Bringing it all together...

After using the three different softwares to create a digital story, it is great to know the wide range of options and freedom we have when it comes to sharing information. Personally, I think Animoto had the coolest result...I barely had to do anything, yet the pictures and the music looked absolutely awesome together. I wish I could brag to people that I put that slideshow together myself, but Animoto did it all for me! (Another bonus: Less work!) Even though it required the least amount of work and (in my opinion) had the most aesthetically pleasing result, Animoto offered the least amount of freedom in telling a story. Besides being able to choose your own pictures and music, the software does everything else for you. There is no option to make comments or to know the order/emphasis that each picture will be given. For that reason, if a teacher wants to tell a specific story with details and timelines, I don't think he or she should use Animoto. However, if a teacher wants a less formal but more exciting presentation, I think Animoto would be great to use.

While I didn't like the result of ScrapBlogging as much as I liked Animoto's, I think the scrapblog was the most fun to put together. It allows for the most creativity as far as making your own decisions go, and it really gives the opportunity for the artistic side of a person to come out when they design each page with pictures. Like I said, this webpage was very fun to put together, but like Animoto, I do not think it offered the most freedom out of the three software. Yes, it allowed you to choose pictures, but there wasn't much room for comment or explanation.

Although I found VoiceThread to be the most boring to put together as well as the most boring result, I think this one is the best when it comes to telling a story. This one allows the creator to choose the pictures, the order, and the comments. If there is a specific "story" a teacher would like to tell, VoiceThread definitely gives them the most freedom to tell that story. However, I think they are somewhat boring to watch, so I would probably still choose Scrapblogging or Animoto for my classroom.