Animoto Movies after the UT shooting Tragedy
Image Credit: "Flower on UT Campus" taken by RHE 306 student
Rhetoric 306 is a course in argumentation that situates rhetoric as an art of civic discourse. It is designed to enhance students' ability to analyze the various positions held in any public debate and to advocate positions effectively. Students work in this course will help them advance the critical writing and reading needed to succeed in courses for their major and university degree.
Discussion
Students took documentary photos (15 minutes) and then used those photos to create a slideshow (one class day).
Flickr account (need a professional acct. depending on the number and size of photos)
Animoto login
digital cameras (many students had digital cameras with their iphones, etc)
Before class: I had to procure some digital cameras, as well as USB cords. I already had a Flickr account set up, but I had to pay for a professional account to upload all of our pictures.
In class, leading up to taking photos: We had a discussion of the Ted Talks video "The Happy Planet Index," as connected to the last part of our course text No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. We led in to a discussion next of the UT Tragedy on campus, which had occurred the previous day. Students made connections between the video and the event. Then, students had about 20 minutes to leave the class and come back with documentary photos.
Before class, leading up to the Animoto video: Set up an Animoto account. I believe it is free. For DWRL staff, see Sean McCarthy's page on Social Media Workshop for the DWRL login information.
Instructions for Photos: You are documenting UT campus the day after the shooting and suicide on our campus. Try to think outside the box and create a different view of campus, an alternative to the way the media tends to portray places of tragedy. Think the typical feelings provoked by an event like this one (fear, horror, anxiety) and think about creating different feelings with your images. You will work with a partner for this project.
Instructions for Videos: Select an audience for your Animoto (troubled students, Austin police, prospective students, UT staff), select an existing text to go along with your images, and then create an Animoto slideshow with the texts and images (adding the music when the software prompts you). Please only use the images we took and uploaded as a class, and please cite any sources you use in the slideshow.
Student reaction: Students loved the assignment. They were giddy and very "animated" while taking the pictures and creating the videos. They expressed some frustration with Animoto, since they had little control over the design of the slideshow and music selections. However, they were able to complete the assignment in one day, which was incredibly satisfying.
Things I would change: The photos students took could have been better, as they did not have the best composition. If I did it again, I would have a lesson on photos considering elements of composition, or I would include an article about what makes a good photograph. Finally, I would introduce the idea of context earlier in the assignment (before they took the pictures). Another thing that was problematic was the music selections. I thought Animoto would provide fair-use music, but instead it seems to be copyrighted music. I had hoped that students would have full rights to their work.
For DWRL staff, you can see Sean McCarthy's explanation of Animoto on the DWRL pbworks page under the Social Media Workshop.
Sample student videos
http://animoto.com/play/sbbRaBRPTGW0jlTYPD0TaQ
http://animoto.com/play/5DD0O021n70vJUbDBQ2zTg
http://animoto.com/play/KcES1bv1fqpHKRBgNWRwBQ
http://animoto.com/play/xrGUh0m0lbvIfwPMWOGNJA
http://animoto.com/play/X2fS1OxYGJvFku7aYjq6I
http://animoto.com/play/MlAWdvgifEhdfMvGdJF00w
http://animoto.com/play/fsoFqrF3lj1nY7vIHz90ig
The assignment was graded on a basis of completion. However, if I had graded it, I could have considered: student understanding of context and audience, whether they cited the text they used, whether they had a strong concept to communicate, and whether they created an new feeling or "affect" with their invention (pathos).
