Xtranormal expired; go with Go!Animate

Go!Animate (goanimate.com)

I'm teaching Multimedia Communication this semester and had assigned a short animation project with Xtranormal. This free software was used to explain everything from quantitative easing to switching to Geico, and I had a hunch the students would enjoy using it as much as I did. I designed the course in May and was horrified to find out that Xtranormal was quietly turned off at the end of July, and my course began mid August.

Immediately I began searching the Internet for another user-friendly, free, cloud-based animation tool. Since the Multimedia course has no prerequisite, I needed to find something that students of all technical abilities could learn very quickly. After trying a few, I decided to use Go!Animate as a replacement for the Xtranormal assignment.

Go!Animate is similar to Xtranormal in that it allows you to easily open a free account and create a simple cartoon (we blogged about Xtranormal a while back). You can choose scenes, characters, and add text that the characters will automatically speak. The free version of Go!Animate has a limited selection, but there's enough free stuff to facilitate a wide range of creative stories.

I knew right from the start that students would catch on to the platform easily because there's a tutorial that automatically pops up when you begin your first cartoon. A little character shows you step by step how to use the basic tools and navigate the program. The popups asking if you'd like to upgrade your account is a little tiring, but I can't blame them for wanting money.

Go!Animate allows you to have characters interact with objects and walk/slide/appear on to and out of the screen. You can also easily change facial and physical expressions and zoom in as characters speak. (These options were not available with Xtranormal.)

To test Go!Animate, I created a video for students explaining Bellarmine University's move from Blackboard to Moodle:

The Moodle Move Movie by apostels on GoAnimate


This video took about an hour to rough and another hour or so to revise. I used only a few of the many tools, but this project helped me feel comfortable enough to have the class give Go!Animate a try for an assignment. Since this was the first time using it in class, I kept the topic open to see what they could do with the program. Many of my students are working with clients, participating in internships, or helping in family-owned companies, so naturally they wanted to use the program in conjunction with that. Some students just wanted to share a story or try something creative. A few used my storyboard to help plan their animations.

Students had one week to create their cartoon and share them with the class. We had some class time to spend designing our animations after class discussions (our class is in a computer lab), and this time was valuable as students shared what they found with those around them. I heard statements like "How did you do that?" and "This is cool!" a few times. None of them had used the program before, and they all seemed to enjoy the process. A few students ran into problems with the special effects and some had issues with characters not showing up in previews, but we didn't run into any devastating problems.

When the assignments were due, we all watched them together as a class. We were pretty amazed at the range of genres represented: music videos, video games, PSAs, sitcoms, advertisements, classic children's cartoons, and scenes from movies are the ones I remember off the top of my head. I'll be using Go!Animate in the Technical Communication class I'm teaching next Spring, but I can also see Go!Animate used in classes across the disciplines.

There are some limitations with the free version of Go!Animate that may affect an assignment. First, videos must be less than two minutes long, so it's probably not a good alternative to a 10 page research paper. Second, free versions can only be embedded or viewed at the Go!Animate site. (You cannot download or post free versions to YouTube.) Third, the range of voices, accents, and characters are pretty limited. However, the range of scenes, characters, and objects increases greatly when you open up your wallet.

I really liked that Go!Animate allows you to revise a project while it's posted. The URL to the animation stays the same when you save changes. (Of course, if it's posted on YouTube you're out of luck on that one.) Students submitted URLs to their animations, so it's easy for me to view the projects when I'm grading. I also like the storyboard function in the animation process. You can change scenes or simply copy a scene to create a new action. This display reminded me of YouTube Video Editor and Microsoft's Movie Maker, two programs I feel very comfortable using.

Next time you want to have a creative and fun project as part of a classroom experience, try Go!Animate.