Creating Animated GIFs

I often listen to The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast with Matt Miller and Kasey Bell. This is a weekly podcast that lasts 30-40 minutes. I like the structure and always pick up a tip or idea that I can use as I support teachers in my district. It's a great way to keep up with GSuite updates. Sometimes there is a guest who talks about a topic related to educational technology. 

The topic of this week's episode was Supporting GSuite Learning with GIFs. The guest, Jake Miller, discussed why he decided to get started, which made me chuckle. He was on Facebook and saw a GIF of how to make a tater tot casserole; he liked that it was quick to view and kept his attention. He then reflected on some of his longer how-to video tutorials that hardly anyone opens and decided to try creating animated GIFs to see if more people would use them. OK, now I'm interested.

Jake creates his GIFs using Camtasia, a program that I have. (Thank you, TechSmith for providing this awesome program to Google Certified Trainers!) So, I decided that maybe I should at least figure out how to do it. I first went to Techsmith's video tutorials, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I then did some searching and found a blog that was super helpful: How to Create a GIF Image with a Progress Bar by Jon Acampora. 

One reason why I haven't especially cared for animated GIFs is that sometimes it is difficult to tell when the video begins (due to looping), and often they are too quick for me to process multiple steps. Using Camtasia allows me to easily adjust speed and add a slider bar so that viewers can tell when the video begins and ends. Thank you Jon, for sharing how to do it!  

Here is my first attempt: Inserting Emojis into a Word Doc.

I still need to experiment with the publishing settings to figure out what works best. I first published with the highest HD settings, figuring it would be the clearest image possible. However, when I went to open it, it took awhile, and I know that each second is precious. I reduced the video size settings, but still don't know if it is the best. If anyone has suggestions for me, please let me know! 

I do maintain a Google Learning Site for teachers in my district (and anyone else who wishes to use it) where I post video tutorials and handouts to demonstrate how to use each of the tools in the Google Suite. My self imposed guideline is 2-5 min per video, trying to keep them at 2-3 minutes. I recently published some tutorials that can be found on my Google Forms page. Examples include Reasons for Use, Inserting YouTube videos, Sending out a Form to Others, Creating a Self-grading Quiz, and How to View the Data. I really do not think that I could use animated GIFs for these types of videos, as the verbal explanations are important. However, I could perhaps add some animated GIFs to my written handout. Maybe I'll try that next!  I'll also start building a library of GIFs as people ask me questions.