Mashups

The term mashup brings forth images of my husband's dinner plate where everything is lumped into an unappetizing mess. When I looked at mashups I saw that -yes - they are made from a mixture of different Web 2.0 tools, but unlike the dinner plate, the end result is very cohesive and well put together.

As I was on an airplane when I started my research, I began by reading the book, How To Do Everything with Web 2.0 Mashups by Jesse Feiler. From her I learned that mashups are a "dynamic combination of data from multiple sources or in multiple formats" where "the presentation enhances the information."(page xv) Mashups "synthesize the information so that everything is presented 'at once' rather than through numerous links." She went on to say this makes it much easier for the user as less time is wasted browsing through sites and everything is at your fingertips. It sounds great, but you still need to know what you are looking for and how to find it.

Mashups can be used to sell things, provide information, or create art. Fowler gives several examples of each use in her book. Everything from real estate sites complete with maps and house information, to advertisements and business presentations. The rest of her book became more technical as she discussed in detail how to create a mashup. She explains clearly and goes step by step, but it is intended for someone who is familiar with different scripts and API's, so I started to feel overwhelmed. I did get the sense that if I had lots of time, I could probably create a mashup from scratch using Google and Flickr.

Luckily for me, my plane landed and I was able to go on line to do more research. My first task was to google Voicethread and Animoto. Both home sites were great and to my intense relief showed me that others had done all the hard work outlined by Fowler and things were much more user friendly.

I went first to Voicethread . It calls itself a "simple tool for web collaboration where groups can have conversations that are collected and shared." As I looked through various examples, I realized it does just that. I looked at one site  that had numerous family photos and different people had commented on the specific photos. It was very easy to move from picture to picture and to zoom in on certain parts. The picture being discussed was in the centre, and small pictures or icons of the people who made comments were around the outside edge. To listen to what someone said, you simply clicked on their picture. Some people had recorded their comments: you can do this by phone, webcam or microphone. These you heard. Others had typed in their comments. These appeared as speech bubbles next to their pictures. Another example showed a child's drawing with an explanation spoken by the child. Various teachers, friends etc. had commented about the picture on the outside. This seems to me to be a great way for students to present something, and then get all types of feedback on it. Or, one could put in historic pictures or documents and students could add their comments. Much like a group discussion, but done on line and kept for others to share.

The other example  I looked at was created by an art history teacher for her students. It showed the interactive ability of voicethread in that, as she talked, her 'doodles' to highlight specific parts appeared on the painting. The lines disappear in 5-7 seconds, and she was also able to use different colours to show different things. Students responding were also able to make annotations. This would be awesome for any online course, or for specific lessons you know need visuals to be really clear. I think it would be great for students to create mini-lessons  and share with the class.

Voicethread has an education section which gives a long list of suggestions for how to use voicethread with students. It also claims to help students to find their 'voices'. I agree in that every time students present, they get better and learn more about themselves. I also like that it takes the onus off of them being 'up front and centre' when sharing their knowledge.

The best part about voicethread for me, is the accountable environment it has created. All accounts are private by default and all comments must be approved prior to being made available to others. The teacher who creates the site, controls who gets to edit, view or comment on a site. This is great for those who worry about child safety issues primarily because it eliminates 'bad' feedback or inappropriate comments that could hurt a student. The other part is that the 'creator' can decide to keep it private (among a chosen few) or go public so all can see. Although I believe in giving students control over their learning, I like the idea of the control on this site.

Animoto was quite different from voicethread. It is much flashier and promises to "bring your classroom to life in a magically easy way that grabs attention and creates a visual context."  It creates a polished end product rather than providing an interactive site like voicethread. I looked at several 'productions' and they were very polished. I saw it used by a student to create an anti-bullying video, a teacher provide a mini-lesson and another mini-lesson using a podcast. I can definitley see how these productions would grab the attention of most students. They are quick, flashy and have music. 

The trailfire article "Creating A Simple Library Video  with Animoto"  had lots of information although it was a bit overwhelming. However,  I decided to try to create a production. It was very easy to sign up and it walked you quickly through the steps. Animoto gives you options to download pictures, use your own from your computer, or use theirs. For simplicity, I used theirs. At first I had difficulty moving them around, but soon got the hang of it. I was told a 30 second short could have 12-15 pictures, but in reality, I could only get 9 in if I didn't want anything cut. It was easy to put in text, and I was glad to see that they limited your word count. Most students tend to put too much reading in their presentations. After your pictures are done, you select your music. Again, you can choose your own, or one of their selections. There was an error in saving my pictures, so I had to redo that part, but afterwards the computer put it all together. The end result left out some images, so I edited and reproduced. I saved it to my facebook page and it can be seen there.

Joyce Valenza in her article, "Announcing: Animoto for Education" says it is an easy way to grab attention, produce professional public relations products, archive events or visually showcase best work. She's right. People are always impressed by 'flash' and that is what Animoto delivers. She also points out that some people object to Animoto because the process does not encourage creativity or higher level thinking. To a certain extent that is correct. It did not take any critical thinking for me to produce my 30 s. short. I did however have to plan what I wanted to say, select the images I wanted and decide what music would best suit my message; so although I was not responsible for the final product, it was my creative input that provided the nuts and bolts that produced the end result.

I don't think anyone would want to have students rely on Animoto for all their assignments, but it is certainly appropriate for the type of work mentioned above. I mentioned it to a colleague at a workshop I am attending, and she loved the idea. I'm also going to share it with the teachers at my school in the fall.

 

As a teacher I can see how Animoto would be a great way for students to plan the content of a piece, such as the public service announcements my students did on sustainability last year. It is fabulous for when you want flashy results, but don't want students to spend forever creating them once they have decided on their content and shown their understanding. I can see more uses for voicethread, although again I'm not sure that it is more effective than a well organized small group discussion. I like the fact that it is more permanent however, and available to more than just the 'group' that would discuss around a table. I love the idea of using both forms, and perhaps trying some other mashups with Google maps, to help deliver curriculum to my students. You can create great lessons, share them with other staff, and have them collaborate to hone and improve them. Both tools definitely have a niche in our education system, but I still think we need to hang on to our old, conversational and presentational techniques as well. All things in moderation.