App Review: Vine

For this project, I chose an app that I was familiar with as far as function goes, but it is also one that I have not used.  I selected the free app, Vine, which is described by Vine Labs as: "Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see."  Essentially, Vine is an app that allows users to take six second videos that loop when played.  The user is able to stop the video when creating it, so it does not require one long take.  I have seen many Vines before, as a fan of Best Vines on Facebook and an admirer of my partner's humorous videos, but had never created one before.  The app was pretty user friendly for me.  It requires the user to hold a finger on the screen in order to record, and I did find myself pushing the screen and letting go (like taking a picture), which is not the way Vine works, so it took some getting used to at first.  However, one you get past the initial tour of the application, it works well and is easy to interface.  It is similar to most other apps in that you can find and add friends, favorite videos and users, and share your creations to social media.

Vine seems to have countless classroom applications, and I can especially see this being used for stop-motion animation projects in the classroom.  Vine takes away the hassle of having to import still images into computer software because at the lift of a finger, the video stops for you.  The fact that Vine loops would also be great for producing mini stop-motion films.  I could really see kids getting excited about using the app in the classroom.  The only issue I would have with this is that it would require some kind of classroom set of tablets because I don't think it's fair to force students to download an app they may not want on their personal devices.  Overall, Vine is a pretty great tool and there have been some extremely creative and funny products from it.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vine/id592447445?mt=8

https://www.facebook.com/BestOfVines?ref=br_tf

http://mashable.com/2013/06/04/15-twos-company-vines/

EDIT:  I have somehow just realized that I neglected to add on my read and react to this post.  Sorry!  The readings felt a lot like review for me this week, especially the Rosen chapter (however, the Brooks-Young article seemed incredibly outdated).  Both of the textbooks really advocate for seeing the cell phone as a portable computer with infinite possibility as far as the classroom goes.  In all honesty, I feel that I am trying my best to do this in my classroom already, but I know I could do more.  My main concern here is that there seem to be many teachers who have very staunch opinions on cell phone use during class--when what they may not realize is that a student may be looking something up or searching for inspiration.  The question becomes how to motivate teachers with these beliefs to change and start something new.