Friday, August 24, 2012

Videolicious Updated App - Great features for the classroom

I wrote earlier in the year about the Videolicious app.  Even though it was limited in some ways, I loved how it could be used for a quick news story.  They updated it this month and now I absolutely love it.  It could be a wonderful tool for digital storytelling and I can't believe it's still free.  It's for the iPhone, but it works great on the iPad 2 that I use.

A sample video is below, but here are the good points...

New features:
  • You can control the timing of the images while you narrate!  Lack of control on timing was the biggest drawback to the original version.  (Now the only potential problem is you can't control panning of the pictures.)
  • It adds some filters.  I haven't tried them all, but it's a nice touch.
  • You can import a "story" rather than recording yourself at the moment.  This is a great addition as well.  It essentially lets you record a video, then overlay pictures or clips over it as you control the timing.
  • You can also just skip this, which amounts to showing your pictures or clips with some background music.
As someone who has worked with home video equipment for over 25 years, I am amazed at how simply this app can turn out a polished video combining narration, music and images or clips.  It's actually for the iPhone, but it seems to work great on the iPad.  Check it out for any of these possible uses in the classroom:
  • Commercials for your classroom projects or the start of the school year.
  • Project highlights from students after they complete their work.
  • News stories for video announcements.
  • Any type of digital storytelling.
Here's a video I put together to show the basic features.  The app won't help with bad narration or a shaky hand while recording!  I tried to do this as quickly as possible to show how easily one can create a video.  It's an overview of my Pegged game, which you might also find useful for a lesson activity this school year.

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