1. MULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM

2. With computers, mobile devices, projectors and
Interactive White Boards (IWBs) becoming
more common in classrooms, teachers
increasingly have greater opportunities to bring
multimedia resources into the classroom.
Whether creating a presentation to guide
student learning, or showcasing a video to
illustrate a new concept, presentations and
multimedia add a new dimension to the
classroom.

3. In this section, we walk you through different
multimedia tools that could be integrated into
the classroom.

4. Comics Creation
Comic books not only engage, they help
develop analytical and critical-thinking skills.
They prompt students to decipher meaning,
purpose, and tone. They also provide creative
possibilities for differentiated learning and
expression. Moreover, successful cartoonists
need a wide range of skills: researching,
drawing, writing, computing, storyboarding,
and designing. Cartoonists need to make their
stories engaging and persuasive.

5. COMIC CREATION TOOLS

6. Kerpoof
http://www.kerpoof.com/
Create fully animated comics online with
Kerpoof. Choose from a library of scenes and
characters, add animation, movement, as well
as music and speech bubbles to bring a story
idea to life. Extremely intuitive menu bar and
helpful video tutorials make this tool quite
useful.

7. ReadWriteThink Comic
Creator
http://www.readwritethink.org/files
/resources/interactives/comic/index
.html
This is an extremely easy-to-use comic strip
tool. That said, the features are at a minimum:
import people, text and props. Projects can be
printed when complete. Simple tool, but with
limited functionality.

8. Toondoo
http://www.toondoo.com/
Toondoo is another tool to create comics
quickly. You can opt for a free individual
account, though the Premium educator account
-- based on number of participants and length
of use -- reasonably priced. An Education
account allows for greater privacy and security,
so consider it. Completed projects can be
shared and embedded.

9. Chogger
http://chogger.com/comics
With Chogger you can create comics online by
creating original art or uploading pictures to
your comic strip. Add speech or thought
bubbles quickly and publish your finished
product.

10. DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN THE
CLASSROOM

11. Why Digital Storytelling?
Digital stories allow students to take a linear
series of events and turn them into a
multidimensional experience. It encourages
them to communicate, collaborate, and
research as well as to infuse media into the
process.

12. DIGITAL STORYTELLING TOOLS

13. StoryBird
http://storybird.com/
Another free, web-based application, StoryBird
allows students to read, write, and collaborate
on digital picture books. Thousands of
illustrations have been contributed to this
online community, and all authors can integrate
them into their written pieces. Completed
stories can printed as books and shared via the
Internet.

14. VoiceThread
http://voicethread.com/
Is a great Web-based digital storytelling
program that enables users to upload pictures
or documents, record accompanying audio (or
video) commentary, and invite others to record
commentary as well. Its simple combination of
visual and recorded media is perfect for
creating multimedia presentations in a
relatively short time frame using simple tools.

15. Animoto
http://animoto.com/
This intuituve and powerful web-based
application provides basic but impressive
multimedia features. Animoto offers music and
professional-looking special effects to add to
your photos and text. Students can sign up for a
free account and access Animoto from any Mac
or PC with an Internet connection.

16. MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS

17. Prezi
www.prezi.com
It’s an impressive web-based presentation tool
that uses a single canvas instead of traditional
slides and users zoom in-out and pan across to
reveal elements of the canvas. Text, images,
videos and other presentation objects are
placed on the canvas and grouped together in
frames. A path for the presentation can be
defined.

18. E-BOOKS

19. Book Builder
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/
Book Builder’s advertisement states that
teachers cans “use this site to create, share,
publish, and read digital books that engage and
support diverse learners according to their
individual needs, interests, and skills.” Students
choose a layout, add text, images, and audio,
and publish their work.

20. Bookemon
http://www.bookemon.com/
Making an eBook on Bookemon is
straightforward and fairly easy. As with other
platforms, authors may Bookemons upload an
existing document (.pdf. .ppt, or .doc), start
from scratch with a blank page, or use one of
Bookemon’s many templates.

21. SPEAKING AVATARS

22. Voki
http://www.voki.com/
is a free service that allows you to create
personalized speaking avatars and use them on
your blog, profile, and in email messages.
Creating a Voki is a simple step-by-step process.
Choose or customize an avatar, record your
voice, and play the animation. Share it via a link
or embed it on a web page.