Introduction Being able to use movie making in the classroom, will make learning more fun! After this project, I feel as though I am better equipped to use moviemaking to teach my students. I think my students will enjoy using these applications to make their own presentations more exciting. The three applications I used in this project were Plotagon, Wideo and PowToon. The links to my movies are listed in the comparison chart below.
Areas of Comparison:
Plotagon
Wideo
PowToon
Purpose
I used Plotagon for my educational movie. This application seemed to serve the educational aspect of the project better because the facts were discussed between two characters instead of flashed on the screen in text.
Wideo just seemed fun to me! I used Wideo for my entertaining movie. The layout was simple and fun and it didn’t take very long at all to come up with this fun, short video.
For the instructional movie, I chose PowToon. It was simple to add text in this application and that was the majority of my information for this movie.
Ease of Use
Happily surprised is the term I would use for how easy Plotagon was to use. I chose a scene, characters, typed in what I wanted the character to say and there it was. My boys were mesmerized, so I took that as a sign that it would work in the classroom. The oldest asked when he could make his own. The fact that Plotagon is downloaded to the computer may be a negative for some, but it did not cause any problems for me.
Wideo was easy to use and I loved that I could upload graphics of my own to place in the movie. This was the easiest of the three applications to use. I was able to choose graphics, move them around the background, animation was as easy as clicking a button. Wideo even allows the creator to upload voice files!
PowToon was easy to use, but I felt limited in what I was able to do with the application. I created the PowToon movie first and was relieved to find the other applications a bit easier to create movies with.
Availability of Graphics
The availability of free graphics in Plotagon is restricted. There are six scenes to choose from and four characters that can be used in your movie.
There is a wide variety of graphics available in Wideo. They range from holidays, tech, social and business. I was impressed that Wideo allowed me to upload images and use them in my video. I loved being able to use my ewcKids logo in the movie!
PowToon offers a nice variety of graphics. Holiday graphics seem to be popular across the board with these applications.
Options for Sharing
Movies created in Plotagon can be shared with others. They are uploaded to Plotagon.com and can be shared to social media from there.
Wideo allows for direct sharing to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. A direct link and an embedded link are also available.
There are sharing options for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. PowToon also offers an embedded link.
Cost
Plotagon is completely free. However, if you want to add extra characters, sounds or scenes, the cost is $9.99. The theme packs range from Stan Lee Superheroes to Pride and Prejudice.
Wideo is free, but in order to download and have a copy of your movie, a one-time fee of $29 applies. If you want to be able to have unlimited downloads, a small fee of $249 is required.
PowToon is free, but there are additional graphics, animations and music available if you pay the “Professional” fee of $57 monthly.
The table takes into consideration five separate areas to compare. These are areas that I have used to compare other applications – purpose, cost, options for sharing, availability of graphics and ease of use. An application must excel at each of these areas in order to provide a well-put together product for consumers. With each application, I found things liked. I could have never imagined that a movie like I produced with Plotagon would be so easy! Type in what you want the character to say and voila, the character is saying it. The graphics available in applications are normally a sore spot for me, but I was pleasantly surprised with the options in these applications. With Plotagon, the user is limited to scenes and characters, but anyone could work a story about the scenes provided.
Conclusion The biggest challenge was honestly just getting the movies finished. When I finished the Plotagon movie, I was surprised to see how long it was. I was worried that I would have a hard time creating movies in the required length, but once I started the process, there were things I didn’t want to edit out. I had no problems meeting the minimum time limits. Overall, my favorite application was Wideo. It was easy to use and fun. There were many options available for music and I could even upload my own graphics. This option was not available (to my knowledge) with the other applications. I can see how being able to load student images would be helpful in the classroom. Wideo wins my vote for the easiest to use for teacher and student.
Project Description
Informational
Educational
Entertainment
"M" is for Moviemaking
IntroductionBeing able to use movie making in the classroom, will make learning more fun! After this project, I feel as though I am better equipped to use moviemaking to teach my students. I think my students will enjoy using these applications to make their own presentations more exciting. The three applications I used in this project were Plotagon, Wideo and PowToon. The links to my movies are listed in the comparison chart below.
The table takes into consideration five separate areas to compare. These are areas that I have used to compare other applications – purpose, cost, options for sharing, availability of graphics and ease of use. An application must excel at each of these areas in order to provide a well-put together product for consumers. With each application, I found things liked. I could have never imagined that a movie like I produced with Plotagon would be so easy! Type in what you want the character to say and voila, the character is saying it. The graphics available in applications are normally a sore spot for me, but I was pleasantly surprised with the options in these applications. With Plotagon, the user is limited to scenes and characters, but anyone could work a story about the scenes provided.
Conclusion
The biggest challenge was honestly just getting the movies finished. When I finished the Plotagon movie, I was surprised to see how long it was. I was worried that I would have a hard time creating movies in the required length, but once I started the process, there were things I didn’t want to edit out. I had no problems meeting the minimum time limits.
Overall, my favorite application was Wideo. It was easy to use and fun. There were many options available for music and I could even upload my own graphics. This option was not available (to my knowledge) with the other applications. I can see how being able to load student images would be helpful in the classroom. Wideo wins my vote for the easiest to use for teacher and student.
Descriptions :: About the Author :: Reflection :: References