas and only using what’s important is a valuable skill. One I am working on myself!

"For teachers and librarians who are looking to introduce instructional units, showcase ideas, or frame concepts with a musical element, Animoto will easily allow even the "technologically-challenged" to create high-tech productions that will amaze." (Brisco, S. Animoto. School Library Journal, Jul2008, Vol. 54 Issue 7, p64-64)

Lance Rougeux, the director of Discovery Education, is another fan of Animoto as an educational tool: “Animoto is one of the marvels of Web 2.0. It is a wonderful initiative and a true benefit to teachers and students.”

I can see using this for field trip photos, showing off books, viewing historic events, school-wide project or bulletin board displays, etc.

After browsing through multiple multimedia sites, I realized they all have some things in common. They all either allow for or ask for feedback from viewers. Viewers can leave comments or give a rating. What a great way for people to get feedback on their work.
Another thing these sites have in common is they all help to tell a story. Whether it be a slide show, music video, poster, timeline, scrapbook, online presentation or a comic strip. They all have a story to tell. And who doesn't love a good story?

Here are some of the sites to create your story:

Kerpoof Studio - make movies, cards, stories, etc.
Historic Tale Construction Kit - create a story with text and pictures, similar to a comic strip.
GoAnimate and Domo Animate - create your story with cartoons
PicLits - picture writing
Glogster - poster creating
Scrapblog - scrapbooking
Slide Rocket and Zentation - online presentations
PixelFish, YouTube and Animoto - videos
Xtimeline - timelines
Bit Strips,Mai'Nada comics sketch, Toondoo , Make Beliefs Comix , Strip Generator and Comiqs - creating comic strips

While searching for sites I stumbled across CogDogRoo. Here there is a list of more than 50 web-based story tools! Ok so much for my list - this one is better!
Check out Great Book Stories - educators using Voice Threads to introduce stories...great book stories in fact.

Mashups for Personal Use

My computer is jam packed full of my personal pictures and videos. I find that I no longer get my photos printed off. Just the other day my mom was asking to see my pictures from Whistler last month but I had nothing to show her. Any minute now my mom will be opening up her email to find not just pictures of my trip, oh no, but an animoto video of pictures! She will be so impressed at my creatively produced video...do you think I should tell her how easy it was to make it?
I've decided I will tell her to check out the site because I know she will love it. She's always making Windows Movie Maker slideshows and emailing pictures to people but now she can look really professional. Thanks to Animoto!
I also plan to show my best friend. She's a fashion designer - check out her website - and she is the most creative person I know. I just know she will come up with a way to use this tool, whether it be showing off designs on her website or in emails to contacts to grab their attention.

Voice thread will be a great tool for me also. I am also going to send my voicethread link to some of my friends and relatives overseas. This way they can not only see the pictures from my trip but hear my voice describe each one. Kind of like me being there in person showing them my pics. Very cool!