Things 19 - 21...Prezi, Voki, and Animoto

Prezi:
 I found Prezi to be a great presentation tool. The continuity of the presentation, with the 'zooming in' and 'zooming out' is something that I believe is more eye-catching and engaging than other presentation software (eg. Keynote, Slides).  One thing that I liked about Prezi was the easy guide, and overall process of putting together a presentation.  There is little difficulty in adding images, and importing videos clips from YouTube.  I can personally see myself using this for multiple subject areas, and can also see myself having my students use Prezi for projects like their Biography reports.  It would be a nice way for them to show the timeline of their person's life.  Overall, it is a great presentation tool.

Here is a Prezi that I used with images from our Immigration unit:

http://prezi.com/kgmtzbeiptwa/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

My Voki:
After trying out Voki (and making my own Voki) I could see me using this next in the fall with our Immigration unit.  My students create immigration journals by writing 'their story' of leaving their homeland and traveling to America.  All of the students come up with their own character and create their story with the rest of their Immigration family.  I think that it would be a lot of fun for the kids to create a Voki for their immigration character.  
Here is the link for the Voki that I created...it really looks like me ;)
http://www.voki.com/site/pickup?scid=12940514&width=575&height=323&chsm=d4192b2dbcaf7ae030cb1a191b097ea8

Animoto:
Animoto was a fun program to use.  Again, I can see using this with my class as something different from the 'traditional' presentation programs that they've used in the past.  I love how easy it is to build an Animoto.  To begin with, the tutorial on their website is fantastic.  It is a very smooth step-by-step process to build a very cool looking presentation.  I loved how there is a great variety of templates to choose from.  I also really liked how simple it is to bring in images/photos to a presentation, and one of the coolest things is all the music that they available to play with the presentation!
I can see myself using Animoto for our 'Go To School Night' by sharing happenings of the first few weeks of our school year.  I can also see myself putting together Animotos for our bigger units like Immigration (like the one I put together - click on the link below).  I could see my students using it by taking pictures on Ipads of class activities over the course of the year, and making their own 'yearbooks'.  


Immigration to Ellis Island