BP8_Xtranormal

I am so excited about finding Xtranormal as a web 2.0 tool. First of all, it satisfies my inner cartoon fanatic! Secondly, it allows me to use animation to present the same old boring content to my students. I tend to use a lot of phonics instruction as well as sight word memorization when teaching my remedial and special education reading classes. I am certain that using these animation tools will make the content much easier to enjoy for my little ones.

This is my first attempt to animate with xtranormal. It was so easy! All I had to do was register for an account. The buttons and tabs on the website are so easy to figure out without any training or tutorials. I picked out the 'actor' or animated character that I wanted to use from several free choices, and then I was directed to a page where I typed in my texted script. I was able to pick from several choices of voices and accents for my character. There is an opportunity to record your own voice over the video, but I didn't try that option. I was able to choose from two free backgrounds. There were also several musical background choices as well as ambient background noises like children playing and pigeons for example.

Besides using this tool to create content for my younger classes, I will try to use this with my older students. I am going to introduce it to them on the Promethean board, and then allow them to work on publishing their own scripts at the computer lab. I hope this will increase their motivation as well as reinforce their english grammar and literacy skills.

I did have to pay for points used to publish the video, but it is very affordable. The application has it's own type of currnecy to use within the program, much like the lindens used in Second Life. I probably wouldn't have paid anything, except that I truly do see myself playing with this application a lot in the future.