I Need to Register for a College Class

Xtranormal was a fun web 2.0 tool to create a movie with.  I love that it allows you to be creative with the entire process.  Starting with a template and being able to choose the setting, the characters, the movements, and background sounds made this a fun learning experience.  The noise you hear in the background (which sounds like static) is an option called "rain in the background".   The process was easy to follow.  It guided you step by step to the publishing phase. The only problem I had was with the preview option.  Every time I tried to preview my movie an error message appeared stating “try again later”.  I never got to preview before I published it.  You also have to be mindful of word pronunciations.  The female student was stating her grades and the letter A was not correct.  The next time I have the opportunity to work with students, I will be using Xtranormal.  I think they will love creating a movie that relates to college academic success.

A Digital Footprint Message

What a great piece of software that can be used in any academic setting with any age.  It was really fun creating this Voki.  Having so many options (backgrounds, clothes, voices, etc) to create this "public service announcement" is amazing for a free account.  One mistake I made was creating a complete Voki and then realized to publish it you had to have an Educator's account.  I lost my first dialog and could not remember what I had typed in the text box!  The graduation cap on the characters head indicates that you must have an educator's account to use that character.  I did explore the site and there are many things that you can do with your students (lesson plans for teachers, calendars and photo collages.