More Than Just Hype: Hypah

Sometimes, a useful resource pops up when an educator least expects it. There are a lot of tools that help teachers accentuate a concept. While casting about on the outer fringes of the internet it's quite possible to chance upon an entertaining way to add a little pizazz to instructional content. Suppose there's a Language Arts teacher who wants to enrich a vocabulary lesson. Instead of merely writing or speaking new vocabulary words, the instructor decides to display an image along with each new word. The teacher understands that her students will balk at a ho-hum PowerPoint slideshow. Therefore, she decides to use a few of the eye-catching effects at Hypah.

One of her vocabulary terms is the word hypnotic. To add meaning to the word, the teachers uses it in context.

The strange man caught my attention with his hypnotic gaze.

Next, the teacher uses morgueFile to locate and download a copyright free image that will help her convey the concept.

After some brief searching, she finds a graphic that evokes hypnotic eyes.

To increase the likelihood of capturing the attention of her students and make their interaction with the image more memorable, the teacher goes to Hypah where she can add a few special effects to the picture she's obtained from morgueFile.


Once at Hypah, the teacher clicks on an image and is prompted to choose an picture that she wants to enhance.

The teacher selects her image and it is uploaded to Hypah. The teachers has a number of tools at her disposal that will add animated effects to her static image.


The teachers chooses a starbusrt effect for each eye in the picture.


She can set the color, size, and point count on the star.


To apply the effect, the teacher clicks on the tool and then clicks on the eye in the picture.


After she's finished adding her chosen effects, the teacher clicks the DONE icon.

She's prompted as to where the image can be accessed. Hypah gives her with a link to where the image is stored online. The teacher can download the image and use it offline.


She can also post her image on a blog or wiki using the image code provided.


The finished image is appropriate for the word and phrase it accompanies:

The strange man caught my attention with his hypnotic gaze.

Is this useful? Could this resource be helpful in the work you do? Or, is it overkill? How might your students respond to this kind of technique? Better yet, should students be encouraged to use resources such as Hypah to illustrate their vocabulary words?

Related links:

• Check out other interesting effects at Flash-Gear.