Adobe Spark

Another post about my TCEA17 experience.

I have written about the Adobe Spark apps before, this time last year when I was posting my TCEA thoughts,  but they were another big topic this year at TCEA. So I thought I would mention them again. It never hurts to keep these great tools in the spotlight.

Spark is broken down into three sections Post, Page, and Video. All three programs can be accessed from https://spark.adobe.com/ or through their respective iOS apps.

• Spark Post
• Spark Page
• Spark Video

Handout from a Workshop

Adobe's Edu Spark Guide

The biggest thing I heard out of sessions talking about Spark is the fact students under the age of 13 cannot create their own free Adobe account. For students with Google accounts, logging in with Google is very simple. But for students under 13, the teacher will need to create some kind of monitored account for the students to use. 

Here is a video on a very easy way for teachers to create those accounts using the Plus Addressing technique.

Spark Post is the social graphics creation program. Great tool, easy to use, and flexible are some words I have heard people use to describe Post. The basics; pick a photograph, add text, and apply your design. 

example - 

Spark Page is their webpage creation tool. But more than just your average webpage. Pages can really tell a story with graphics, video, and text in a magazine-style format. 

Here is a good example. 

https://spark.adobe.com/gallery/education/example/the-revolution-that-started-it-all-/ 

Spark Video is probably my favorite tool with my relationship with digital storytelling. Users can add their own photos and videos, use the provided icons, add soundtracks, cinematic motion, and best of all, record their own voice.  

Here's an example.

https://spark.adobe.com/gallery/education/example/days-creek-carnival-athena/

Give these three tools a try and then try them with students. If you have iPads, the apps are very easy to use. If you have Chromebooks or other computers, the webpage will be the way to access Adobe Spark.

Slideshows created in YouTube

Somehow I totally missed this feature in YouTube or didn't know enough what I was doing to share it. You can create photo slideshows on YouTube. This is similar to the Microsoft Photostory software that was all the rage several years ago in the Digital Storytelling world. Basically, you log in to your Google account, go to YouTube, click the upload button, add your photos, texts, transitions, and music, and click the create video button. Looks like you would have to create separate speech files and use those for the audio if you wanted to hear student voice, but I am not sure. Something to play with and figure out.

Kelly Fitzgerald has a great tutorial on how to create slideshows in YouTube, so I bow to her expertise. Make sure to watch her video and visit her blog on creating and editing video. You will be glad you did.

Biteable

Biteable is a free site that allows users to create short video with very little effort. Users must sign up for a free account and sign in.

Then start by naming a new video Project.

Then the users picks their first scene. There are Animation, Footage, and Image scenes to choose from.

The user then adds text to the scene

To add another scene to the movie, click the green box with the white plus sign. The user will be able to select another scene and add text.


Once all of the scenes have been added, the user can select a color theme and music to go into the video. Looks like users can upload their own .mp3, but why mess with copyright when there is a wide selection of music already available.

Once at the preview, the user can click the I'm done, build my video button to have their video compiled automatically. The website states it takes about a minute per slide.

Once built, the site will send you an email with the link to the video. It will have a Biteable.com watermark which users can pay to have removed, but I probably wouldn't for most projects since it looks like it is payable by account and not video and the price is $99/year.

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There is also way to Download the .mp4 video file and a way to easily share your video on Facebook and Twitter.

I can see this being used by classrooms wanting to do some digital storytelling with out all the hassle of a full blown video editor. Students can easily choose their scenes, add their text, select their music, and create their video to share with the world.

Give it a try.
https://app.biteable.com

360 Degree Video

Recently, YouTube started posting 360 degree video on their service. What that means is you can click and drag across the video and see all views the camera took while the video is playing. Photographs have been allowing that for years (think Google Street View), but now with the advent of 360 degree video cameras (like the Ricoh Theta) video can be taken as well. Try out the video below.

Click and drag across the video to see other angles under the sea.

Where this really shines is on a tablet. Now instead of clicking and dragging, the user can just move the tablet while the video is playing and the video follows the movement. So I hold my iPad, view the video, and turn 90 degrees to the right the video will follow my movements in the same direction to the new point I am turned to. Way too cool!

The cameras are not cheap, but we all know as the technology develops the prices tend to drop. Not every 360 degree video is appropriate so don't just turn students loose searching for video. But what a way to take students to a virtual field trip. Now we see more than just the pictures, or the straight on shot the video taker is looking at. 

Videolicious

My friend Candace asked me if I have heard of the app, Videolicious.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/videolicious/id400853498?mt=8

I said yes I have heard of it and have used it (but it has been awhile). She asked, "Why haven't you told me about it?!?" I jokingly replied, "Don't you read my blog?"

I was pretty sure I have already talked about this app here, but turns out I haven't. So here you go Candace!

Videolicious is an app that will allow you to enter images or video into your video, talk about each picture, bounce back to the video of you, back to another picture... to create a video. Just tap the part of the screen you want to show in your video. So if you want your talking head to show, make sure the green border is around that. I you want your picture or video to be seen during that part of the video tap the little icon of that picture or video. Then just press the record button and start talking. Probably the most important part is hearing the student tell their story.

What a great tool for digital storytelling! You can also add in music, either using the build in music or music on your phone.








Some limitations:

• You only have 1 minute of video with the free version. So you will have to teach your students about brevity. But that is a good thing. Great for book trailers, a summary, teaching a concept, tour around the school...
• It only will save to Email, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter but not to the camera roll. Which means the video is going through Videolicious's server. So when the person receives the email it gives a link that takes you back to their website. 
• Sometimes the photos may not be centered or show the exact part of the picture you intended.

You can sign up for a free account. It will limit you to 1 user, 1 sound bite, 10 supporting shots (your images and videos), only 1 minute in length, and 20 videos stored on their site.  There are other pricing ($60/yr and $120/yr) that will grant you more access and longer videos. https://videolicious.com/pricing

Telling your Story Keynote

Recently, TCEA hosted an online keynote from Steve Dembo. In the presentation he talked about storytelling and the fact that many campuses tell announcements, but not their story. If you have an hour and a half, I encourage you to listen to his presentation ideas to tell your campus story and the good Q&A session at the end. (Skip ahead about 16 minutes to get to Steve's presentation.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNsrPZv98A

Follow Steve on Twitter - https://twitter.com/teach42 

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Digital Storytelling

Kathy Schrock has long been a wonderful technology resource to the world.  Her Guide to Everything! site is an excellent resource to refer back to often.  I really love her Digital Storytelling site as it provides many great resources covering ways students and teachers can share their knowledge.

Make sure to follow Kathy on her Twitter account and her blog.