Story
Wow, what a great process! I really wanted to use a tool I had no previous experience with, so I went to the other end of the powerpoint spectrum and tried out Xtranormal. A great website that provides text to video ability to tell my story.
There are lots of great tools inside this online software, including: changing sets and actors, editing movements, facial expressions and sound effects. This is a great tool and even after messing around with the premium (pay) features for hours, I was able to quickly go back in and create a free version of my story for the assignment.
Here is my video: “Let’s play Four Square”
This story is a cyberbullying example worth telling, because it is one I have told many students of how the internet can be an extension of who you are. This media tool lets me recreate the story with actors delivering ‘the’ message, making it more meaningful and memorable to my students – not to mention linkable, and permanent.
Xtranormal allowed me to easily (and after the practice, even more easily in the future) input the text and then direct my actors. My only critique of this software is that it I wasn’t able to embed the video direclty into my WP blog here. I would see this as something I might be able to figure out but currently I have found this part frustrating. However, all in all Xtranormal and mashups are great tools I will be using more of in the future.
Reference links:
Coddogroo (2010). Presentation, Workshop Materials and Other Stuff Retrieved July 22nd, 2010, from http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/
Cyberbullying.org. Facts and News. Retrieved on July 22nd, 2010, fromhttp://cyberbullying.org/
Do Something.org. 11 Facts About Cyber-bullying. Retrieved on July 23rd, 2010, from http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
Stop cyberbullying. Cyberbullying: why cyberbully? Retrieved on July 23rd, 2010, from http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html