Makerspace Showcase: Stop Motion Video

You know how sometimes your students just do something so neat that you want the whole world to see it? One of my Makerspace Club students did just that at our club meeting this week!

The truth is, they are all always doing such cool things that I wish we could show off all the time. However, most of the time, they are engaged in activities, like playing with the Makey Makey, which we can share in pictures, but you really have to be there to get the full effect of how neat it is.

Stop motion videos are a little easier to share though, so, without further ado, here is a stop motion video that one student made in under 30 minutes yesterday.

I was so impressed with his great video and just had to share it with everyone!

He used the Lego Movie Maker app to create this "video game" stop motion video.

To see some of the earlier stop motion videos that students made and the apps they are using, check out my earlier post on stop motion animation.



If you have any feedback for him, I'm sure he would appreciate it. :)

Tech Tools: Pocket

It's been a while since I shared a tech tool, so I thought I'd share an app that I've been using all the time lately. I thought it would be fun to try my first link up too! So I'm linking up with the Teaching Trio blog this week to share technology tips with other educators!

I first heard about this app in a Twitter chat a few months ago, and I've been hooked ever since.

Image Credit: itunes.apple.com

The app is called Pocket. It's a free app that lets you easily and quickly save images, video, websites, and other text all in one place. You can also view it online at https://getpocket.com/.


When I get involved in Twitter chats with other educators, I notice that great websites and articles are mentioned frequently. However, I want to stay engaged with the chat, so I always feel like there's no time to check the sites out. Pocket lets me conveniently save these links, videos, and more all in one place. Then, when I have a little extra time, I can go back and read these resources. If I like them, I can star them to make them easy to find, or share them out through social media links within Pocket. If I've decided I've read the article and I'm done with it, I can click the check mark and it moves out of 'My List' and into the 'Archives'. I can also decide to delete it completely.

Even better- once the items are saved to Pocket, you can view them even if you are offline!

Image credit: itunes.apple.com

I almost exclusively use Pocket through the app on my phone, however, I am easily able to access it on my computer and view all of the same items that I had saved to my Pocket app. I love that I can save items from my phone and access them from my computer or iPad later.

One of my favorite features of Pocket has been how neat and readable the screen looks. In 'My List' it shows the item title and a picture from the item, as well as a short description or introduction. With all of the different articles I have saved, these little thumbnail images are great visual reminders for me. When I first heard about Pocket, I wondered what the advantage was over just bookmarking the items. I have to say, besides the huge advantage of being able to read the articles when offline, the format makes it so much easier to find articles and star your favorites. When viewing it in your browser, the articles are set up like tiles, similar to Pinterest, which still makes it very readable.

As an educator, I am constantly coming across ideas that I want to use later, articles that I am interested in but just don't have the time for, or videos that I want to share with students later. This really is a great tool for busy educators who are constantly finding information online that they will want to access later. It's easy to access, easy to find content, and easy to share the information with others. What educator doesn't need a tool to make their life a little easier?

Makerspace Activities: Stop Motion Animation

One of our latest adventures in our Makerspace has been experimenting with video production.

The first type of video production that we experimented with was stop motion animation. We had Legos and we had iPads, so it was a match made in heaven.

For this activity, I downloaded two free apps: the Lego Movie Maker app and the Stop Motion Studio app. Both are great for beginners. 

The Lego Movie App is great for the true beginner and it comes with fun titles, intro slides, music, effects and more.It also guides you through how to take the pictures and add the various features. It is an excellent app for beginners and really helps kids begin to understand how stop motion animation works.

                                     

                                                Lego Movie Maker App

Here is an example of a Lego Movie Maker video that was made by a couple of kids in the Makerspace Club. They did this on their very first try!

The second app that I downloaded for this activity is called the Stop Motion Studio app. This app is also great for beginners. You can set a timer to record many images and record your voice. If you're willing to pay for it, there are also some other neat features to add to this app. You can purchase an extra, like green screen, individually or buy 'The Feature Pack' to get all of the extra features, like movie effects, themes, sound effects, and more. That certainly would be worth it if you were really enjoying creating these types of movies. At the moment, we are just beginning to explore what stop motion has to offer, so the free version worked just fine for us.

Stop Motion Studio App

Here are a couple videos that kids made at a club meeting using the Stop Motion Studio app.

I was really impressed with how quickly everyone picked up how to make a stop motion video and the creativity involved. All of the students who experimented with stop motion animation were able to create a finished product, and most did it in 30 minutes or less. This is a great, engaging, creative activity for our Makerspace! 

Tech Tools: Augmented Reality

The first time I saw augmented reality being demonstrated in a workshop, I can remember audibly saying "Wow!" The first time I showed an augmented reality app to students, that same word was repeated, along with many other exclamations about how amazing it was.

In the past year it seems that the number of AR apps has really increased creating some great potential for learning and fun! Best of all, all of the apps featured here are completely free!

colAR Mix

The first AR app I was ever introduced to is called colAR Mix. After downloading, you go to their website and print out any of a number of black and white pictures. After coloring the picture in, open the app and watch that very same picture come to life! They seem to be regularly updating the pictures that they offer, which is great. They have everything from a cute little sheep that kicks a soccer ball, to a cell where students can color in and label each of the different parts. Check out their video below to see just how amazing this app is!

ColAR Mix certainly isn't the only AR app out there. DAQRI has created a number of great AR apps that are educational and free as well.

Apps by DAQRI

Elements 4D is an app created by DAQRI that allows you to see chemical reactions take place in 4D. After printing out and assembling the cubes from their website, you can use the app to view what various chemicals actually look like in 4D. By placing two cubes together, you can actually see what the chemical reaction looks like! What an amazing way to help students actually visualize what happens when two chemicals mix.

Photo Credit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daqri/elements-4d-interactive-blocks

Another amazing app created by DAQRI is Anatomy 4D. Students can view all different systems at work in the human body to learn about anatomy and how the different systems fuction. Check out this video by DAQRI to see this incredible app.

DAQRI also has apps to view the human heart in 4D and the solar system. You can access these printables with the DAQRI app. I showed both to students at my school and they were truly amazed. They also had great ideas for different ways to explore the 4D images further. With the heart you can again view different One fun thing about the solar system 4D printable is that the closer you get to earth, the more you hear people talking and kids laughing. As you go further and further away, you start seeing planets, comets, and how things change at different views. It is truly incredible.

Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITEsxjnmvow

Another AR app that I've had fun with recently is called Enchantium by DAQRI. This app has options for three games, a 4D fairy tale story, musical strings- where you can watch as the sound travels (sound waves lesson!), or a game that looks live a 4D version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots,which can be played by two people. 

Photo credit: http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/ar/enchantium/

Photo credit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/enchantium/id811753948?mt=8

If you're interested in creating your own augmented reality, DAQRI even has an Educator's Studio that educators can sign up with for free. I have just recently done this, so I'm sure there will be a future post about how this works.

Aurasma

Yet another AR app that has great reviews is Aurasma. With this app you can create markers that trigger "auras" to play. An aura is a video, image, or sound file that will play on loop when the marker is detected by this app. This video provides a great tutorial on how to create an Aurasma for a students project.

These are by no means the only AR apps out there. It is amazing what has been created with augmented reality. Just typing augmented reality into the app store pulls up a large number of great AR apps.

Here are a few sites to check out if you are interested in learning more about augmented reality apps to use in the classroom.

Two Guys and Some iPads

teachthought

Educator's Technology

appoLearning

If you haven't explored augmented reality yet, you will be wowed! It is truly an amazing classroom tool and I highly recommend all educators take a look at the ways AR might be useful in their classrooms.