Fall+2012+GoAnimate+Module+Page

=Overview of GoAnimate= GoAnimate was created in 2007 by entrepreneur Alvin Hung who wanted an easier way to create animated videos without having to operate a camera or draw. There are three sectors of the business, allowing users to create videos for recreation, business, or education. According to the About Us page on its site, the company has 20 employees in the Bay Area and Hong Kong. They also provide licensing packages for websites interested in using GoAnimate’s technology, which offers tens of thousands of characters, backgrounds, and props. There are two main ways of creating a video with GoAnimate. The first is the Quick Video Maker that any user can make a video in as little as two minutes. The second is GoAnimate’s Full Video Maker that allows for users to have total control in creativity and access to drag and drop tools to produce a richly-textured video. The site also provides Character Creators for users to make custom characters with import tools to upload and integrate audio, image, video and flash files. View frequently asked questions about GoAnimate for information about the most common issues.

Here is a demo video GoAnimate has produced for interested or new users:

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=GoAnimate in Education= GoAnimate for Schools is the educational version of the video creator. The cost is $355 for a year’s subscription. Specifications include: education level K-12; number of student users 200; number of teacher users 5. Educators can use a trial version of GoAnimate for Schools, and the site provides a Lesson Gallery that features videos created for Arts & Literature, Technology, Languages, History, Math, Science, Music, and Miscellaneous. See details of the educator plan here.
 * See what educators say about GoAnimate in their blog. **

Uses for GoAnimate in Education:

 * ==== Teacher and Student Presentations ====
 * ==== Student-to-Student Tutorials ====
 * ==== Foreign Language and ESL Training ====
 * ==== Special Education and Behavioral Training ====
 * ==== Creative Writing Platform ====
 * ==== Art, Design, & Storytelling Training ====

=GoAnimate in Business= GoAnimate for Business offers video creation for businesses that want to make training, marketing, presentation, and demo videos quickly and easily. The business version offers several packages: GoPlus at $58 annually or $18 quarterly; GoPublish at $299 annually, $99 quarterly, or $39 monthly; GoPro at $449 annually, $149 Quarterly, or $59 monthly; and GoPremium at $599 annually, $199 Quarterly, or $79 monthly. See the various plans here.

Features of GoAnimate for Business

 * ==== BYOB (Bring Your Own Background) ====
 * ==== Hosting and Sharing ====
 * ==== Custom Characters ====
 * ==== Dialog Your Way ====
 * ==== Drag & Drop Tools ====

=Benefits of GoAnimate= The benefits of GA mainly come in the form that students can expand their creativity by building an an animated movie where they create the dialogue and situation. This type of activity could benefit greatly subject areas such as Language Arts, Science, Foreign Language classes, and Social Studies. Math may find more difficulty creating lesson plans that could involve this type of creativity; however, it is possible in some lessons, Math could utilize this website. Finally, you are able to utilize other languages to type in, based on the country you choose in your settings.

GoAnimate produces a Video Maker Tips Blog that provides insight into how to create awe-inspiring videos. The blog is mainly geared towards businesses that use GoAnimate; however, it is helpful for all users with its tips and tricks to making the best video. This blog is also a resource for people looking to market their videos on sites such as YouTube.

= List of Link Resources from GoAnimate: =
 * Tutorials (i.e. "How to Use Transitions")
 * Scripts & Storyboarding (i.e. "A Video Maker's Cheat Sheet")
 * Sounds & Voices (i.e. "How to Hire a Voice Actor")
 * Video Marketing (i.e. "Create a Killer Product Demo")
 * Site Updates (i.e. "New Characters for Stickly Business")
 * Demo Videos (i.e. "Make a Video for your Business")

=GoAnimate in Curriculum=
 * ==== iLearn Technology features GoAnimate in an Edublog ====
 * ==== View "Old School Teacher vs. 21st Century Teacher" video ====
 * ==== Examples Teaching Shakespeare with GoAnimate at Educator Studio ====
 * ==== Examples of student work on Edmodo ====

=Lesson Plan for GoAnimate= For a Foreign Language class: in order to assess students comprehension of the language, have students go onto GoAnimate! to create a short video utilizing the language. For each student, provide them a scenario to work with so that there are some boundaries. Further, provide students with a list of words that they are required to place in the dialogue at some point by the end of the video.

= GoAnimate features a Lesson Gallery that lists featured animations in the following categories: =
 * ==Technology== || ==Languages== || ==Arts & Literature== || ==Science== || ==History== || ==Math== || ==Music== || ==Miscellaneous == ||

=Setbacks of GoAnimate=
 * Depending on which plan you sign up for will determine some of the setbacks for you. For this purpose, I am assessing the “Free” plan available.
 * In the Free plan, creativity is stifled by the lack of abilities to choose from a variety of characters and settings (a ploy set forth to encourage users to upgrade to a paid plan). With the Free plan, the character options available are very genre specific, or (in some instances) rather inappropriate for younger age groups. Further with characters, animators are unable to reflect reactions upon the character choices. The characters come pre-emotioned (all happy); if a rather saddened conversation is taking place, you are unable to change the state of emotions with the characters, other than dialogue.
 * Settings are unable to be changed; instead, they come pre-set, which again stifles the creativity possibilities for the students.

View the GoAnimate Twitter feed:

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