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Today we will take a close look at the different types of content creation software that is available for educational purposes, as well as how educational content creators can get the most out of these tools. Then we will learn about how people can become content creators, and what they can expect if they want to make a career out of it.
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Tools for creating interactive educational content are a growing area of focus in education and are transforming how teachers and students interact, collaborate, and learn. With applications that allow users to build e-books, quizzes, simulations, blogs, and much more, teachers and instructors can create educational content that is both engaging and personalized.
Why Should Teachers Start Using Online Video Creation Platforms?
The pandemic has certainly forced schools and teachers to transition to online teaching overnight. eLearning is one methodology that is here to stay. Videos have not just aided the education system but have enhanced it in so many different ways. With that established, here are some reasons why teachers should start using online Video creation platforms in their teaching.
Edmodo
Edmodo is an educational tool that connects teachers and students, and is assimilated into a social network. In this one, teachers can create online collaborative groups, administer and provide educational materials, measure student performance, and communicate with parents, among other functions. Edmodo has more than 34 million users who connect to create a learning process that is more enriching, personalized, and aligned with the opportunities brought by technology and the digital environment.
Socrative
Designed by a group of entrepreneurs and engineers passionate about education, Socrative is a system that allows teachers to create exercises or educational games which students can solve using mobile devices, whether smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Teachers can see the results of the activities and, depending on these, modify the subsequent lessons in order to make them more personalized.
Projeqt
Projeqt is a tool that allows you to create multimedia presentations, with dynamic slides in which you can embed interactive maps, links, online quizzes, Twitter timelines, and videos, among other options. During a class session, teachers can share with students academic presentations which are visually adapted to different devices.
Thinglink
Thinglink allows educators to create interactive images with music, sounds, texts, and photographs. These can be shared on other websites or on social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. Thinglink offers the possibility for teachers to create learning methodologies that awaken the curiosity of students through interactive content that can expand their knowledge.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed is an educational platform that allows creating educational lessons with the collaboration of teachers, students, animators—generally people who want to expand knowledge and good ideas. This website allows democratizing access to information, both for teachers and students. Here, people can have an active participation in the learning process of others.
cK-12
cK-12 is a website that seeks to reduce the cost of academic books for the K12 market in the United States and the world. To achieve its objective, this platform has an open source interface that allows creating and distributing educational material through the internet, which can be modified and contain videos, audios, and interactive exercises. It can also be printed and comply with the necessary editorial standards in each region. The books that are created in cK-12 can be adapted to the needs of any teacher or student.
ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a tool to improve student behavior: teachers provide their students with instant feedback so that good disposition in class is ‘rewarded’ with points and students have a more receptive attitude towards the learning process. ClassDojo provides real-time notifications to students, like ‘Well Done David!’ and ‘+1’, for working collaboratively. The information that is collected about student behavior can be shared later with parents and administrators through the web.
eduClipper
This platform allows teachers and students to share and explore references and educational material. In eduClipper, you can collect information found on the internet and then share it with the members of previously created groups, which offers the possibility to manage more effectively the academic content found online, improve research techniques, and have a digital record of what students achieved during the course. Likewise, it provides the opportunity for teachers to organize a virtual class with their students and create a portfolio where all the work carried out is stored.
Storybird
Storybird aims to promote writing and reading skills in students through storytelling. In this tool, teachers can create interactive and artistic books online through a simple and easy to use interface. The stories created can be embedded in blogs, sent by email, and printed, among other options. In Storybird, teachers can also create projects with students, give constant feedback, and organize classes and grades.
Animoto
Animoto is a digital tool that allows you to create high-quality videos in a short time and from any mobile device, inspiring students and helping improve academic lessons. The Animoto interface is friendly and practical, allowing teachers to create audiovisual content that adapts to educational needs.
Kahoot!
Kahoot! is an educational platform that is based on games and questions. Through this tool, teachers can create questionnaires, discussions, or surveys that complement academic lessons. The material is projected in the classroom and questions are answered by students while playing and learning at the same time. Kahoot! promotes game-based learning, which increases student engagement and creates a dynamic, social, and fun educational environment.
Book Creator
“Create. Read. Publish.” That’s what Book Creator is all about. Let your students create and write their own stories. Students can combine text, images, audio and video to create interactive stories, digital portfolios, journals, poetry books, science reports, manuals, comic adventures and much more. You name it, they create it.
Afterwards, students can publish their books and show you (or their parents) their masterpieces. Book Creator is an example of an easy-to-use authoring tool for students (and teachers).
Explain Everything
Explain Everything is an interactive screen casting whiteboard. This means that students can make a presentation, and record everything they are drawing and saying. Draw, add pictures, highlight and write text. They even have a nice red pointer.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is intuitive app that lets you or your students create animated videos in minutes. Choose a video lay out, import videos and images, add text and choose some music. That’s it!
In this video creator/editor, students can easily add and trim video clips to make their videos stand out in the classroom.
Students can choose an image from the Spark library that has over 25,000 beautiful iconic images or add their own photos to highlight what they have to say. Spark automatically adds cinematic motion to their story so they don’t have to be a pro in video editing.
And there’s more. Students can create their own webpage with Adobe Spark Page or create a good looking image with Adobe Spark Post.
MySimpleShow
Looking for a fun way to let your students do a lecture? Then, you should introduce your students to MySimpleShow. MySimpleShow is a simple online tool that empowers anyone to make professional videos.
MySimpleShow is very easy to use. Students can write their own video script, or they can even upload a PowerPoint file.
The first option lets them write a story and it will suggest some suitable images students can choose from and use in their video. At the end, students record their own voice, or they choose between voiceovers that are given.
MySimpleShow has some educational templates available as well.
Canva
With Canva, students can create presentations, social media graphics, compelling images, and much more. Canva provides thousands of beautiful layouts like magazine templates, presentations, letters, business cards, etc.
Tired of using PowerPoint or Keynote? Canva is the solution. Students can search instantly for good images and icons. There are also other creative elements like grids, frames, shapes, lines and charts.
Some of Canva’s images, icons and other designs are for free, and they offer a large range of premium ones as well. Don’t worry, students can just find a free image on another website (like these websites) and add it to their presentation.
Prezi
- suitable for students of all ages
- suitable for teachers
Prezi is a digital software for creating interactive presentations. According to their research, the innovative way in which Prezi helps you make presentations – by zooming, leads to more effective, more persuasive, more effective, and more engaging presentations compared to presentations made with PowerPoint. If you are still unaware of what you can do with the software, we strongly recommend that you check it out and present it to your students. Who knows, maybe this would be one of the digital tools for classroom that would help you keep the attention of the kids.
Haiku Deck
- suitable for students and teachers
A digital tool with whose help you can easily make presentations on your iPad, iPhone, and on the web. The tool works online and offers a huge database of stock photos with which you can create image-based slides. Haiku Deck makes it easy to create presentations on the go and literally carry them in your pocket. Haiku Deck can be also integrated into Google Classroom which has been very popular lately.
Scratch
- for students primarily between 8 and 16 years old
Although mainly purposed for students, Scratch can be used by people of all ages. This digital tool lets students create engaging projects like games, animations, interactive art, stories and more. If your students have an interest in making programs, Scratch is definitely one of the digital tools for classroom you have to introduce them to. This program would give the little ones a brilliant start to make them think in an innovative and creative way.
Videos, The New Normal For Education and Learning
Videos are great mediums that can help teachers to continue their teaching curve and help students from all walks of life to continue learning in the new normal. Contrary to the popular belief that video making is an expensive solution, it is probably the most economic one. Thanks to technological advancements, more and more online video creation platforms have come into the market to make the lives of teachers and students much easier.
Conclusion
Build your portfolio by creating engaging and interactive content with the right tools. Content creators have the power to create engaging, informative and interactive content that draws in and retains users. Experts provide a variety of educational tools to help you become a successful creator of content.
Teachers are the key to education. However, they do not get enough technology training and can experience a steep learning curve with new technology. New tools and technology including interactive content creation tools are available to help close the gap.