JayCut.com is a website that enables people to upload video, audio, and more in order to create “mixes” or movies. People can create their own profile page and groups of friends who can view their mixes or they can make them public. Users can add movies, photos, titles, transitions, and effects. Students make videos, audio files, or slideshows for educational purposes. For example, as a Spanish teacher, I can ask my students to write a dialog or song lyrics in Spanish and then record them onto Jaycut. Later after they record the audio, I can ask them to make a video to go along with it and mix it together with their Spanish recording. For other teachers, they could have the students video tape or take pictures of something pertaining to the unit material and then to share it as a presentation to the class via Jaycut. The website gets students to have fun and take pride in their homework or presentations.
Pros: I like everything about this website. As a teacher, I think that it is great that you can create private groups in which only your students can view the videos created for class. Secondly, it is very user friendly and allows you to upload different types of media very quickly, and then mix them together. The mixing becomes more of a work of art and one feels a sense of ownership when then have added titles, transitions and music to their pictures or video. Lastly I really like the fact that each person creates his or her own profile page. The profile makes it a fun way of learning about other people and for students it can be fun because it is similar to Facebook or Myspace.
Cons: None.
Overall impression: Jaycut is quick and easy to use. It’s fun and interactive, has clear instructions on how to use everything the website offers. Since the product is free, I would definitely recommend this product for any teachers.
Retail price: Free
-- Shannon Cook graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor's in Spanish and began to teach Elementary Spanish classes. She traveled to Spain to work for a few months and then came back to start a Master's program at the University of Michigan. She is currently student teaching at Romulus High School and finishing her degree.
