ANIMOTO

In exploring Animoto I learned a few things. I think that it is an incredibly resourceful tool when you're looking for a fun easy to use platform that helps you share images, videos, and short text. When reading about this tool I thought that it would be an equal replacement for alternatives like Prezi or Keynote on my Mac, which allow me to make flawless detailed presentations with exact qualities that I think will attract audiences. But the more I used Animoto the more I began to like and dislike it. 
What I liked was its simplicity, again it meets my requirements as a quality tool – for the most part. It is slick looking with really good typefaces, it is not simply an app that does its job, it does it with style! I did find difficulties when dealing with its ease of use. I think that this tool is designed for people looking for simple projects to present minor issues and topics, due to its limited design and function with words. With the ability to only type 50 characters I was very restricted in what I should include. But on the other hand, I understood that a auto-presentation should be simple for the masses, since the goal is to share information with all sorts of digital citizens. 
Animoto is a strong tool, especially for younger digital citizens because it gives them many opportunities to play with resources that are part of their copyright, with that in mind they can begin to play with information, music, and pictures that are safe to use. I remember always seeing videos on YouTube being deleted due to their use of copyright material that they weren't suppose to, and I think that people for the most part are not educated on how to properly cite and give credit to the people who own the information. With knowledge of the creative commons is possible for all citizens to take part in sharing information without illegality.

As we move forward into a more digital generation, I think that more simple technologies like Animoto will forge the way to a broader understanding of how we should be using material in the creative common, and properly give credit to those who deserve it.

Just my thoughts for the evening. Cheers,

Nathan