Add MP4s and .MOV to Google Slides

Google has just recently added a new functionality to Google Slides. Previously the only way to add a movie to Google Slides was through Youtube. You can now upload movies from your Google Drive without sending them to Youtube. You can also set the Movie to Autoplay when in Present Mode and... you can choose where you want the movie to start and end. I can see that is a feature that I will use a lot in my math workshops. Now I will be able to start the movie just at the parts I want the students to see, instead of having to watch it all, or scroll through.
For privacy issues, teachers will like that they don't have to put their school or student movies onto Youtube anymore, and there is less of a process to go through.

Experimenting with Rocketium

Rocketium is very easy to use. The only thing you can't do is adjust how the graphics appear with a free account. Make sure you make all graphics landscape rather than portrait, as you can see in mine that some of the portrait graphics are cut off. This is a great tool for younger students to use when publishing their inquiry or writing work. It could also be used as a great reflective tool.

Create your own Qwiki

Go to Qwiki and sign up.

Add Youtube movies or Vimeo, add pictures from your computer, photos from Flickr streams, Google Maps and text. Export to Youtube and then embed in wikis and blogs.

Xtranormal Text to Movie - Publishing tool

I came across this method of presenting while viewing 21st Century Classroom. (an excellent presentation by a teacher who has dramatically changed her teaching style).
This movie had been made with Xtranormal.
You will need to sign up to an account to get started.
Choose your characters, your set, background music and voice. (Unfortunately there was no 'Kiwi voice' so I had to choose Australian female)
Then type (or copy/paste) your text into the 'Write the script' space.
Add more blocks to your movie and add more script. You can then drag camera angles, sounds into the script. You can change expressions and body poses.
Some uses for this application

• students can publish their writing
• present their research
  
• use as a practice for their speech writing
• teachers can use it post instructions for next topic
• teachers can use it to comment on student's work
  

The only down side was that there were a few dodgy characters wearing only fig leaves or underwear amongst the 80 characters to choose from. And there were a couple of actions/body poses that I would not be happy if children chose them. But that is when we should, as a class talk about what is appropriate in a classroom situation.
For the free account you have only 5 takes, so get it right early on! I discovered it is wise to create many blocks or your script voice would run into other sentences.
Otherwise this is a great way to share and present yours/or your student's work.

R rating - R13

VoiceThread

Voicethread is a collaborative space of group conversations.
The example below is created by a student called Zoe in America, she designed it around her interest in Global Warming.

Zoe's Global Warming Voicethread

A VoiceThread can be created using documents, videos and photos. Comments can be added by registered users by text or voice.

They can be exported to your computer as a widescreen movie and to wikis, blogs and webpages. You can use a variety of images: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG; docs: PPT, PPS, PDF, DOC, XLS; and videos. If you've got a Flickr account, you can import from those as well.
It has a 'doodle' feature which means you can draw over the images to make a point while you are recording your voice.
Classroom Application:
a way for children within the class to collaboratively present

• an investigation
• book report
• any writing genre (recounts, reports, explanations, descriptions, procedural etc)
  
• technology challenge

Or for children as in Zoe's example to invite experts outside of the classroom environment to comment or answer questions

Sketchcast

Sketchcast is an online drawing and writing programme. This is a great way to record your voice, draw pictures and type text realtime and then play it back as a movie. You can stop and start the recording at anytime, it can be embedded in a blog or a wiki, or can be viewed through your account. What are the applications for the classroom?

• retelling a story
• showing the workings of a math problem
• Tic Tac Toe
• teaching a new concept
• publishing a story

Slide - Make slideshows of your photos

Found this site http://www.slide.com/ that make slideshows of your photos, great for showing off a series of photos in a blog. Click on Slideshows to make the slideshow, select the Browse button choose photos from your hardrive by holding down the Ctrl Key and click OK. Choose from the choices of how you want your slideshow to look. The slideshow above has been created in a Puzzle format and the one below is sliding. Other formats available are Collage, Melt, News etc.

Bubblr- Photo Slideshow with speech bubbles

Run your mouse without clicking over the slideshow to make it move.
Another way of publishing photos in a comic strip is using Bubblr. Search for photos in Flickr by typing in a search word or a user name. Drag the photos you want to use down into the panels, drag the speech bubbles up and type in words. click on After Current to add more photos, click Publish when you are finished. This comic strip will be saved and then you can make the choice of emailing, adding to a blog site or printing.
This could be a great way to motivate reluctant writers as they can search for photos that interest them or they could be photos on certain topics. Be aware though that it is possible to get questionable photos if you type inappropriate words.