Introducing CLIPS

Last Spring Apple introduced a brand new app that gives us a fun way to build an expressive story.  Available for free for all iOS products (iPhone, iPad, etc.) it is simply called Clips.

Why learn a new tool to create digital stories?
Clips allows you to...

• avoid the learning curve that you may encounter with many multimedia creation apps 
• record, edit, and share all on the go (designed for a purely mobile experience)
• add a variety of creative filters, overlays, background music and more... all with open usage rights
• engage even the youngest of learners with its natural, intuitive workflow

When you launch the app you will see that Clips is designed for immediate recording. There are 3 sources for capturing: video, photos, or pull in anything from your camera roll/Photos Library.

*A big difference from what some of us more traditional video creators might be used to is that you have to hold the red record button for the entire duration of what you want to capture. (For example if you are bringing in a prerecorded video or photo, you have to hold the record button the entire time the video is playing, or you will only add that much to your Clips project. 

* TIP: Press and slide to the left on the red record button to lock it in recording mode. This frees up your fingers to interact with your photo or video... for example, pinch to zoom and move it around in the square frame. 

The 4 cool buttons at the top allow you to do the following:
1) Live Titles (Your speech will be typed on screen in time with you saying it (like closed captioning)
2) Filters (add fun effects to any part(s) of your video
3) Overlays (Select from pre-made 'stickers', pinch, zoom, rotate, edit text)
4) Posters (Full screen backgrounds with editable text and a bit of included animation)

*The ability to take one photo, zoom in, point and label, zoom out, and create simple, smooth pans truly elevates the media created with Clips above that of a traditional slide show.

Clips always adds new content to the end of your project, but you can easily tap, hold, and drag to move its position anywhere in your 'timeline' across the bottom. Additional editing can include editing the text from your transcribed live titles, muting audio, trimming the ends of each clip, and deleting clips.

One of the most powerful features of Clips when using it the classroom is the background music option. By clicking the music note button in the upper right of Clips, you have access to numerous soundtracks of royalty-free music. Each adjusts to match the timing of your project and even automatically fades in and out depending on pre-existing audio!

Sharing options are numerous and simple. In addition to a variety of social media outlets, each Clips projects can be saved to the camera roll for additional remixing, app smashing, and sharing.

Now, watch a Clips video about a simple project using Clips with kids!


View so many more inspiring ideas by searching the hashtag #ClassroomClips on social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Capture Your Journey: Digital Storytelling for Schools

LEARNING IS A JOURNEY, AND IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE THAT STORY. CAPTURE HIGH-QUALITY MEDIA WITH LOW-COST TOOLS. EXPLORE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES THAT ANY TEACHER CAN USE ANY DAY TO CAPTURE BETTER IMAGES, MAKE MORE POWERFUL MEDIA, AND REACH MORE AUDIENCES. PHOTOGRAPHY, AUDIO RECORDING, VIDEO CAPTURE, EDITING, AND PUBLISHING TIPS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED, ALL WITH DEVICES READILY AVAILABLE IN MOST CLASSROOMS.

(from STI 2016)

Capture Your Journey: Digital Storytelling for Schools from Katie Morrow

Classroom Tools for Formative Assessment

Whether the school year is beginning, underway, or coming to a rapid close, quiz and gameshow type tools are a welcome tool for any teacher's toolbox.

For this week's ESU 8 Wednesday Webinar I shared a brief message about Classroom Tools for Formative Assessment. You can view the entire 30 minute webinar here:

I created the following chart to do a snapshot side-by-side comparison of the 6 featured tools:


and it is included in the Accompanying Resources I have collected here:


However, if you are already familiar with one or more of these tools, consider individually visiting a short video for each.  With just about 3 minutes of your time, you can try a new formative assessment tool each week for the rest of the school year!

Socrative

Kahoot

Quizizz

PearDeck

Nearpod

Formative

Like I have mentioned many times, these are just a few of my favorite formative assessment tools. The wonderful thing is that we as teachers have so many options available for our classrooms, and with more being added everyday.  If you have a favorite formative assessment tool that you would like me to review and/or support implementation of, just let me know!  Until then, keep assessing FOR learning with classroom formative assessment tools.