Language Teaching

Tech Tools for Digital Storytelling

Gwangju News

Are you looking for an easy way to make your lessons more engaging, interactive, and multimodal? Digital storytelling is a great way to let a student’s voice be heard—quite literally! With digital storytelling, your students can share pictures, videos, and stories from their own experiences; and it is easier than ever to integrate visual and audio elements into an impressive, professional-looking product. Here are some free, easy-to-use digital storytelling tools that don’t require a huge time investment. You can add or share your creations in worksheets or clue games using a QR code or Aurasma, turning your class into a multimedia experience!

 

Tools for Making Video Stories

 

  1. YAKiT or YAKiT Kids (iOS & Windows; http://www.freakngenius.com/). YAKiT and YAKiT Kids can make any photo talk! It is a super-fun, super-easy way to motivate students to speak—or to provide an entertaining visual accompaniment to the teacher’s own words, preserved as a video the students can watch as many times as they need to in order to understand. Just upload a photo; add a mouth from the provided stickers or draw a mouth-line; add facial features, props, or an animated special effect such as floating hearts or sparkles; then record what you want your creation to say. The mouth will move in time with your speech! You can record as many times as you need to, and you can adjust the pitch of the voice so it is really high or really low for maximum entertainment value. If you want to, you can add a scene by choosing another photo and repeating this procedure. When you are finished, you can send your video by email or save it to your phone.

 

  1. ChatterPix or ChatterPix Kids (iOS). ChatterPix and ChatterPix Kids offer a simpler alternative to YAKiT, and they perform a similar function: making a photo speak. There are fewer face and mouth options here, and there are no animated special effects or voice-altering capabilities; but the app does include frame and text options that are not available on YAKiT, and it is simple to export your creation directly to YouTube.

 

  1. Tellagami (iOS & Android; http://tellagami.com). Tellagami is a simple app that lets users create a short video featuring an animated avatar. Just choose and customize an avatar; select a background from the provided options or from your own camera; add a doodle, if you wish; and then record your voice. That is it! Now you can share your video via email, Twitter, or Facebook. Recordings can be up to 30 seconds long.

 

  1. Shadow Puppet Edu (iOS). With Shadow Puppet, students or teachers can upload or find online photos, videos, or maps; write or draw on them; add music and a voiceover; and share their finished creation in just a few easy steps. Especially noteworthy is that anything the user does while recording—zooming, writing, drawing, or moving the image—will be included in the video! The free Edu version allows teachers and students to create a video story that is up to 100 pages and 30 minutes long.

 

  1. Animoto (iOS, Android, & web; http://animoto.com). This app makes it is incredibly easy for students to choose a video style, upload photos or videos, add text, and choose a soundtrack; then Animoto turns these elements into a professional-looking video that can be exported to YouTube, posted on social networks, or emailed as a link. In addition, teachers can apply for a free Animoto Plus account (http://animoto.com/education/classroom) that permits longer videos and that can be shared with students.

 

Tools for Still-Image Stories

 

  1. StoryboardThat (web; http://www.storyboardthat.com). Replete with an impressive variety of backgrounds, posable characters, props, text bubbles, and other customization options, StoryboardThat is a storyboard creation tool that allows an amazing amount of freedom yet is surprisingly easy to master! Students can create a story in three to six panels using the provided illustrations. When the story is finished, users can view the story panel-by-panel as a slideshow, download it as images or as a PowerPoint, or even turn it into a holiday-themed folding card.

 

  1. Storybird (web; http://storybird.com). No ideas? No problem! With Storybird, you can start with the site’s library of professional illustrations, from the sublime to the ridiculous, and let inspiration come to you. Select an illustration; decide whether it is for a long-form text, a picture book, or a poem; add some words; and then publish your creation! Final products can be collected in the Storybird class “library.”

 

And of course, I still highly recommend Marvel’s Create Your Own Comic (http://marvel.com/games/play/34/create_your_own_comic) tool as well as Chogger.com for building comics, and Tell-a-Story StoryBuilder at the Toronto Public Library (http://kidsspace.torontopubliclibrary.ca/story.html), all of which were highlighted in my last tech tools round-up (“Tech Tools for Student Projects,” October 2014). Have fun, and happy creating!

 

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Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Monthly Meeting

Date & Time: May 2 (Saturday), 10:30 – 17:00

Place: Chosun University, Main Building, Left Wing, Rm 4211

Admission: No Charge

 

Morning (11:00) Reflective Practice Session

Afternoon Presentations

  1. Tech Tools for Digital Storytelling – Lindsay Herron
  2. Information Gap Activities – Bryan Hale

 

For more details:

Website:    http://koreatesol.org/gwangju

Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

Email:        gwangju@koreatesol.org

Twitter:      @GwangjuKOTESOL

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