Making Movies with Microsoft Photos app Video editor⤴
from Malcolm Wilson @ Digital Learning & Teaching in Falkirk
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from Malcolm Wilson @ Digital Learning & Teaching in Falkirk
from Malcolm Wilson @ Digital Learning & Teaching in Falkirk
from Malcolm Wilson @ Digital Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
If you wish to create a teaching video to share with your class then where do you start?
There are a number of different ways to create a teaching video.
You don’t need lots of fancy filming equipment, specialist lighting, highly scripted text, remote microphones or
a studio set! You can just use what you have available – and be yourself. If you want to be on camera, that’s fine, but if you just want your voice over the activity you are filming then that’s perfectly fine too.
You just need something to record the video (eg phone/tablet) – & your skills and experience as a teacher (and maybe something to edit what you create).
There’s no hard and fast rule about what makes an effective teaching video. Every teacher is different and every class is different so find what works for you and your class. The age of your learners, the way you choose to share a video, whether you wish to have interactivity between shorter videos, and what you are trying to convey in the video, are all considerations to bear in mind. Being clear about what you are trying to share is the biggest consideration! Consider, instead of a long video, chunking a lot of content into perhaps a series of shorter videos each with a specific focus. And try out what you are creating on different devices to see how your learners might view the video. Is it bright enough lighting so that what you are showing is clearly seen, can the sound be clearly heard? You don’t need to make a masterpiece the first time round (or indeed at any time!) so give it a go and make changes in light of your experiences and feedback from your learners.
Camera-Ready Educators: Video As a Learning Staple – a blogpost by Paul Teske and Sarah Brown Wessling which gives food for thought for teachers looking to create a teaching video: “…teachers know it’s not the screen alone that engages students. It’s how teachers use video as part of deliberate instructional design that creates the opportunity for learning and growth. Teachers use video in various ways for various purposes, each thoughtfully constructed.” That blogpost succinctly summarises and provides points for reflection for teachers using video whether it’s for teaching new content, differentiation, scaffolding and support, or for conveying information about such things as class announcements and routines.
The experiences of others can help you make your own judgement about what will work and then you have the feedback from your own class of learners.
Latest blog: What does the research say about designing video lessons?
https://t.co/1x7dXs4ct2
Featuring some insights from Richard Mayer's Handbook on Multimedia Learning. pic.twitter.com/aXyhIVwEw6— Daisy Christodoulou (@daisychristo) April 30, 2020
Engagement with videos begins to drop after the 6-minute mark, and it falls dramatically after 9 minutes. Keep this #BestPractice in mind – chunk instruction such that each video covers a single learning objective or task, and nothing more. #PearlandEdtech #WeArePearlandISD pic.twitter.com/GXKj0Ye5VN
— PearlandETS (@PearlandETS) June 18, 2020
If you are showing something you are writing – whether that’s simple phonics, handwriting formations, numeracy processes or anything else which involves writing – then you can point your phone/tablet camera at the paper or wipe-clean whiteboard, press record on the phone/tablet camera and start talking. Having your phone/tablet affixed to a tripod, a home-made stand or propped up so it won’t move is probably wise!
Keeping your video short is beneficial both for your own sake in not having to redo or edit a long video in which you wish to make a change, but also it’s helpful for sharing online somewhere to have smaller videos as they upload more quickly. If you are sharing on Twitter there is also a restriction on the length which will upload, but if sharing on your classroom digital platform you can add accompanying explanatory text, and perhaps have a sequence of short videos (each labelled with identifying text) so that pupils can more easily watch the parts as often as necessary for what they are doing.
Here’s example of videos shared by teachers where the camera is pointed at the writing area, and with the teacher voice added as narration, or using a class toy or puppet to provide the on-screen persona:
— P1 and Mrs Gall (@MrsGallAPS) May 18, 2020
La pierna
![]()
El brazo![]()
El pie![]()
La mano![]()
We are practising the parts of the body this week.
1. Practise the words
2. Draw a real or made up person with lots of detail if you can.
3. Label the parts on them in Spanish.
4. Keep your drawing safe, you’ll need it again. pic.twitter.com/ur3Rf1Dvbf— Carronshore P3 & P4/3 (@CPSP3_4) May 18, 2020
Blair Minchin has shared many imaginative teaching videos at @Mr_Minchn and @LittleLessons20 –
Atmospheric Pressure
Plastic straws are hard to come by these days I know but if you have a bending piece of tubing this is some pretty advanced physics. Can still do the first part with a non-bendy straw.
Equipment: two glasses, straw
Time: 30 mins#homeschooling #homeschool pic.twitter.com/C61lOztnOm— LittleLessons (@littlelessons20) May 19, 2020
Speech Marks
Now, this is actually week 2 of Creative Writing but also a great stand alone activity to develop your use of speech marks.
Time: 30 mins
Equipment: Pencil, Paper, Jokes#remotelearning #Homeschool #homelearning pic.twitter.com/PfNmyrc3fa— LittleLessons (@littlelessons20) April 27, 2020
The likelihood is that the device you have to hand for taking videos is your smartphone or mobile tablet, a device such as an iPad. And that’s perfectly fine for taking video to share with your learners.
If you want to find out about some of the inbuilt camera features as part of the camera app on an iPad then click on this link for a blogpost about time-lapse, slo-mo, burst-mode, and more on a smartphone or tablet
10 Tips for Recording Better Video with Your Smartphone – a helpful blogpost by Maggie Tillman and Elyse Betters with tips for making better video with your smartphone.
Whatever app you are running on an iPad then you can create a teaching video where you record whatever is on the iPad screen, where you can if you wish, add your voice-over to explain what your learners are seeing.
Here's how to make a screen recording on an iPad or iPhone—handy for recording video tutorials. #remoteteaching #distancelearning pic.twitter.com/upCj33AYhb
— Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) April 27, 2020
Do you want to appear on camera beside your screen recording on an iPad? Then here’s how you can use split screen to record yourself on the iPad camera while recording activity on the iPad
Want a video of yourself teaching alongside your lesson visuals? Use Split View alongside Screen Recording on an iPad. Quick and easy way to create lessons with a more personalised touch – pupils see you as well as your content. Give it a try and let me know how you get on! pic.twitter.com/6KejVHX2B0
— BlendEd_NI (@BlendEd_NI) May 31, 2020
If you have the latest version of PowerPoint then you have the facility to capture a video recording of whatever is on your PC/laptop – whether that’s the PowerPoint presentation or indeed anything on the PC which you wish to show to include in the video.
NEW! I've created a new "Video and Screen Recording Tools"
YouTube playlist chock full of quick tip videos
More coming in the near future…
https://t.co/Zi0SniQVxc#FlipgridForAll #MIEExpert #MicrosoftEDU pic.twitter.com/1SydBydssn
— Mike Tholfsen (@mtholfsen) May 7, 2020
Click the link to access helpful visuals that guide you through the steps for recording Slide Shows in PowerPoint. https://t.co/eLemmunfhv #MIEExpert #Microsoft #MSEdu #Education #Digitallearningtools #AssistiveTechnology #PowerPoint #ScreenRecording pic.twitter.com/bkci1CEZIJ
— Rebecca Chapman (@MsBeccaChapman) May 19, 2020
There are a number of other tools for Screen Recording, whether downloadable software or online. Click on this link for some more options including Screencast-o-matic and Smart Recorder
PowerPoint has the option to create a video from your presentation. Just open the PowerPoint presentation and go to File > Export > Save as Video. This will incorporate all that you’ve included in timings, narration, animations, media, and transitions.
Learn how to turn your presentation into a video:https://t.co/3WOkcl7bRE
— PowerPoint (@powerpoint) April 24, 2020
If you wish to include yourself (or something else) in a video where the background is of something else, the subject of your video, then using the greenscreen facility available with some tools can let you, for instance, appear talking in front of a video of whatever you are teaching about.
I’m trying out different methods such as using green screens for teaching and learning when we are not able to teach as normal in classrooms. Here is part of a video I have created which will hopefully keep the Higher pupils more engaged with learning
@HwbSt @StMungosFalkirk pic.twitter.com/sd3blAq1uM
— Mr Swan (@mrswan82) May 18, 2020
Click on this link for a blogpost with a guide to using DoInk green screen iPad app to create videos using a greenscreen. This blogpost also includes lots of examples.
Click on this link for a guide to using the iMovie iPad app to achieve the greenscreen effect
The online tool unscreen.com provides the means to remove the background automatically from a video so that you can combine with another image or video and quickly create a greenscreen effect, without the need for any other equipment.
Thank you to @ICTEvangelist for sharing about https://t.co/NRpiD0V2wc for quickly removing backgrounds from videos without the need for a #greenscreen
#DigiLearnScot pic.twitter.com/aeoYgq4Ktp
—
Malcolm Wilson
(@claganach) March 6, 2020
Stop-motion animation videos can be useful to illustrate a teaching point where you have a series of still images. This can be useful where live action of a sequence of events is difficult to capture on video, or may take too long, or where you only have access to still images. You can create a sequence of still images using presentation software like PowerPoint (and export as a video to create the illusion of animation/movement) or drop them into video editing software/app such as iMovie on an iPad. Or you can use stop-motion software/app such as the iPad app Stikbot.
How did you get on with the maths task yesterday? Can you measure a short distance and try to work out the speed of a toy car or paper aeroplane, time how long it takes to travel that distance and calculate the speed. Here’s an example my kids helped me make
#antomaths pic.twitter.com/w5T4AT0c61
— P6AF Mrs Aitken (@MrsAitkenAnto) May 6, 2020
Stikbot iPad app
Click on this link for a blogpost about making a stop-motion animation using the Stikbot iPad app
There is a host of tools which can be used to create animations:
loving my wee virtual classroom videos for S2 practical this week. Sharing the link to their assignment in Teams via @Flipgrid #TeamMIEEScotland https://t.co/2MmQni9EhX
— Sarah Clark (@Sfm36) June 10, 2020
There’s a host of video editing tools available. Chance are the device you have available has likely got something already there ready for you to use.
For Windows laptops/PCs then built into Windows 10 devices you will find Video editor (which replaced Windows Movie Maker, with which many teacher may already be familiar, from previous versions of Windows).
Did you know that there is a free video editing tool
built right into Windows 10? Click the start button and type "Video Editor"
Great for creativity during #remotelearning. Think of it as "NextGen Movie Maker"
YouTube
https://t.co/2mAI7h39bX#edtech #MicrosoftEDU pic.twitter.com/nlco2bhgDE
— Mike Tholfsen (@mtholfsen) May 17, 2020
For iPads then available for free on iOS devices you will find iMovie and Apple Clips.
Creating and editing a film in the classroom with an iPad can be done with the iMovie app. Click on this link for a post about using iMovie on your iPad in the classroom (including examples) for help on getting started as well as tips on using some of the neat features such as adding video-in-video or picture in picture and more.
Apple Clips is a neat free video-creation app for iPad or iPhone. It lets you quickly combine text, music, graphics, recorded voice, images, and animations to create videos with ease. So if you are trying to find a way to explain a topic or a teaching point then you might find Apple Clips a handy way to create a visually engaging video. The inclusion of inbuilt graphics such as arrows, finger pointers and many more adaptable images make this really easy to highlight parts of photographs or video clips with explanatory text or spoken voice.
You have many choices when deciding how to share you video. What platforms you have available to you for your school may determine the choice you make.
The following are just some of the ways you might share your video creations:
Click on this link for a free online course on the Microsoft Educator Centre – this free online course provides step by step guidance for how to create a teaching video and also has tips and advice about what to consider when you are making and sharing these with your class.
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
Apple Clips is a neat free video-creation app for iPad or iPhone. It lets you quickly combine text, music, graphics, recorded voice, images, and animations to create videos with ease. So if you are trying to find a way to explain a topic or a teaching point then you might find Apple Clips a handy way to create a visually engaging video. The inclusion of inbuilt graphics such as arrows, finger pointers and many more adaptable images make this really easy to highlight parts of photographs or video clips with explanatory text or spoken voice.
Likewise if learners in your classroom are trying to demonstrate their understanding of a topic being studied then this app can provide a great means for learners to illustrate their understanding of concepts.
The video below by Kristen Brooks uses Apple Clips app itself to provide a quick how-to guide, as well as an illustration of the app in use, to getting started creating a video using Apple Clips
Want to use the #classroomclips app to teach your students how to create “Show what you know through a video” projects? This tutorial is for you! @AppleEDU @Mattbaier1234 #EveryoneCanCreate #ForTheLoveOfLearning #AppleClips #AppleEduChat #iPadED #appleteacher #ADEdu pic.twitter.com/l6sIw3Vh6B
— Kristen Brooks (@KristenBrooks77) March 31, 2018
Apple Education have a free downloadable guide called Everyone Can Create showing how to make use of Apple Clips app to support creativity in learning and teaching
Check out new Clips updates like additional Live Titles, labels, and stickers. Create animated title cards using new education-themed posters with blackboard and notebook designs. Start making #ClassroomClips using the #EveryoneCanCreate Teacher Guide. https://t.co/Sqt1ev5g0k pic.twitter.com/kyVTa6Amss
— Apple Education (@AppleEDU) April 26, 2018
Mark Anderson (@ICTevangelist) has created a how-to guide for using Apple Clips in the classroom
5 ways (with example vids) to use #AppleClips for learning!
https://t.co/1cfEOLkhHm #edchatNZ #edchatie pic.twitter.com/kNZmA6lD3y
— Mark Anderson
(@ICTEvangelist) July 8, 2017
Alan Ellis shared a tutorial to getting started with using Apple Clips
Using clips app to quickly create #teacher guides. #ADEChat #ADE2017 #ForTheLoveOfLearning #classroomClips @AppleEDU pic.twitter.com/bp9ky2VT6u
— alan ellis (@mralanellis) July 25, 2017
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
Smartphones and tablets such as iPads have inbuilt cameras with a host of features beyond simply taking a photograph. Whether it’s time-lapse, slo-mo, burst-mode, video, panorama, zoom or a range of filters, quality choice or proportions.
Perhaps trying to show development of work over time in time-lapse mode for a creation process in writing, an experiment in science; or perhaps using slow-motion to more closely let a learner study techniques in physical education or music instrumental technique; or using burst-mode to capture a precise moment when observing minibeasts or animals.
Browse through the Sway presentations below to see how to use these tools on an iPad, as well as for some examples of their use in a learning environment.
Click here for a Sway showing how to use the time-lapse mode on an iPad camera, along with some examples of use, where this lets you record activity over an extended period of time but are able to view it played back with the images showing in rapid succession.
Click here for a Tweet showing an example of the use of the slow-motion mode
Slo-mo shot of Ryan finishing his Flying Fox flight #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/rqHynrlElF
— Moray Primary School (@MorayPS) March 8, 2017
When you want to get the best shot of a fast-moving activity you might try to use the ordinary camera mode but, as often as not, you’ll probably find that by the time you’ve got the camera ready and clicked to take the picture you’re either too early or miss the critical moment. So here’s where the burst mode comes into play – it lets you take a series of single images from which you can then select the one which captures the moment you wish to illustrate a specific moment in time.
There seems to be an uncanny amount of twins and triplets at #DunipaceDigitalLeaders tonight!
Exploring pano camera mode
#DigiLearnScot pic.twitter.com/RsWfxfRpnG
— P2 Dunipace (@MrsCrerar) March 21, 2017
In a classroom setting where you may be using iPads shared between multiple users, or where a teacher wants to bring images created by others together for using in other applications jointly by a class, there are different options for sharing what’s stored on an iPad. One way might be for learners to use the iPad AirDrop feature to share with another iPad – perhaps the teacher’s device for collating all created resources. Click on this link to a Sway showing how to use AirDrop. Or perhaps uploading to cloud storage online using OneDrive (provided to all users of Glow in Scottish schools). Click on this link to a Sway showing how to upload to OneDrive via a browser on an iPad.
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
Pic
Collage – much more than the name might suggest, Pic
Collage is a free app which works on multiple platforms including iPads, Android, Windows and Amazon devices. Yes of course it can create collages of multiple images but it can do much more! And it has uses to support across the curriculum in different ways.
At its most straightforward you can create a collage of multiple images in one single image to illustrate an aspect of learning in an overview.
And PicCollage provides a range of grid templates from which to choose. Simply open the app, choose “grids”, select your images from your device, select the outline shape/proportion from the size tab, then from Grid tab choose from the range of grid types – note that you can choose from overlapping freestyle or from different numbers of images and relative sizes.
In addition, for any selected grid template, you can click on any single image at a time and adjust the relative proportions/size of each image to reflect how you want the complete collage of images to appear.
The size of the gap between each image (the background), as well as the outline of the entire collage, can be adjusted by using the slider (you can adjust it so there is no background or gap between images). Click on the third tab, background, to choose the colour or pattern which will appear between images and around the outline of the collage.
The Tweet by @MPS_Primary6 used the app to select images to illustrate mood and diplay in a grid template and overlay with text
Inspired by @MPS_P7 today, we used @PicCollage to visualise the moods of mountains during literacy. #personification @Schools_Digital @claganach pic.twitter.com/dyqZuJ3jls
— MPS-Primary6 (@MPS_Primary6) January 8, 2019
For any collage you can add stickers, from speech/thought bubbles to smiley faces to thumbs-up and more. These stickers can be handy if you have a need to obscure elements of an image, such as to hide faces or to blank out names or other text details. Once placed on a collage a sticker can be moved, rotated or resized.
You can add text to any collage, choosing from a range of typefaces/fonts. You can choose the colour of the letters as well as the colour of the text box (or choose to have no background colour or text box visible). You can choose how to align text within a text box if you choose to show the text box, and choose whether or bot to display an outline in each letter.
See the Tweet below from @MrsOrrCPS for examples of how this app has been used by learners choosing an image or background, then overlaying their self-created poetry text which the image reflects.
P6/7 have been learning about onomatopoeia (& know a sneaky song to spell it!)
They used onomatopoeia to make their poems more effective & then redrafted them on @PicCollage
#literacy #litchat #writing #poetry #ict #DigiLearnScot #digitechlearn @digitechlearn #ukedchat pic.twitter.com/novSvElIxf
— MrsOrr&P6/7E (@MrsOrrCPS) April 24, 2018
The inbuilt web image search provides the option to easily find images, including animated gifs, to add on top of your collage.
@P7PWPS chose images and backgrounds in the app, and then used the text tool to overlay descriptive words in French
We used Pic Collage to create posters about French Clothing. We chose an image and described the clothing worn. @WallacestonePS pic.twitter.com/Rfhd6idzym
— P7PWPS (@P7PWPS) January 28, 2019
The doodle option lets you choose the size of the drawn line and the colour of drawing tool. Then you simply draw freehand on top of the collage. Once drawn this drawn image can then be moved, rotated or resized as required.
Selecting “animation” gives you the option to select from various animations, including moving from side to side or moving into the centre, wiggling or spreading and more. The animation applies to all of the elements of the collage. These animated collages can be shared online via website or social media where the animations will then be seen.
PicCollage has a Teacher’s Corner area of their blog full of ideas about how this app can be used in the classroom to support learning. Head over to https://blog.piccollage.com/category/teachers-corner/ to check it out.
Look at the Tweets below shared by schools about the ways they have used this app:
So how have you used this app? Do share in the comments here how you have used the app in your classroom
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
For conveying information quickly we all rely on signs and symbols every day, whether it’s finding toilets, exits, stairs or lifts in unfamiliar public buildings, or signs on roads warning of dangers ahead. We’re used to seeing symbols which convey information such as laundry washing symbols, packaging symbols, or about recycling products. And it might be said that people find information shared in an infographic poster more visually engaging when text and graphics and combined. Images can be recognised quickly regardless of the first language of the reader ensuring that information can be conveyed concisely without high levels of reading skills in any particular language.
Signs and symbols have been used throughout history to convey information so they are not new. The symbols used in ancient civilisations through to the emoticons and emojis of today may be considered to be part of a continuum.
It’s been described as one of the fastest growing languages and many millions of messages are reported to be sent every day using only emojis. Tennis star Andy Murray tweeted about his wedding day solely using emojis!
Emojis are simply pictures you type on a device, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet or computer. Emojis are standardised characters available on different platforms whether running Apple, Android, or Windows operating systems, or different social media platforms (the artwork varies slightly between each but the meaning remains the same).
We all grow up with signs and symbols but for many people there may be a worry that they don’t know what each emoji means – don’t panic, there’s an online encyclopedia/dictionary of emojis: https://emojipedia.org/. Simply type in a word to find the emoji you need.
There’s also a Frequently-Asked-Questions section which answers questions you might have about emojis.
You might also find useful the EmojiTranslate site where you simply type a word, sentence or paragraph to get emojis to copy and paste elsewhere https://emojitranslate.com/
Why I use Emoji in Research and Teaching – an article by Jennifer Fane setting out reasons why to consider using emojis in education to support inclusion, to aid communication, and to give voice to all learners.
How Emojis can Help Children Learn and Communicate – another article by Jennifer Fane describing how emojis can aid inclusion for children as well as support children’s learning in areas of health, well-being, safety and diversity.
An Emoji Education – a blogpost by Tony Vincent in his excellent Learning in Hand blog which presents lots of tools and ideas for using emojis in the classroom complemented by visually engaging poster images. Whether it’s simply suggesting use of emojis instead of common bullet-points in reports or presentations for greater impact, or for learners summarizing texts using emojis to demonstrate understanding, or using emojis as prompts for story starts, as well as a range of tools which can aid the use of emojis on a variety of devices.
20+ Emoji Activities and Resources for Teaching Math, Science, and English – a very helpful blogpost by Shelly Terrell with a host of ideas for making use of emojis in education. The ideas can be adapted across many curricular areas. Shelley links to other useful resources and tools, as well as additional posts about how emojis can be used including her “Teaching the Emoji Generation” article which also links to many other articles, resources and tools.
15 Ways to Emoji-fy Your Teaching – a blogpost by teacher Stacy Zeiger with ideas for using emojis in the classroom for supporting reading and writing, for maths and science such as illustrating processes, and to support social and emotional learning to help break down communication barriers for some learners.
Using Emojis to Teach Critical Reading Skills – an article by Marissa King with suggestions for how emojis might be used in a classroom situation as one means of connecting learner experience outwith school to develop skills in other contexts in the classroom.
Cybrary Man’s Educational Website for Emojis – a web page of links to resources about using emojis in education collated on the Cybrary Man website by Jerry Blumengarten.
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
Essentially it’s using software or an app to combine different images or video so that one appears as if part of the other. The green screen part makes use of chroma-key feature of the app so that anyone standing in front of a green screen will appear in the video with the green screen not seen at all, but replaced by another chosen background image or video. Wikipedia gives a much fuller explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_key.
With an iPad, and a green screen app (such as the Doink green screen iPad app) and with anything in the background which is green (whether frieze paper on the wall or green sheeting, or specially made green screen fabric on a frame) you are ready to go.
Have a look at the Sway below for examples of videos created by pupils using the DoInk green screen iPad app, along with how-to guides to starting to use it yourself. And then it’s creativity on the part of your learners in the classroom – for further inspiration have a look at the DoInk green screen app blog to see how others have shared about using green screen film-making in the classroom.
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Learning & Teaching in Falkirk Schools
Creating and editing a film in the classroom with an iPad can be done with the iMovie app.
View this Sway presentation about using iMovie on your iPad in the classroom for help on getting started as well as tips on using some of the neat features such as adding video-in-video or picture in picture and more
from Malcolm Wilson @ ICT for Teaching & Learning in Falkirk Primary Schools
Memes and animated gifs abound in social media. You don’t have to look too long online to see these appear, often being shared and shared by many people via their social media accounts, or prominent on webpages or blogposts to draw in the reader to find out more about a story or data.
Having learners create their own memes or animated gifs can support their learning across all areas of the curriculum. The process of demonstrating understanding of a concept involves learners in reflecting on their learning, often discussing with others to test the depth of that understanding, and then finding creative ways to present the information to others. Where learners are encouraged to make these animated gifs or memes to demonstrate their understanding of concepts they are reflecting on what the key points are, they are summarising, in effect creating a visual précis of information.
Animated gifs are short animations lasting just a few seconds, sometimes just a sequence of related images, sometimes a short looping segment or clip of a video, sometimes a stop-motion style of inanimate objects brought to life to convey a message.
Image Memes generally may consist of a single photograph with text along the top and foot of the image, sometimes black top and bottom borders where bold white text is superimposed. The text is often in capitalised Impact font.
The text is usually very short and the text along the top can often be the draw to bring in the viewer, and then the text along the foot can spin the idea to make the reader reflect on the issue, often with humorous effect.
Animated gifs and memes present messages in a visual, attention-grabbing way, to make those who view them stop and think. The most thought-provoking memes and animated gifs distil what can be a complex concept into the main idea which can be understood in just a few seconds.
A Mental Health and Wellbeing project, AyeMind, (which inspired this blogpost after a presentation by Dr Trevor Lakey, Health Improvement and Inequalities manager with NHSGGC) developed by the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde along with partner organisations, has a fantastic website to be a part of providing positive mental health support for children and young people.
Part of this was about digital inclusion, and using the tools, platforms and means of communications familiar to children and young people to engage and share. Part of this project was enabling talking about mental health issues in a positive, supportive environment and giving the children and young people a voice and opportunity to make better use of the Internet, social media and mobile technologies. The memes and animated gifs on the AyeMind project website were created by children and young people as part of the project.
There are a number of free online tools which let users create an animated gif. When using in an educational setting it would be prudent to check for suitability of advertising or galleries of user-created content which is rarely moderated.
Ideally find a tool which just offers the tool for creation of the animated gif. Each tool which creates an animated gif may provide different options such as the limit on the number of images which can be uploaded, the option to control the speed or frame-rate of the animation, the size of the output animated gif image, and sometimes further options. Some simply provide the option for users to specify the location of an already uploaded video online, and the starting and finishing point for the clip animated gif to be created.
The Young Scot website AyeMind project page provides an excellent outline of an activity for involving children and young people in deciding on the message they wish to convey and then shows step-by-step how to use either an online tool or a mobile app to create an animated gif. There are also plenty of example of memes and animated gifs created by children and young people on the Young Scot website AyeMind project page and an outline guide providing the steps to running a session with children, young people or adults on coming up with the ideas and then moving to making the memes or animated gifs.
ABC.ya animator – aimed at being suitable for young children since it only permits drawn images or selection of pictures from an inbuilt galley of images.
GifMaker.me – animated gif creator with several options from which to choose in controlling how the animated gif will be presented, and provides the option to add music or even combine several animated gifs. As with any creation tool it provides the opportunity to explore sources of images and content found elsewhere, to use only where permission is granted and attribution given as required.
MakeAGif – provides the option to make a gif from an uploaded existing video or from an online source on YouTube, from which the specific segment can be selected. Be aware of the gallery of examples which would not all be appropriate for an educational setting.
EZGif – provides the option for animated gifs from multiple images (up to 400) or from video. There is advertising on the site but no gallery of user-created content.
Mobile device apps – many apps are available for smartphone or tablet to create animated gifs. Leslie Walker put together “Mobile GIF Guide: Make Animated GIFs on Your Phone” which lists several apps for mobile phones or tablet devices, along with descriptions of the features of each. Justin Pot gathered together “Making an animated gif is easier than you think with these which lists online tools as well as mobile device apps, including descriptions and guidance as to how to make use of each. Elise Moreau collated a list of free animated gif creators for mobile devices at “9 Free GIF Maker Apps for iPhone and Android” describing each and providing helpful hints as to how each can be used.
Any image-creation tool (or a presentation tool like PowerPoint) on computer, mobile or tablet device can usually be used for creating an image meme – wherever an image can be placed with the facility to overlay text either along the top and bottom of the image, or within a border of black along the top and bottom of the image for white text to be superimposed on these black panels. There are online tools but as with any free online tool a having unmoderated galleries of user-created content has to be a factor an educator looks at in assessing the suitability of a tool in an educational context, however the following may provide the teacher with ideas, guides as well as inspire an adaptation of an existing meme to suit the learning need. Meme creation online tools include imgFlip Meme generator, MemeMaker.Net, MemeGenerator.net, and ImageChef Meme Maker (be aware that all of these have galleries of user-generated content which would not generally be suitable in an educational context but selected memes may be shared by a teacher for showing examples).
Mobile device apps specifically for creating image memes have been collated on the AppCrawlr site “Best iOS apps for meme generator” and “Best Android apps for meme generator.” Mobile device users may well find they already have one of these apps as several have multiple purposes such as for editing images.