Regular Present Tense of -AR, ER, & -IR - made using PowToon
I have to credit the Flipped Certification Program on sophia.org for giving me the push to try to make my first video, and I have to give credit to Heather Witten for introducing me to PowToon. She made a great intro to parents on the flipped classroom model and her video really inspired me to try using PowToon.
Powtoon is in the beta stage right - they are still in the process of fine-tuning and adding new features, but I have to say I think it'll be a big hit! Lately, there have been a lot more animated presentations - the animated TED talk videos come to mind, so I think this type of programming that's easy enough to use and FREE is a smart move. I think once the beta phase finishes, there will be added costs for uploading, video size, etc.
It might be a bit of a learning curve to use if you're not technology-savvy. I didn't find it too bad at all though! The most annoying thing was that it kept freezing after one save, BUT I'm pretty sure that was my computer acting up and not the actual program. I tried to use it on our faster Mac, but since Apple products don't support Flash, it didn't work out. I think the best advice if anyone is going to create a PowToon is to have your script portion completed first! That is number one! Don't even worry about setting up features, or backgrounds, or anything until the script it complete. If you start to create your video before you have any voice in it, then you might have to re-adjust all the timing when you do put speech into it.
Things I learned from making this PowToon:
1) My computer mic is VERY old and the sound quality sucks!
I learned a few things from this first lesson. One, I was introduced to Audioboo. It's kind of like a social networking site, but for the audio world. You can record a "boo" (from your computer or using the iPhone or Android app) and post it to the Audioboo site, or even post to Twitter or Facebook. I think you can even use these boos to create podcasts. While very interesting, it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I was looking for a way to record audio using my phone and then be able to upload the file and use it as my voice track.This led me to my next lesson. You can record audio using the iPhone Voice Memo app and then upload it to your computer! I had plugged that app into the "don't think I'll ever use this but can't delete it folder" on my phone and low and behold, it is very handy and convenient! Then, I discovered the 'too good to be true' asterix. When you upload a Voice Memo to iTunes, it saves as this ridiculous file type that I'd never heard of...I don't remember it either. I thought, there MUST be a way to get an MP3 file out of this and....THERE IS! It's pretty simple too. You just have to right click on the track and select the "Convert to mp3" option. There is also an option for this in the advanced tab. So, lesson learned! I learned a way to record my audio without having to go out and buy a microphone just yet (yes my computer is so old that it does not have a built in mic...)
2) I think I can take over my husband's job as Audio Designer soon...or maybe not.
3) Having to load images from a URL is time consuming when they are your own original images that aren't currently located on any URL.
4) PowToon takes a lot longer to create a video than I first thought!
All in all, it was a great learning experience and a fun process for someone who is dying to teach Spanish again. Looking forward to creating more!
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