BP4

Hello Again. I'm back with another wicked cool Web 2.0 tool to share with you...GoAnimate.com! GoAnimate is an entertainment website in which its users can create simple or complex "computer animated stories, satires and sentiments." These creations can be shared within a classroom or with an online community. "The site offers simple to more advanced innovative features that provide users with a multitude of possibilities for customizing their animations.

In order to create animations using GoAnimate.com you must sign up for an account. The basic account is free, but has quite a few limitations as far as choosing characters, backgrounds, special effects, and so on. The basic account does allow the user to upload their animation to certain sites social networking sites, but requires it to be 2 minutes or less in duration. There are paid accounts which allow for the download and sharing of longer animations and there is an educator account that lifts a lot of restrictions.

To get started with your animation creation-i like the way that sounds :-)- you can choose to create a video from scratch or you could decide to use one of their pre-made story templates.

For this demonstration I have chosen to make my story from scratch. The screen shown next is the default screen.

From here you can personalize your scene by changing the background, adding characters, and dialogue (by way of mic recording, text to talk, or text bubble).

There are many other customizations the creator can choose from, such as: adding props

and audio effects

GoAnimate is extremely user friendly and a great way to integrate technology in the classroom. GoAnimate allows for students to exercise their creativity while synthesizing information...all in a way that is fun and entertaining. Another great Web 2.0 tool for bringing the classroom into the 21st century!