GoAnimate

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=__**Definition:**__= GoAnimate is a Web 2.0 tool that provides users an application for creating advanced animations using a simple interface. Web 2.0 sites have transformed the way internet users interface with the World Wide Web, changing it “from an information source to a platform for collaborative learning and information sharing” (Jacobs, 2010, p. 203). GoAnimate makes it easy for students without advanced technical knowledge or artistic ability to turn their ideas into animations more creatively and effectively than presenting them traditionally. Rather than spending an inordinate amount of time learning the tool, students can focus their energy and attention on developing their ideas.

To create a new animation, students select a background, characters, and begin creating scenes. In each scene, characters can speak text typed by the student, perform actions like sitting, walking, or running, and make a variety of facial expressions. Backgrounds can be changed from scene to scene or may remain static to fit the storyline of the animation. If students have access to microphones in the classroom or computer lab, they can record their own voice using external software like Audacity and import the sound file into their animation.

After creating a video using GoAnimate, must save their video with a title and tags to make it searchable by the GoAnimate community. By creating an account, every user has a page that functions as a gateway to his or her videos, but users are more likely to find videos by searching key words. As videos become popular, they may be listed with the “Most Watched” animations, and the users who create the most popular videos may be listed on the animators page or even chosen as “Animator of the month.” This environment of sharing and collaboration is a hallmark of Web 2.0 tools, but it may cause trepidation for educators wishing to limit their students’ web experiences to a safe environment. Fortunately, teachers are able to create free accounts at goanimate4schools.com that prevent students from being exposed to inappropriate content.

GoAnimate's intuitive user interface makes it simple for students to begin creating videos.

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= =__**Using GoAnimate:**__= media type="youtube" key="JMUmNfiNEM0" height="345" width="420" This is a screencast I created showing how to use GoAnimate.

Click here to learn GoAnimate by following the tutorial at the site itself.

=__History:__= GoAnimate was created by entrepreneur Alvin Hung, a graduate of Columbia University who double majored in Computer Science and Economics, in early 2007. He launched the site with his own startup money and funds from family and friends, and after creating a prototype, he was able to secure $1.4 million in Angel funding (“Q&A with,” 2008). This money comes from a network of deep-pocketed investors who are “looking for the handsome returns that only risky, early stage investing can (sometimes) bring” (Zwilling, 2009). Simply put, they help finance startups without the funds to get off the ground in return for a stake in the company.

Hung created his site because he recognized an opportunity to bring advanced animation techniques, then only possible using advanced animation software life Flash, to casual computer users. He discovered this niche while searching for a simple tool to create an animated greeting card for his wife and finding none. GoAnimate may have been the first animation site to successfully court novice users, but it has invited imitators and competition. Hung believes that his company can “leverage technology, proprietary content, community, effective branding and the network effect to create serious barriers for our competitors (“Interview with,” n.d.).

=__Advantages:__= GoAnimate has many advantages over similar tools including its ease of use, variety of options, and accounts for educators. Any teacher can create a free TeacherPlus account that gives them unlimited access to GoAnimate content and allows them to create up to 100 student accounts. The closed nature of GoAnimate4Schools means that students will take part in a controlled-access community, keeping them protected from the risks associated with an open environment.

The most important benefit of GoAnimate for teachers is its versatility and adaptability to a wide variety of lessons and projects. For instance, freshman students read William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet each year. Teachers use a variety of teaching tools and techniques to make the play accessible to them such as having them act out the play in class and modernize specific scenes as a group project. Students must study the definitions of specific Shakespearean words, closely read entire scenes to understand their meaning, and then convey the same meaning in a modern context.

Traditionally, student groups script their modernized scenes on paper or act them out on stage in the school auditorium. Scripting does little to help students connect to the material, and many of them find the acting redundant as significant class time is already spent acting out scenes from the play. Using GoAnimate to facilitate the presentation of their scripts would be an innovative way to present students’ work and a logical extension of modernizing the play.

Additionally, teachers can create GoAnimate videos themselves to present concepts to the class in a creative manner. Embedding the videos on a class website or wiki could allow students to revisit and review them at their own pace and at a time that is convenient to them. Similarly, students could use GoAnimate to teach an assigned topic, concept, or chapter to the class individually or in groups. They could also create animations to bring their own creative writing to life.

media type="custom" key="9969507" This video is one student's modern interpretation of //Romeo and Juliet// Act 2.

=__ Disadvantages: __= The primary disadvantage to using a free GoAnimate TeacherPlus account is the limitations it places on the associated student accounts. First, teachers can only create 100 student accounts, which would not be enough to accommodate individual student accounts for four large sections of a particular class. However, many possible assignments or projects utilizing GoAnimate could be completed in pairs or small groups which would mitigate this limitation.

Furthermore, the student accounts created underneath the TeacherPlus account do not enjoy the same lack of restrictions of the primary teacher account. Students cannot create character but must select from limited predefined character models. This limits student creativity and makes it difficult to accurately represent characters from literature or historical figures. Student accounts are also restricted to creating videos less than two minutes in length.

Unfortunately, students are unable to enjoy the collaborative, Web 2.0 features of GoAnimate. Although GoAnimate4Schools has a “Lesson Gallery,” only teachers are able to submit animations for inclusion in the gallery. Students videos can be embedded on a class website or wiki, but this action can only be performed using the teacher account. Students can create videos, but because they cannot post them to the site or embed them on another site, they are not able to share their creations and may not feel like true “owners” of their content.

Using a TeacherPlus account, teachers have no way of organizing their associated student accounts into classes or groups. Because this makes managing and assessing student work a headache, many teachers may opt to upgrade to a SchoolPlus account. Purchasing a SchoolPlus account allows teachers to organize student accounts, and student accounts lack character creation or video length restrictions. However, at a rate of $12 per account (including all student accounts) per year, access to this premium service does not come cheap.

=__Future Direction:__= As the web continues to evolve, animation tools should likewise evolve, offering more intuitive interfaces and more advanced features. For instance, this year GoAnimate integrated itself with YouTube Create, simplifying its interface and allowing users to upload their animations directly to YouTube. Combining its traditional traffic with its new YouTube traffic shows that GoAnimate has increased its overall web traffic by around 50% by integrating with YouTube. In addition to becoming more accessible, Alvin Hung hopes to offer many more animation styles in the future. He hopes that eventually, “when you watch an animation, you don’t really necessarily know that it’s made with GoAnimate because the style and the genre can be so diverse” (GoogleDevelopers, 2011).

While existing tools improve, users can expect competitive tools to manifest alongside them to compete for the same users. Increased competition should bring advancements that users have not yet anticipated. When Xtranormal launched in 2008, it became the first Web 2.0 animation tool to innovatively marry text-to-speech capabilities with an animation engine (Albrecht, 2008). This feature was eventually integrated into GoAnimate, benefitting its users and giving Web 2.0 video animators more options for their creations. As new tools emerge and existing tools evolve, users can hope for additional advancements in the future.

media type="youtube" key="m-t4pcO99gI" height="279" width="448" GoAnimate employees and its founder speak about the increased traffic it has enjoyed since partnering with YouTube and its future direction.

= = =__**Other Examples:**__=

media type="custom" key="9989159" This video demonstrates the ability to use image files as backgrounds for animations and offers another application for using GoAnimate at school.

media type="custom" key="9989161" This video highlights a particular animation technique using stick figures and, to me, exemplifies the ability to use GoAnimate to tell a powerful story without any spoken dialogue.