RJ Stangherlin

Keystone Technology Integrator and STAR Discovery Educator

This site is for Mrs. Stangherlin's classes at Salisbury High School.

Animoto in Education: Todd Anderson’s Trailer

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

Animoto is a great classroom resource.  I’ve been using it with my students for a year, and as part of my Grade 10 final exam, I asked students to make a trailer for The Secret Life of Bees, a fourth quarter novel they read and blogged. Todd Anderson‘s trailer gives you a great example of how the tool can be integrated in curriculm.  For more examples of Animoto in Education, click here.

Why do I like Animoto?  It lets you produce your own MTV-style video (founders include former producers at MTV, Comedy Central & ABC)with, professional end results.  In beta for the last year, users could create 30 second videos only, or upgrade to the full-length version for a fee.  In August, Animoto in Education was launched, and now teachers and students can use the full-length produce free.  If you want to find out how, check out this posting by cliotech on the Pennsylvania Discovery Educator Network blog (a great place for resources for students and teachers).

Animoto in Education
Video
Technology Integration
Turbo Tagger

What’s in a VoiceThread?

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

Actually, quite a lot of conversations around media.  VoiceThread is a powerful, all-in-one place to talk about and share your images, documents, and videos.  You can create, comment 5 different ways, and share with your friends.

You can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation.  VoiceThreads can be embedded on websites (like the VoiceThread at the beginning of this post) and exported to MP3 players or DVDs as archival movies.  With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world.  The best part: it’s free, fun, fast, and there’s no software to download. Isn’t it time for you to begin to create, comment, and share?

VoiceThread
social media
web 2.0
Turbo Tagger

Social Media in Plain English

Nothing beats the Common Craft Show for simplifying something abstruse (think SAT vocabulary).  Thanks to creator Lee LeFever for “plain English.”

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Twitter in Plain English

Twitter in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Digital Literacy and Web 2.0: Tech Tips

Back to school just isn’t what it used to be, and the tools we gather for the start of a new year change faster than the the speed of light. As a way to welcome you back, I put several of my favorites in Wordle, a new tool compliments of my learning curve with Randy Ziegenfuss.  What makes Wordle fun is its ease of use: so simple, so fast, and so (much) fun.  My goal is to send you some tech tips each week, a roundup of cool tools I’ve found through my PPLNs (Professional Personal Learning Networks).  I love what I learn from my Twitterverse, Plurk, and a host of social media that is quickly becoming a wonderful way to learn globally, instantly.  So, each week watch for my Tech Tips, and I’ll try to vary the way I deliver them.  I’ll even ask you to contribute and share your favorite finds as well.  So, until next time, feel free to add your Web 2.0 finds using the Comment option.  And WELCOME BACK.