As indicated in an earlier post, I challenged myself to take an online course on how to create animated GIFs, with Jake Miller being the instructor. I have discovered that creating high quality GIFs sure take some thinking (and time – just like anything else when you first start learning). Prior to taking the course, I would use Snagit to record my screen. Then, with the click of one button, I could say create a GIF. Could I continue to do this? Sure. However, knowing what I know now, I really should keep my audience in mind. They don’t want to watch a GIF that is a minute or longer. Plus, there should me more details provided in the GIF to help the viewer out.
‘Old Me’
Below is an example of a GIF that I had created prior to taking this course with the use of Snagit. It is to help students create sub pages in the new Google Sites for their portfolio of work websites that they manage while in high school. You will notice that there are no ‘bells and whistles’ to the GIF. No zoom features, no highlights, or annotations. Basically, it is a recording of my screen that I converted into a GIF. While it is not terrible, I wanted to up my game with sharing content through this medium.
‘New Me’
It was really cool to watch Jake in action creating two actual GIFs that he will post (if he has not already) on Twitter. It was a great opportunity to get a different perspective of how he creates his GIFs. His thought process. His approach. His creativity. It truly was inspiring.
Below is my first GIF that I made for the course. It demonstrates how students and can manage their bookmarks in the Chrome browser. I am in the process of putting together a “Managing Your Chromebook” resource for high school students. We are at a point now where some of our students have had Chromebooks for a couple of years. I want to have a resource available to give some reminders so that we can get as much life out of them as possible.
I love the fact that I now know how to:
- Zoom in and out of the page
- Annotate by circling and providing text
- Crop out ‘dead times’ during a recording
- Brand my GIFs with my twitter handle
As stated in the previous blog post, it is important that we all push ourselves to learn, and to learn from others. Never thought when I became a Tech Integrator 7 years ago that I would be making GIFs. Big thanks to Jake.
If you want to talk more about how you or your students can implement GIFs in your classroom, you know where to find me.
And that is my Spiel…
Craig M Sheil 