My next unit in 6th grade math is operations with integers. I chose Powtoons because I could work on it on my laptop rather than my ipad. I also spent a short amount of time exploring imovie, and decided that had too much of a learning curve for me. Powtoons was fairly intuitive in creating slides. The music was already in place, although the creator can change the background music. Making the slides turned out quite time-consuming; approximately 1/2 hour per slide to create the images and get the timing right with the voiceover. Once I had the slides completed I spent another 4 hours working on the voiceover. I wrote a script, recorded the voiceover in entirety on my iphone, and sent the file to my email. When I tried to import it into Powtoons, I discovered that the file was an MPeg 4, and Powtoons only accepts MP3 files. My brief research discovered that I would have to purchase a software to make the file conversion, which I chose not to do. Plan B was to use the recording feature in Powtoons. The feature allowed me to record each slide separately, which is easier than recording the entire 5 minutes perfectly timed, with no mistakes. The downside to using the feature is that my laptop microphone does not produce as high quality sound as the iphone does. The voiceover sounds tinny and fuzzy at times. Another problem I encountered with the sound was the volume levels. The sound manager does not allow the creator to adjust the background music volume. I was able to turned up the volume of the voiceover on each slide, but it still sounds as if the voiceover is competing with the background music.
The images I used were available in the free version of Powtoons. I found that there were plenty of choices without upgrading the app. The text and content came from my own research and curriculum. I would use this product to introduce the topic in class. I think the main strength of the application is that it is attention grabbing. I think it would work better in my students' age group as a shorter video. I would have been much happier with the final product it I had a way to record a quality voiceover to import in.
The next time I would use more pictures, less words, and have the video cover less material. It would work better as a review or introduction to a topic, than as the instruction itself. The wifi at my school is dependable and the firewalls don't prohibit Powtoons. This app would be useful in my classroom as supplemental instruction.
Here is the link to my digital storytelling video:
The images I used were available in the free version of Powtoons. I found that there were plenty of choices without upgrading the app. The text and content came from my own research and curriculum. I would use this product to introduce the topic in class. I think the main strength of the application is that it is attention grabbing. I think it would work better in my students' age group as a shorter video. I would have been much happier with the final product it I had a way to record a quality voiceover to import in.
The next time I would use more pictures, less words, and have the video cover less material. It would work better as a review or introduction to a topic, than as the instruction itself. The wifi at my school is dependable and the firewalls don't prohibit Powtoons. This app would be useful in my classroom as supplemental instruction.
Here is the link to my digital storytelling video: