GIFs everywhere today, but have you thought about using them with students in your classroom? In this post we will take a look at what GIFs are as well as where to find them and how to make your own. We also include some ideas on how to get started using them in your school.

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It’s an image file format that has been around since 1987, (according to Wikipedia). Today it is synonymous with a plethora of animated internet memes on social media, but did you know that GIFs can be static images too? They absolutely can, but they are not nearly as popular (or as much fun) as their animated counterparts!

Some people care a lot, others not so much, but you will hear different pronunciations of the word GIF. Some people pronounce it with a hard “G” sound, while others prefer the soft “G” sound as in “JIF”. The original creators of the GIF file format pronounced it like the JIF peanut butter you have at home, but a hard G pronunciation is perhaps more common today. Either way, does it really matter? :)

Our go-to site for searching out the best animated GIFs is giphy.com. It is literally a search engine for GIFs and will almost always have something for every occasion. What’s more, there are GIPHY browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari that will help you drag and drop a GIF into online documents, slideshows and more. There is even a GIPHY extension for Gmail that will let you quickly add GIFs to your email messages. There are also mobile apps for phones and tablets.

Using GIFs from the web is very convenient, but you will soon want to create your own. Thankfully, it’s easier to do than you might think and it can be done on all your favorite devices. Here are some tips on how to do it on your computer of choice.

1. Online - Try the GIPHY GIF Maker. You can upload your own video or add the URL of a YouTube video to start creating your own GIFs and share them on the GIPHY website. You can also try sites like http://freegifmaker.me.
2. iPhones & iPads - There are a number of iOS apps that let you create the GIFs of your dreams. They include GIF Toaster, GIPHY Cam (also available on Android) or stop motion apps like iMotion HD which will make GIFs out of your stop motion movies.
3. Mac or PC - We are big fans of TechSmith's Snagit tool. You can create GIFs with Snagit and share them quickly with others. You can do the same with Camtasia if you change your export settings to GIF instead of MP4. Mac users can try the free GIPHY Maker app, while Adobe afficiandos may want to check out this Photoshop tutorial.
   

1. Who likes long tutorials? Not us! Create a quick GIF to show how to do something procedurally.  Maybe it’s a few quick steps to start a process or to demo how to use an online program. Either way, there are always times when an image is not enough but a video is overkill. In situations like these, there is only one alternative - the GIF!

2. Math teachers may enjoy the animated GIFs at the Math Warehouse website. There are a variety of interesting concepts that are free to download and use in your classroom. There is also a Math GIF subreddit that is worth a look, while GIPHY and other GIF search engines will also have a selection of math animations you can use. Just search for a term like “pythagorean theory” and see what comes up.

3. GIFs can make great writing prompts, and like this blog post, they can even be used to help illustrate a story. If you use the GIPHY browser extension, you can drag and drop GIFs straight into a Google Doc and share it with students via Google Classroom. GIFs can also be used for illustrating vocabulary words, demonstrating parts of speech, or as visual prompts for speaking and listening goals.

4. What was that?  It’s Science! Using a GIF to give a quick glimpse of an amazing moment will generate questions and hypothesis.  There is a great website called Phenomena for NGSS that has images, GIFs and short videos to spark curiosity and make you wonder “What is happening here?”

5. Give positive GIF-outs for great student ideas.  It’s important to celebrate great ideas and GIFs could be a fun way to do that. Take 1 minute at the end of class and highlight a student’s amazing idea while an applause GIF plays on the projector. Or turn it over to the students and let them highlight classmates that they learned from today. It could be a fun way to build positive culture in your classroom.

6. Add in a little GIF fun to your curriculum! On the first day of class, why not lay out your classroom expectations in GIF format. Your students are sure to retain it better than a traditional text based slideshow. Use GIFs in teaching to bring attention to a topic or at the end of a lesson will leave all of your students as determined as a chihuahua in a superman costume on a treadmill!

 
- Amber Bridge, Digital Learning Consultant, @abridgesmith
- Jonathan Wylie, Digital Learning Consultant, @jonathanwylie