Multimodal content play a vital role in students' learning processes, and NYU Powtoon stands out as the ideal tool for crafting them. It's a user-friendly video-making platform that allows for effortless creation of presentations, videos, and animations, eliminating the need for technical expertise, software configurations, storage concerns, and complex tutorials.
Whether you're brimming with ideas or staring at a blank canvas, Powtoon offers flexibility. You can start from scratch or explore their array of ready-to-use templates. Though there is a learning curve while getting accustomed to the features and resources available within the tool, once you dive into the creation process, you'll find it easy to customize your content with various design styles, voice-overs, and drag-and-drop animations to suit your needs.
Watch this quick video tutorial (2 minutes) to understand the basics of Powtoon
Sign in to Powtoon’s Pro Account Using Your NYU Credential
NYU faculty have access to a Powtoon's Pro account through NYU Stream by signing in with an NYU credential. Once you signed in, you can create unlimited videos and utilize all the pro features on the platform.
Integrating Powtoon into Your Coursework
Exploring Powtoon as a tool for teaching and learning can be highly effective. By incorporating Powtoon into your teaching toolkit, you can cater to diverse learning styles, capture student attention, and convey information more effectively.
Use Cases for Faculty
There are many tutorials available to help you get started with incorporating Powtoon into your teaching materials. The video below, created by Jenny Kijowski from NYU Gallatin, serves as an example of what you can create with Powtoon.
Thus, whether you prefer to navigate the studio on your own or follow tutorials, you'll find it relatively quick to create your own video content. Since the example video was made, Powtoon has released new features, notably its AI video creation. The latest updates allow users to utilize AI-generated text-to-speech for voiceovers, an AI scriptwriter, and its most recent AI Video Assistant to generate videos using prompts.
Additionally, instructors have also utilized this tool to do the following:
Create animated lectures to explain complex concepts in their coursework.
Engage students by having them create interactive introductions at the beginning of the semester using Powtoon.
Pre-record lecture materials using Powtoon and use class time for discussions, activities, or problem-solving
Enhance course contents using Powtoon and linking them in Brightspace
As you become more familiar with Powtoon, you'll likely discover even more ways to seamlessly integrate the tool with your course materials.
For NYU faculty interested in using Powtoon to create course materials, visit NYU Stream and log in with your NYU credentials to get started. For additional assistance, including help with storyboarding or conceptualizing your content, you can contact nexus@nyu.edu or request an appointment with the NYU Digital Studio.