Before I begin to explore the topic of multimedia sharing I need to know two things :
1. what is multimedia sharing and how is it different from photo/video sharing?
2. what are mashup sites?
According to Participatory Media Guidebook "multimedia sharing sites facilitate the storage, sharing, and sometimes creation of audio, images/photos, and video." Based on this definition, a multimedia sharing site is similar to a photo/video sharing site since it can do both these things, however, it also allows you to create and blend audio, images, and video. I guess if you think about what a mashup site is it is self-explanatory. It is a site that combines web features. Web 2.0 Directory: eConsultant gives a list of sites that combine services from other websites. These sites combine sites like delicious, google, yahoo, social networking and many others.
To try out multimedia sharing I thought I would use animoto. I have never even heard of it before and had no idea what to expect. The site allows you to create a slideshow of your photos and add music. It was so much fun! I could have sat and created short videos of all my photos. It made it so much fun to look at them again. It was so easy to use, you could pull photos straight from facebook or other sites that allow you to store photos. You can add your own music or music they provide to your video. I liked that they used bands I had never heard of before, I'm sure that it is good promotion for these bands and the site allows you to buy the music that you add to your video if you want, which is another nice feature. After you're done creating the video you can share it on youtube, facebook, or post it to a blog like I have done. Teachers can apply to create unlimited videos. This site is a fun way to get students to create videos, and it is so easy to use. It allows them to be really creative. The site provides case studies that show what some schools have done with animoto. One class created an anti-bullying video, while others have used it for end of year projects or to supplement the lesson. I watched the anti-bullying video that is on the site as an example of what can be done with animoto and it is very good for a fourth grade class. I think it goes to show you that if children enjoy what they are doing then they can create something that's really great. Mine is not quite as cool as theirs, but it was really fun to make.
Another multimedia sharing site is voicethread. Voicethread is interesting because it allows someone to upload an image, document, or video then others can comment through many means including video, audio, and typing. Because it offers users the ability to interact in advanced and basic ways, anyone can participate. Voicethread would be great for educators of university and grade school students. Teachers can use voicethread to have students illustrate, upload and narrate their own stories, or post illustrations and have each student create a narrative and see how they differ. Professors can post videos, documents or images and students can discuss. This allows discussions to occur that are more interactive, and is especially handy for web courses. Both animoto and voicethread blew me away. They were a lot of fun to use and were both two sites I had never heard of before. Both of them have a lot of potential for use in schools.
A multimedia sharing site that I came across is Cozimo. Cozimo allows you to upload a video, photo, or document and then lets others comment. Commenting can be done through messaging and markup of the image. People are able to draw directly on the image, then add text explaining why they have marked that image. This commenting does not have to be done alone, review sessions can be held, and everyone can comment together. Cozimo means that people can discuss ideas from all over and do not have to be together to edit something. Cozimo would be a great way for students working on an assignment that is visual to collaborate and edit, though since it allows documents to be uploaded and marked it would be useful for almost any group project. A review session is a nice feature because people are able to get together from wherever they are, which is always an issue with group work.
Multimedia sharing provides many useful tools for schools and libraries. Schools can use multimedia sharing sites for collaboration on schoolwork, or as a creative way to make videos of school functions, for the curriculum, or for fun. Libraries can use the sites as a fun way to introduce people to what's new in the library, or as a way for colleagues to collaborate much easier.
Multimedia sharing is still pretty new so there is not a lot of literature or guidance on the topic for schools and libraries. The best thing for them to do is learn about specific sites, play with them and try to think of ways to implement them. A lot of the multimedia sites give ideas for what it can be used for and this is a good starting point for schools and libraries.
1. what is multimedia sharing and how is it different from photo/video sharing?
2. what are mashup sites?
According to Participatory Media Guidebook "multimedia sharing sites facilitate the storage, sharing, and sometimes creation of audio, images/photos, and video." Based on this definition, a multimedia sharing site is similar to a photo/video sharing site since it can do both these things, however, it also allows you to create and blend audio, images, and video. I guess if you think about what a mashup site is it is self-explanatory. It is a site that combines web features. Web 2.0 Directory: eConsultant gives a list of sites that combine services from other websites. These sites combine sites like delicious, google, yahoo, social networking and many others.
To try out multimedia sharing I thought I would use animoto. I have never even heard of it before and had no idea what to expect. The site allows you to create a slideshow of your photos and add music. It was so much fun! I could have sat and created short videos of all my photos. It made it so much fun to look at them again. It was so easy to use, you could pull photos straight from facebook or other sites that allow you to store photos. You can add your own music or music they provide to your video. I liked that they used bands I had never heard of before, I'm sure that it is good promotion for these bands and the site allows you to buy the music that you add to your video if you want, which is another nice feature. After you're done creating the video you can share it on youtube, facebook, or post it to a blog like I have done. Teachers can apply to create unlimited videos. This site is a fun way to get students to create videos, and it is so easy to use. It allows them to be really creative. The site provides case studies that show what some schools have done with animoto. One class created an anti-bullying video, while others have used it for end of year projects or to supplement the lesson. I watched the anti-bullying video that is on the site as an example of what can be done with animoto and it is very good for a fourth grade class. I think it goes to show you that if children enjoy what they are doing then they can create something that's really great. Mine is not quite as cool as theirs, but it was really fun to make.
Another multimedia sharing site is voicethread. Voicethread is interesting because it allows someone to upload an image, document, or video then others can comment through many means including video, audio, and typing. Because it offers users the ability to interact in advanced and basic ways, anyone can participate. Voicethread would be great for educators of university and grade school students. Teachers can use voicethread to have students illustrate, upload and narrate their own stories, or post illustrations and have each student create a narrative and see how they differ. Professors can post videos, documents or images and students can discuss. This allows discussions to occur that are more interactive, and is especially handy for web courses. Both animoto and voicethread blew me away. They were a lot of fun to use and were both two sites I had never heard of before. Both of them have a lot of potential for use in schools.
A multimedia sharing site that I came across is Cozimo. Cozimo allows you to upload a video, photo, or document and then lets others comment. Commenting can be done through messaging and markup of the image. People are able to draw directly on the image, then add text explaining why they have marked that image. This commenting does not have to be done alone, review sessions can be held, and everyone can comment together. Cozimo means that people can discuss ideas from all over and do not have to be together to edit something. Cozimo would be a great way for students working on an assignment that is visual to collaborate and edit, though since it allows documents to be uploaded and marked it would be useful for almost any group project. A review session is a nice feature because people are able to get together from wherever they are, which is always an issue with group work.
Multimedia sharing provides many useful tools for schools and libraries. Schools can use multimedia sharing sites for collaboration on schoolwork, or as a creative way to make videos of school functions, for the curriculum, or for fun. Libraries can use the sites as a fun way to introduce people to what's new in the library, or as a way for colleagues to collaborate much easier.
Multimedia sharing is still pretty new so there is not a lot of literature or guidance on the topic for schools and libraries. The best thing for them to do is learn about specific sites, play with them and try to think of ways to implement them. A lot of the multimedia sites give ideas for what it can be used for and this is a good starting point for schools and libraries.
Blogspot ate my comment. >< Second try:
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about Cozimo! It would've come in handy a few months ago when the 4 library staff in the Vancouver and Calgary offices of the company I'm at were working together to create a library user survey. =)
I checked out cozimo and really liked that you could manage several different collaborative pages from your homepage. I think this would be ideal for a high school teacher to use, from the management perspective. It also seemed like it would be quite easy for high school students to navigate. I like VoiceThread for the younger children because it is very simple and they only have to deal with one frame at a time. Both tools are fantastic! Thanks for introducing me to Cozimo:)
ReplyDelete