Exploring Multi-media and Technology with Washington College Website

I recently received this link (http://wacblog.washcoll.edu/mpclab/) to the MPC Feed @ Washington College website. What a good site to find information on technology and multi-media. I've enjoyed exploring all the multi-media tips and tutorials it has. I really like the way it is organized. The design is clean and simple to navigate. I recommend it to students with an interest in web 2.0 applications, technology and the Internet.

While looking for the webmaster or designer of this website, I came across two more links, http://www.mangoorange.com/ and http://www.ndesign-studio.com/. At the bottom of the Washington College website it says: "Theme and Icons by N. Design Studios, columned by MangoOrange...." It turns out that the graphic designer behind these sites, Nick La has a top professional portfolio blended into his website. If you are going to be designing for the web, this graphic designer has a great professional site that should inspire you.

Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools: Book Review

I just finished reading Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum. The first chapter emphasizes the changes in technology as it interfaces with the world's populous and students today. It goes into detail to highlight the changes and uses of technology and the Internet in today's business world and in its global collaboration.

The second chapter focuses on the 21st century student, children raised on technology toys, SIMS, computer games, social networks and virtual worlds. It explains how the technology has affected the way they approach learning. It has changed the way they process and collaborate with other children to create projects or solve problems together. Gwen and Lynne explain the need for the schools to evolve to match the learning style of these Net generation students. Changes that would require more technology in the schools and perhaps the use of open source curriculum.

Many countries are creating their own open source curriculum and updating its history and government sections to include global economics and world history. China is refocusing their history textbooks, moving away from the study of "wars, dynasties and revolutions to economics, technology, social customs and globalization". Other countries are ahead of the United States in transforming their educational systems to meet the new global and technologically driven world in which we now live.

The chapters that followed featured the web 2.0 tools and open source curriculum being utilized by today's students and teachers around the globe. Emphasis is given to web 2.0 tools that are providing modules for classroom and school use. Class Blogmeister (http://classblogmeister.com/) and Gaggle Blog (http://www.gaggle.net/) are two such blogs. Animoto, a music video application provides a 6 months free classroom version. Wiki services such as Peanut Butter Wiki (http://www.pbwiki.com/) make it possible for schools to password protect their wikis. Video editing can be done easily enough with sites such as: Jumpcut (http://www.jumpcut.com/), Eyespot (http://www.eyespot.com/) and VideoEgg (http://www.videoegg.com/).

Web 2.0 management tools are used to present student work through eportfolios and open source desk top publishing tools such as: ELGG (http://www.elgg.org/), Google Documents/Notebook, ZoHo.com and Moodle.

Open Source Educational Software is already being used in different areas of the world and it is being created and sponsored by governments and non-profit organizations. The Seeing Math Project (http://seeingmath.concord.org/resources.html), and Curriki (http://www.curriki.org/) are both open source repositories for educational content that include tools, materials and curriculum. The book mentions more web 2.0 tools and covers important issues relating to the use of open source curriculum (technology literacy training, legal requirements, copyright and intellectual property, and system issues).

Life on Mars Has a Radio Station

One of the things I like about the new TV series, Life on Mars is the music. Well, I must not be the only one because the Life on Mars website has its own radio station. You can listen in by clicking on this link that takes you straight to it. It not only plays the music you hear in the episodes, it has news clips from 73' to make your musical time travel trip to 1973 more real.

The abc website also includes features such as games, podcasts, Life On Mars theories, music guide, photos and episode recaps. All this is a good thing since we have to wait until Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 for the return of the next episode. The music will just have to get me by.

Happy Holidays from me and Animoto!

Open Source Software and Open Source Learning Management System Tools

I just finished reading an article in Educause Quarterly, Volume 31, No.2 , 2008 titled, "Open Source Software in Education: Academia has adopted open source software for some online learning initiatives because it addresses persistent technical challenges" by Shaheen E. Lakhan and Kavita Jhunjhunwala. It discusses how Open Source Content Management Systems have been adopted for use by some universities. I was surprised to learn just how many countries had their own open source learning systems and that they were putting them to use as educational venues.

Actually, there are several initiatives taking place to implement Open Source Learning Management System Tools in different places around the world. In the United States universities are using Moodle http://www.moodle.org/ that according to this report has a learning community of 10 million. In the United Kingdom they are using Bodington http://www.bodington.org/, a learning system in place at the University of Leeds and the Univerity of Oxford. Claroline http://www.claroline.net/ has an international base and is available in 35 languages and has users in more than 80 countries.

MIT OpenCourseWare makes undergraduate and graduate course material available on the Interent. Many of us have been aware that open source tools and applications have been adopted for academic use. Some of the most utilized being social networking sites, video- and photo-sharing sites, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts and discussion forums. We've even seen Drupal and Moodle adopted by universities such as the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. However, until this article I did not know other universities around the world were using open source learning ware like MIT.

Not only are they using it but countries around the world are creating learning content together. Dokeos, a web-based application http://www.dokeos.com/ "was developed with the global contributions of universities, organizations and individual programmers." If any American academic administrators doubt the global collaboration taking place now, I suggest they get busy visiting these sites.

Backing up your blogger...Hmmm

When I first started blogging I did it as a way of storing all the new information I was coming across in my new job. For example, I started the How do I...? Library Help Desk FAQ blog to keep track of the questions students were asking me and other library workers in the Information Commons. It started out listing and answering student questions about computers, technology, software, and Office 2007. I wasn't concerned if the blog disappeared. We could always find a way to re-post them. This semester things changed on campus. All courses taught gained an online component in our eLearn or online course management system. The school added more online courses and our library became a hub to access these added features.

Now we began to get questions about the online courses and how to get around in them. We had students asking us how to use their email and self service class registration service, called banner. The questions we added to our blog grew and I needed to find a way to back up my blogs. Where once I did not concern myself with the whimsy of losing all the FAQ, now I worried about saving them. I went to the blogger Help and typed in "back up blog." I couldn't really follow their version of backing up my blogs. It did point me to a blog advisor at How Can I Do That and I found two options for saving my FAQ.

The first is to copy and paste each post into another document on my PC or external hard drive, which would have been very time consuming. I haven't written off doing this but I wanted something faster. The second option was to use the Mozilla Firefox browser and an addon called Scrapbook. Scrapbook lets you screen capture sections or entire web pages and save them to a root folder or a folder in scrapbook. I got busy and did this but made the mistake of saving to the new folder. If I had saved to the root folder I am suppose to be able to copy this to a PC or external folder. I'll get back to you on how it goes.

Microsoft's Community Clips and Downloadable Recorder

Microsoft has embraced a more open manner with its software applications by asking users to create how-to videos for Microsoft products. Microsoft has now set up a Community Clips section to its online Help and How-to Guides' web pages. It also offers a Community Clips recorder which is a free download and add-on. So if you see yourself as a Office 2007 software guru you can start creating your own How-to Office tutorials and How-to guides with this screen capturing software recorder.

I haven't created any of my own videos yet. I will be using it to add how-to videos to my FAQ page Spring 2009. I have looked over several of the videos made by others. Here is one that tells you about community clips.



One of my top selections is the one below on "How to Transpose Data in Excel 2007" with the new Data tab they have. I have accounting students asking this question alot and I always have to go to Help to remember how to do it. Sad I know.


Another video that brings to mind another accounting exercise is one that uses major league baseball wins and salaries to create a graph of comparison. This community clip shows you how to use the Data tab in Excel to grab live data off the Internet and bring it into an Excel sheet. Enjoy.

What's on...Hulu.com

If you haven't made it over to hulu.com, let me tell you a little about it. It is a site that is merging traditional TV viewing with social networking and other online digital media. It provides three different widgets to post your favorite TV episodes and/or movies (by certain networks) on your MySpace, FaceBook, Windows Live and other sites and blogs. You can share by e-mail too. It's definitely an ambitious move by it's creators who have been featured recently in Wired magazine. I've used the tool on Hulu.com to copy the scripts which will embedd the a widget and feed of one of my new favorite shows below. From my blog's edit page I switch to the Edit Html and paste the copied code in the place I want the widget to appear, Here....

Here is an example of the video quality as it moves from hulu.com to a blog site. As you can see a little section to the left got cutoff in this blog layout. Might be a better fit on FaceBook. If you decide to visit hulu.com you will find TV episodes and movies laid out by channels, most popular, recently added, collections, HD gallery and by Spotlight. If you want to find out more about the behind the scenes motivation of hulu.com gaze down to the bottom of their screen and check out the links, About and FAQ.

Working Around Second Life Anxiety

Before I began my job as a librarian on a college campus, my experience of virtual worlds or VWs was through my children. For little over two years they have been visiting VWs like Webkins, Barbie, Polly Pockets, Club Penguin, Roblox, and Cartoon Network sites like Totally Drama Island. In these VWs they create homes for their avatars and play games with other players. Recently, my son has migrated to Roblox.com where movement and game interaction is more advanced, more like the virtual world, Second Life. The tools in Roblox allow players to go beyond drag and drop and click and choose controls. With Roblox.com players can create settings or stages with building tools and add script to build actual game levels. They also navigate their avatar with navigation tools much like the tools in Second Life.

In January 2008 I had my first introduction to Second Life and I had many misgivings about it in the beginning. I pictured it to be alot like my children's VWs and wondered why grown ups would want to be in a virtual world playing make-believe? When my boss requested that I learn about Second Life as part of a college initiative I was skeptical. After reading articles and viewing SL videos by other university scholars I felt a little more optimistic. I learned how college professors were using SL to train students in different subjects and how they were having virtual meetings with students. I also learned of the places in SL that represented real places of interest in the real world, places like the Taj Mahal, the Sistine Chapel, Ancient Rome and Shakespeare's' Globe Theater. The last gives virtual performances of famous plays. I began to see Second Life in a more positive way. That lasted until I finally went into Second Life.

After I entered SL I began to have many negative experiences beginning when I entered via the traditional Linden method. When you first create your avatar and rez to Orientation Island or Help Island your avatar isn't always fully dressed. I felt very exposed and I was immediately watchful and distrusting of SL from that moment on.

Over the next few months, I expressed concerns over the negative impressions that I got from the strange avatars waiting to great newbies. Many of which are bizarre and too eager to help your avatar. I always mistrust individuals who are immediately in my face offering help. It makes me think of over eager salespeople. Another concern I had was the difficulty one had in learning how to move your avatar, use the tools to build and how to navigate when you first entered Second Life. Despite all I had read and watched on videos about SL, I still had a very hard time figuring out what to do and where to take my avatar for training when I first got there.

In order to overcome a feeling of vulnerability and the need to move away from the other avatars, I learned to fly away. Instead of walking my avatar around in SL I started looking for help at a distance. What I discovered at Orientation Island was that training in SL was poorly laid out, at least at Orientation Island. I had to go to SL wikis and articles to find out how to get around in SL. I also had a student worker research and train in SL navigation and tools and together we shared how-to tips for SL. At the end of the summer I still wasn't a big fan of SL.

At the beginning of the Fall semester I started to attend workshops and conferences on using SL that were sponsored by my college. I spoke with instructors from other universities and colleges that were using SL in their instruction. From these interactions I got a more positive view of Second Life and gained some very useful insight and hands-on training. When my college set up its own island I felt safer trying out the navigation and building controls. Soon I met with other colleagues using and exploring SL as a teaching environment and my views on SL changed tremendously.

Now that I finally feel comfortable in SL I'd like to share some of the most important bits of information I have gained in teaching others how to enter, explore and develop learning environments in SL. If you want to take students into Second Life follow these steps for a more positive experience.

Day 1:

1. When one creates an avatar for the first time, realize you can change your avatar's appearance later. Do not let students get bogged down in customizing their avatar before they understand more about SL.
2. Expect it to take 15 minutes or more to find a name for your avatar. No this can not be changed later.
3. Join the group Scholar Island and set that as the place of entry for your avatar. Instinct is to skip over joining a group. However, this is the place your avatar will start its life in SL and starting in a positive and helpful place is key to being successful in SL.
4. Scholar Island offers step-by-step instruction on: moving your avatar, learning how to teleport to other islands of academic or special interest, and how to use second life tools on the menus that are at the top and bottom of the window.
5. The first tools you should learn are the arrow keys and the page up and page down keys.The arrow keys move your avatar, the "page up" makes your avatar fly and the "page down" brings your avatar back to the ground.
6. Flying is much easier to master than walking. It is important though to learn to walk. It makes users more comfortable. Walking around at Scholar Island helps.
7. Next, introduce students to the right click features: appearance, gestures, sit here, take, buy, create, edit, attach, wear, delete, copy and stand.

Day2:

1. Since a lot of students and people can not focus on learning until they feel comfortable in their own skin, you might as well teach them how to right click and change their avatar's appearance. Having observed people using SL for the first time, I find this to be true. It is also very confusing for new avatars to distinguish themselves from each other when they've selected the same basic avatar.
2. To help them customize their avatars you might be tempted to send them shopping at Freebie Heaven. This is a mistake. I recommend you shop and add clothing, hair and accessories to your own inventory and then share the inventory with your students. If you send them off shopping you will never get them back on track until they are done.
3. Sharing clothing this way also gives you the opportunity to introduce the students to group sharing and the inventory tool.
4. One of the first things to do now is send out invitations to your students to be friends and establish your group. I would also show them how to set their Home option so that they can return quickly to Scholar Island if they need to get away from a strange avatar or they get lost. If your college has an island of its own, you may want them to select it as home.
5. Lets call this the end of day 2 and finish by showing students how to use the File menu tool to quit and log off of Second Life.

Day 3:

1. Show students how to login to Second Life and remind them that they will be rezzing to Scholar Island. Let the students walk through the island's "how-to" building and let them practice using the tools on their SL menus.


2. Once they have gone through this training. I'd show them how to use the mini-map and the main map to search for and teleport to new locations. Locations that you have selected and are familiar. If there is time at the end of this class or day's training, I'd have them learn how to use gestures just to end on an upbeat note.

Day 4:

1. Introduce the students to the communication tools. Let them chatter or IM for awhile and then give them an assignment where they visit a place and discuss some aspect of the place and how it might relate to a learning experience. If you send them to Shakespeare's Globe theater they might discuss how the avatars there are in period costume. If they go to the Sistine Chapel they might discuss the building and its architecture. One professor of urban planning sends students to different cities in SL and has them discuss how they are laid out.



2. This is a good time to show them the Search tool and explain to them that they may be exposed to mature content. If they want to guard against most of it they can deselect the box next to"Include parcels with mature content". Not all mature content parcels are questionable though. Have the students search given topics under each of the tab options in Search. You may want to have them look for and then attend an event now. Attending events is another good way for students to experience the uses of virtual worlds in global communication and group interaction. Be sure to show students how to use the communication tools again if you want them to participate in the event's discussion. This might be a good time to introduce gestures such as clapping, raising a hand, laughing and others they might want to use at the event.



3. You may want to end the session by having the students use the map to search for and teleport home. Send them to another location or show them how to return to Home.
   

Day5:

1. If you feel your students are ready to create and build begin by providing ready made objects for them to move, alter and arrange. If you start by having them build from scratch they will get discouraged. I collected free buildings, furniture, and clothing when I first came to SL from Freebie Heaven. So I provided these for them to practice with while using the building tool.
2. A good collaborative project is to have them construct furnishings for a particular business or a home. Then have them arrange the objects inside the rooms. This will give them more confidence in using the building tool.


3. If students need inspiration for building take them on tours of other SL buildings and places. Many islands offer tours for visiting avatars. Some even offer virtual balloon rides, gondola rides and train rides.
   
   Some of these activities will take more time than others. How long activities take depend on your students' background in computer software. Younger students who are also gamers will have the easiest time learning about Second Life. I recommend you enlist them as peer tutors.

Places to visit on the web for more information on SecondLife.

http://travelingavatar.quickanddirtytips.com/free-stuff-in-second-life.aspx

http://connect.educause.edu/browse/content/node/691,6161,6147/feed

http://cybrarycity.blogspot.com/2007/01/free-stuff-in-second-life.html

Zoho.com...another open source site goes commercial.

Zoho.com began as a BETA offering open source collaborative applications and web 2.0 tool features. As with most online application software entrepreneurs they have now taken their site to the commercial side of the web. It still offers free accounts but has now set up two subscription accounts for professionals and enterprises.

Some of the applications available are: a document creator, a notebook, a wiki, a planner, chat, a dashboard for documents, email, a project management software, an on-demand CRM, invoice, a web conferencing tool, an application creator with script builder, an online database & reporting tool and Zoho show. The themes, colors and designs of the Zoho presentations are more modern and colorful than Google.

One tool I prefer is the Zoho Show. It is a PowerPoint show but with extra features that Google documents doesn't have like: cool themes, the ability to browse Flicker & Picasa for images and a sidebar to add clip art, shapes and symbols.

Like other web 2.0 sites Zoho offers the ability to post and embed the media you create with Zoho applications. You can publish your creations and embed them in other websites, blogs or social networking sites such a Facebook.

Zoho surpasses Google documents in offering more features for business use. With it you can create live forms for databases, a desirable feature for online business entrepreneurs. The forms include 50 templates many relating to business as would be expected. Other forms included are: polling, fundraising proposals and IT resumes.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a browser now out in BETA for Window users. If you view the video by the designers you'll hear that they are building this browser to meet the demands of open source applications (web 2.0 tools) now widely offered on the Internet. Basically, since Google has numerous applications free for Gmail users to access, they needed to create a browser that would support all the open source applications they were and are continuing to offer. Think about it. There's Google calender, 3-D sketcher, Google Creator, Google Documents, Blogger, iGoogle, Google Earth- it goes on and on.

So how is Chrome a different browser?

Chrome places your most visited websites in small screen shot images on a separate tabbed page. Then in a side menu on this page you have your searches, your favorite bookmarks and your most recently closed tabs.

Chrome then features a separate window access for each individual application by placing a shortcut icon for the app on your desktop. This way you are not using one window to toggle back and forth between apps. Each application opens in its own window.

The first feature that grabs my attention though is the crash control feature. By right clicking on the Chrome toolbar you can access a task manager window. The task manager window shows you how much memory each tab or app in that window is using and if the app/tab window is misbehaving. You can close the tab window/app that isn't responding by clicking on End Process and keep the other apps running smoothly. Yes, we can right click and get to task manager in other browsers too and do the same thing. I just think the "crash control" term might just help the average Joe understand how to manage multiple windows/apps and carry this trouble shooting task to a level they understand.

The second feature that stands out is the Incognito mode for privacy. When you choose the Incognito mode your searches are not saved to the computer after you close the Chrome window. Finding the Incognito mode is a harder task. A tiny page icon on the tool bar is all you see to get to this feature. It is very much (in my mind) like the ability to erase History or Cookies in other Internet browsers without needing administrative access. It is (once you've seen the training videos) easy to use and if you are using a public computer and do not want your search history to be seen by all- this is your answer.

If you decide to download and use Chrome, you can import your bookmarks and settings from other browsers by clicking on the wrench icon next to the page icon I mentioned earlier to import. Is Chrome all that different from other browsers? On the surface, not by much. However, maybe its true differences are below the surface. Maybe its ability to handle multiple open source applications and keep them operating seperately without freezing is it's true distinction.

Museum 2.0: What is Museum 2.0?

Museum 2.0: What is Museum 2.0?

A friend of mine sent me the link to this museum 2.0 blog because she knew I had an interest in web 2.0 tools. She also knows that the Augusta T. Kolwych Library, in which I work, exhibits local and student art.

Nina Simon is the writer and creator of this blog. She has granted me permission to post a link here. I hope to use the blog as an inspiration for creatively promoting our library exhibits. Perhaps it will also enlighten our college art students and faculty to the possibilities of artistic expression using web 2.0 tools.

You will find many more uses for the museum 2.0 blog than the two I mention. Nina has linked and explored a variety of web 2.0 applications and technology topics.

Included are posts on: marketing, interactives, design, storytelling, professional development, technology tools, virtual worlds and unusual projects.

I have to go now I want to finish her article on geocaching (a GPS-based scavenger hunt).

iTunes U May Be My Achille's Heel

You may find it shocking that I have not used my cell phone for anything but calling other people. It is a dead giveaway that I'm old. When I bought my cell phone I told the sales assistant that I just wanted my phone to be a phone. My cell phone does not need to take pictures or record video. I do not want to surf the Internet with it. I have my PC, my Canon and my Flip camcorder to do these things. Believe me I know how this looks. I'm OK with being older.

I know that using a different digital device for different activities marks me as a PCer. I don't mind. I am proud to be from the PCer generation. I like taking things one step at a time. I am content. I have resisted the glitz and glamor of multi-tasking. I am too wise to the marketing trades to be seduced into purchasing a fancy multi-faceted phone that would affect my supreme powers of focus and concentration.

Well, at least I was until now. iTunes or Apple may have found my Achilles heel- the MoMA, university lectures and documentaries. I am talking about the new free content that one may access through iTunes U (University). According to the advertisement they sent out I can have access to my favorite subjects and art anywhere I go- for free!

Now this marks me as a nerd and being older. Yet there may be hope. Here is what they say about iTunes U.

"iTunes U in the iTunes Store offers free audio and video content from top universities, famous museums, public media stations, and other cultural institutions. So whether you want to learn from the world’s leading thinkers, get a sneak peek at the latest MoMA exhibition, or simply brush up on your Spanish, iTunes U makes it easy." -Apple Website. Watch the tutorial to see all that it offers.

Maybe I'll go out today and get an iPhone just for this service alone. I can indulge in my nerdy ways and maybe look a little younger too. Nobody needs to know I'm checking out iTunes U instead of sussing out iTunes indie rock. I'll let you know if having an iPhone makes me look any younger. Even if it doesn't, I think iTunes U will keep me too occupied to notice.

Chattanooga Summer Reading Program and 2.0 Technology

So what does the Chattanooga Summer Reading Program video below have to do with web 2.0 technology? Besides the obvious fact that I used a digital camcorder, web 2.0 video editing software and posted it on the Internet with aol.com. Well, it is going to help me point out important facts about the use of technology and posting on the Internet.

First, it points out that a tool is a tool and it is the content of your message that makes 2.0 technology valuable. My video on the program's grand finale event showcases the volunteers, the library staff, the businesses and the families that made the event successful. The content within the video makes it valuable on many levels.

Next, it lets me point out that individuals should be responsible in creating and posting their work. It may be a public event you are recording but ask permissions before videoing closeups of people. You can video crowd scenes if you do it at a given distance and employee techniques that protect privacy. No names or personal information is given here.The children shown include my own child and those of friends. I asked their permission before videoing my friend's children. Parents of other children seen in close ups have signed permission slips provided by the library.

You can also protect personal privacy of your subjects with different techniques. The special effects used in this video keep the images moving quickly so identification is difficult. The close ups are of volunteers and library staff who understood they may be photographed. By focusing on them and less on the crowd I am able to produce an entertaining and informative video without violating privacy. You might also note that I shot the footage facing the voluteers with only the backs and some side glimpses of the crowd.


Another way privacy is protected happens through compression of the video. The low resolution that aol.com and other posting sites use have to do with the compression of video as it is uploaded. Low resolution softens the facial features enough to make identification slightly blurred.

So having said all of this, here is my digital documentation of this years summer reading grand finale. Temporarily posted of course. A hard copy will be given to the library.

Managing Information with Web 2.0 Tools (aka Google...Documents, Page Creator & Blogspot)

I am always trying out new web 2.0 tools and trying to figure out new ways to use them in my work. I also have a big interest in figuring out how our students might use them too, for their assignments, for research, and for organizing their lives. I use alot of them every day to manage the information I come across. I used Google's Creator (webpage maker) to make notes of some of the web 2.0 tools I want to come back to later for research. Here are some notes from a book I read a few months ago on a Creator webpage, (http://theloriwarren.googlepages.com/home). I am also considering a Creator webpage for a collection of videos that have How-to guide instructions for the applications our students use the most. I'm developing a Creator page on Second Life resources too and will be publishing it later.

If you've visited this blog you know I have other blogs that I maintain to keep up with work related questions, student questions and parenting gamers. My Help Desk FAQ blog is shared with student workers that I added as authors to the blog. We link to the blog on our Information Commons' webpage. Students and I use the blog to quickly post current questions we get in the library relating to online courseware, and technology.

Google documents I use everyday for work. I have a spreadsheet that tracks the student numbers and questions we get in our open lab classroom on Mondays. Another spreadsheet tracks FAQ questions by the month and year. Student workers share their reseaerch with me using Google documents too.

The last Google tool I use the most is the Notebook. I have several that I keep on various projects. One notebook is a shared source for Second Life research. Another notebook is a collection of web 2.0 notes and comparisons that other co-workers collaborate with me on from time to time. Google applications/tools are a big part of my work world. If you haven't checked them out go to Google and look them over. They have many more.

Looking at YouTube/TestTube

While I was reading through the book, How to Do Everything with YouTube, I discovered that YouTube has launched (now and in the past) a TestTube beta and Remixer. The TestTube currently has four features that anyone can try. One, Audio Swap offers users the added ability to change out the audio on their uploaded video. Users can swap their original video sound for a song that is licensed for use. The song selected will then have its artist's name and label added to the user's video. The user gets free music and the artist gets his songs out to the public. The application is at http://www.youtube.com/testtube. This is a familiar feature you may remember from animoto.com (The site where you can create your own music videos). I haven't compared the websites to see if they handle different artists and labels. Something I might do later.

TestTube is also a place where YouTube users can tryout some sharing and interactive features.
Right now users can try out video annotations and add interactive commentary to their videos. They can also try out stream video (a feature that lets them chat with others that are watching the same video they are) and try active sharing (so others can see what they're watching). Voyeuristic? No doubt.

The Remixer mentioned in beginning of this blog doesn't seem to exist at the moment. When it did appear in the TestTube it was a feature that let the user edit videos that they had uploaded at previous times. The Remixer was based on the Adobe Premier Express product and let users combine and clip videos together. It also let the user add transitions and apply titles and effects to their videos without leaving YouTube. Hmm. I'll check back later and see if it appears again.

One last thing, if you aren't experienced in compressing, reformatting and uploading video- Chad Fah's book and website can give you how-to instruction. I'll leave you to figure that out. That is- if he has finished the website and added his tutorials.

YouTube: Book Review

I am letting you know up front that I have conflicting emotions about YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/). I guess this really points out that I am not of the Net Generation and that I have major mother/protector issues. It is actually not the site itself but a small part of the population that uploads inappropriate video-of a personal nature that they should keep private. We all know that these individuals could select the private option for their videos but they don't. Perhaps someone else is making their video public? I don't know. I've done what I can to filter them out. I 've put whatever filter settings I can on my PC and set the ones youtube offers. I wish there were more safety settings available. Better yet, I wish those certain individuals would seek counseling. Since they probably won't...I guess I'll do what my PCer generation does and start looking up possible answers in a book.


Which brings me to this book review. I did not set this blog up to write book reviews. However, in my effort to search for a better way to keep my children from viewing above mentioned material, I ended up reading this book.


The book is pretty good. It is titled, "How to Do Everything with YouTube." The author, Chad Fahs is a digital filmmaker and instructor and has written alot on video/media topics. Most of the things I read in the book, How to set an account, How to navigate the YouTube interface and How to search and embed YouTube videos- I knew already. But what I didn't know or hadn't tried had to do with creating and uploading my own videos.

Nope! Haven't gone there yet. In Chad's book, I found the easy-to-follow guide to do this though. I doubt I will- but at least I know where to go or who to read if I change my mind. Chad has his own YouTube Channel if you want to check him out at http://www.youtube.com/chadfahs. You can also go to his website where he has tutorials and up to date links for YouTube users. For you old PC users like me, you can get the book.

www.goodwidgets.com

To turn the pages of the book- click and hold down your cursor on to the top right corner of the right page and drag the page left, click and release in an area just above the book. It takes a few tries to get the movement down. This blog template does not let you see the entire book. Sorry about that.

I was following another bread crumb trail on the Internet yesterday and came across this site, http://www.goodwidgets.com/. It offers users a different format for presenting their photos. These widgets have short codes that you can copy and paste in your html editor or add via the websites posting application. It is a one, two three step process to upload your pictures. You'll want to edit them and size them for the web before uploading them. The site doesn't have picture editing tools. This widget did let me set the colors for the book, pages and highlights so you can make this widget match your color schemes. I recommend that you resize and set the resolution for the web for each of the pictures for quick upload and presentation. The down side is you can upload only one picture at a time. Still, it is pretty cool web 2.0 tool you can add to your MySpace, Facebook or webpage.
Powered by GoodWidgets.com

www.rocketboom.com Daily News with a Twist

During my everyday ramblings on the Internet, I came across rocketboom.com.
In watching just one episode of "Daily with Joanne Colan" I have become an instant fan of this news format. This is saying alot. I rarely watch TV anymore, online or off. So why do I find this Internet broadcast so interesting? I guess its the seamless blend of on-the-spot newscasting that Miss Colan does with the net generation characters she encounters. The people she features are individuals whose very lives seem to be naturally intertwined with the digital world. Rocketboom.com puts a spotlight on the net generation's digital and entrepreneurial skills. Hope you check it out. I suggest viewing "The Man Behind the (Podington) Bear interview, July 2nd, 2008.

Voicethread.com

I have stumbled on a VoiceThread presentation before this, but while following a web 2.0 path of crumbs (think Hansel & Gretal)I came upon it again. This time I watched the demo. This is one web 2.0 tool I really want people to see!!! Hopefully, In the near future you'll see a student project posted here using voicethread or video doodle. I've been showing this tool off around the office and to our fabulous student workers. After you check out this demo, you must check out the Video Doodling. I think it really works well with the cartoon format. By the way, has anyone watched the new cartoon on Cartoon Network called Drama Camp? We have officially gone around the bend and bounced back. It is a cartoon where the charactors are in a reality TV series.

Back to Voicethread. You can try it out for free. It gives you three Voice Threads with 75 MB of storage. If you want to buy the application it's reasonable. It is a subscription cost of 59.95 a year and it says you can create unlimited Threads with 10gb storage. To see everything offered visit the site and click on the pricing tag at the top of the page.

What's a VoiceThread anyway?

New SpringWidget

If you have signed up for an RSS feed of your favorite blog and would like to post a reader in your eLearn course or personal webpage you can with a SpringWidget reader. It's free and the directions for embedding this widget is very easy. Maybe you'd like to add a RSS reader that the students could use to subscribe to your blog. That can be done too. I was turned onto this web 2.0 tool by Adam Beavers. Well, actually he was researching Pecha Kucha Night and sent me a link to Michele Martin's blog entree on Pecha Kucha. If you like her blog you can subscribe to it with a SpringWidget. She is a ten year devotee to sharing social media tools (web 2.0). She authors, "The Bamboo Project: Career Development, Technology and Learning Strategies for LifeLong Personal and Professional Growth." I've subscribed to her blog below. I think she has some good ideas for enhancing eLearn/eLive courses and using web 2.0 tools to create innovated learning objects. I also like her idea of showcasing faculty projects and student presentations using the Pecha Kucha presentation style.

Get this widget!

Visit the Widget Gallery

Get this widget!

Visit the Widget Gallery

Twitter Groupie? NotYet.

Have you heard about Twitter? I know it has been around a bit but I've never been big on talking or texting so I haven't used it. Frankly, I've never been a phone person at all. Some of us are- some of us aren't.

However, I have been following David Free and David Lee King who have developed a great presentation on Twitter for the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase. I'll let you check out their presentation by clicking here and here. Once I viewed their videos on Twitter and listened to how its being used for creative writing assignments, I can see that Twitter is an interesting web 2.0 tool.

I've spoken to a student and teacher who are using Twitter. You'll see the student's blog on Twitter posted on the Chattanooga State Library/ Information Commons webpage in the near future. We have a teacher using Twitter now.

Actually, Mr. Teems' creative writing students are using it too. Students are creating short creative writing assignments defined by the 140 character limitation set in individual Twitter post. Twitter assignments are short ongoing journal entrees that give the writing style a diary/memoir feeling.

After you check out the presentations linked above- you can search YouTube for David Free's "Intro to Twitter" which showcases more of Twitter's bells and whistles. I may not be a Twitter groupie yet, but I do look forward to reading more about it.

Illustration of Tag Cloud, constructed by Markus Angermeier

Tag Clouds also called word clouds were first introduced by co-founder & designer of the Flickr photo sharing site, Stewart Butterfield. I found this word cloud on web 2.0 tags at wikipedia. I added it to this blog as a quick reference source to web 2.0 buzz words.

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

SlideShare Quick Tour - Summary of features & capa

| View | Upload your own

Library 2.0 from SlideShare

I began my day by researching the changes and innovations in other library information commons' areas. This lead me to a slideshow posted on SlideShare.com. A web 2.0 tool I'd heard of but never used. The slideshow I viewed described the Net generation and how they use web 2.0 tools. At the end of this slideshow, I found the below slideshow posted with voice narration (which you can add to PowerPoints) on a new trend, the library 2.o. This slideshow by Murduch University librarian, Kathryn Greenhill explains what library 2.0 is. I had never heard of the term but I quickly realized that it defines why I'm writing this blog. I am trying to show students and faculty the possible uses of web 2.0 tools for instruction, sharing and collaboration.

The Library 2.0 slideshow also illustrates why librarians feel they need to develop web 2.0 library services to reach our Net generation students. Students who might just be taking D2L, eLearn and eLive courses and may never enter our real world library building. I hope you will take the time to view the slideshow. It is over 20 minutes in length and does have lag time while it is buffering but I found it was worth it. I used the lag time to write this blog.

View Upload your own

Adobe Kids Club

You may be thinking "Kids Club", she must be joking. Hey, you don't have to be a kid to use these pages. They are designed for all ages and all stages of instruction. These Adobe webpages offer great how-to guides for your digital multi-media projects.

Most companies have how-to guides and lessons for educators and kids. They also give you a new view to instructing others in software applications. Look at these webpages to see how lessons in multi-media applications are being designed and delivered to newbie audiences of all ages. Ask yourself: " What kind of images, text and technology are they using to teach? Are the lessons in video or are they interactive and hands-on? What media did they use?"

Technology is, after all, just a tool to get your message out. What you write and what images you choose to add makes the tools worth using.

clipped from www.adobe.com Welcome to the fun, exciting world of digital photography and digital video. Here at the Adobe Digital Kids Club — a special site created for teachers, students, and parents — you'll find the essential digital photography, video, and imaging resources you need to engage students in learning while teaching them important digital communication skills.

Need more Office 2007 training?

Now Microsoft Office offers a RSS feed option that sends you training on all your Office 2007 applications free. Not sure what RSS is? Also known as "Really Simple Syndication," it's an easy way for the people who create Web sites to send information to you. An RSS Feed is just an Internet address that tells your computer where to find new information from a particular site.
Subscribe to the Office Online RSS Feed, and we'll send you training courses and video demos every other week. Then you pick and choose what you want to use.

Get training and demos, columns, blogs, and product Help and How-to information delivered to you, free of charge. Training and Demos 2003 Clip Art and Media Blog Templates Blog Training and Demos 2007

PowerPoint Takes a New Twist in Performing Arts

While researching pecha-kucha, I found this article concise and to the point. Just like pecha-kucha. It has been added to the blog through clipmarks.com. (available only through the mozilla/firefox browser.) Click on the green clip icon below to find out more about clipping text, images and videos from websites to post on your blog, emails and social pages.

clipped from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-09/st_pechakucha Let us now bullet-point our praise for Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, two Tokyo-based architects who have turned PowerPoint, that fixture of cubicle life, into both art form and competitive sport. Their innovation, dubbed pecha-kucha (Japanese for "chatter"), applies a simple set of rules to presentations: exactly 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. That's it. Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down. The result, in the hands of masters of the form, combines business meeting and poetry slam to transform corporate cliché into surprisingly compelling beat-the-clock performance art.

Posting Picasa Pictures to Blogger

These pictures were posted from my Picasa 2 account to my Google Blog/Blogger account. Picasa is a web 2.0 tool and a free download from Google and Blogger is a free online blog account from Google. Picasa gives you a place to store and edit your photos. To post your Picasa photos to your blogger account- begin by opening your Picasa account. Click on the BlogThis! icon at the bottom right of the Picasa window.

The directions to complete the import will open in a

new blogger window. Follow the direction to upload the photos to your blog account. You will select the name of your blog or type your blog name. You will have to sign in with your google gmail account information at some point. The new window gives you step-by-step directions to complete the import and takes you to your blog to preview the uploaded photo posting.

Click on this icon to learn more about Picasa!

Making Music Videos with Animoto

Upload Your Pictures, Select Music From New Artist and Let Animoto Create Your Music Video! Photos are by library student worker, Cnythia Roberts.

We encourage students to explore new web 2.0 tools and create mixed media demos for learning and for the library's Information Commons. To create and post your animoto music videos is easy. You do have to sign up for the free account, you may even have to have a subscription ($30.00 a year) to post. Since I do have a subscription, I'm not sure if posting is available on the free account. You'll have to check it out. For those of you who do subscribe you post your videos by first selecting the video to post from the "My Videos" section. Then click on the thumbtack image that leads you to a PostIt window. The window lists dozens of online tools/applications like Facebook, MySpace and Blogger. Click on the right link and fill in the online form. It is quick and easy.

***If you do not see my Animoto video in this post-Change browsers and use Internet Explorer. It does not appear in Mozilla Firefox.

Flip Camcorder

The library has a Flip camcorder for on campus loan for short projects. It is smaller than a paperback book. It is very easy to use. You can master it in a few minutes, go out and shoot a clip, then edit and upload the video within a the hour if you wanted too. It takes AA batteries and holds 60 minutes worth of video.

The company who makes it, Pure Digital Technologies offers inexpensive accessorizes to use with it such as: an underwater case, tripod, USB cables (though it has a built in USB already!), an action mount (to attach to handlebars, helmets and other outdoor gear) and soon will offer a power adaptor for fast easy charging). This is some of the easiest technology you will ever use and for around $150.00 anyone can afford to get into creating videos.

The software to create your videos is loaded right in the camcorder. You just plug it into the USB port and the software appears on the screen. OK, it doesn't just appear. There are a few steps to set-up and run the software but it is easy! If you want to upload your video to the internet, Flip hooks you up through AOL. If you don't have an account with AOL you can save your video through a third party video editing application such as the Windows Movie Maker or Macs' iMovie. Then choose your own internet services, like YouTube to upload your movies.

Directions to use your Flip with other editing applications can be found at their website, http://theflip.com/. Look under Support/Q&A for quick reference on using your Flip. For about 80.00 you can download a premier edition of the Flip editing application which will give you more variety and options to edit your videos.

Pros and Cons of the Flip Camcorder:

Pro...Easy to use and very portable, you can tuck it in your pocket and go.

Pro...Comes with built in video editing software and has a USB built into it.

Pro...Has one-touch recording & instant play back.

Pro...Lets you share instantly on TV, by emailing your videos or publishing online.

Con...Can take forever to upload.

Con...You need to use a tripod, brace yourself or have a really steady hand to record video that doesn't jump around.

Con...It has limited zoom, 2X digital zoom. Best video taken within 20 feet of action.

Con...It picks up a lot of background noise. I'd turn the sound down if your recording video in an area with losts of noise.

Tips on Using the Flip Camcorder:

Buy a tripod! Practice looking for places you can brace your self and keep the camcorder steady! Take short clips, 5 to 10 seconds at a time. This makes editing much easier. Turn the audio recording all the way down when shooting video outside with lots of environmental noise. Add narration with a video/audio editing software later. If videoing a speaker get there early and look for a place close to the speaker, with little noise and foot traffic. If videoing a sport's event or concert check for background noises that might get picked up by the microphone such as air conditioning, motors or loud spectators.

An Open Source Version of Photoshop Elements-GIMP!

Since I am a fan of photoshop elements, photobooth, iphoto and really any photo editing software. I am bringing you a open source version called gimp. If you would like to preview it you can see a YouTube tutorial presented by pollyticks (youtube username). He does a nice job of showing off this free download, yes free open source photo editing software. The video is called GIMP: Free Alternative to Photoshop. The video will give you instructions on how to download the right Gimp version for your computer, be it a PC or Mac. Enjoy. Interested in placing a YouTube video on your blogger? Here are the directions straight from the YouTube website. If you have a video on your computer to upload to your blogger page simply click on the film strip icon in the toolbar of your posting's edit menu.

Tips for Learning New Technology or Digital Equipment

I like to go straight to the main source of information on new digital equipment or software applications- the company that created it. Two main sources of tips and how-to guides come from company "newsletters" and "blogs". I am not recommending you subscribe to them. You have that option. I, however do not want the added e-mail. I just go to the company and type "newsletter" or "blog" into the company's search box and access them that way.

The benefit in occasionally reading these newsletters and blogs is too see how others are using the equipment or software. Sometimes a company has several newsletters, each one focusing on one product. Follow this link to see what microsoft.com has to offer. These newsletters have quick guides to getting started or how to produce better quality products and presentations in a few easy steps.

Think of these newsletters as short cut guides to creating better projects.

If you want to find out how to use your new technology quickly- try typing in the name of the equipment or software with "top tips" or "quick start guide" in the company's search box. See the link as an example.

Looking at Corporate Multimedia Galleries

Well, I had good intentions to stay away from my blog for the rest of the day. However, I came across this video at AT&T's website while I was looking at technology grants. This link- http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6209 takes you to the AT&T Multimedia Gallery. I thought it was a great place to visit for inspiration. Please check out the 1st video clip starring Martin Scorsese. It is an advertisement for banning phone calls in the movie theater.

So my point here is...corporate websites have a lot of inspirational multimedia videos and training demos. Most sites also have education pages. These pages have ideas for technology lessons. One of my favorite sites that offers lessons on using Adobe Photoshop Elements is at Adobe.com. I am providing the link because it is not easy to find. Follow this link to the Digital Kids Club, Lessons and Activities.

Storyboarding with PowerPoint 2002 to 2007

I had never thought about using PowerPoint to create storyboards before today. I found a great article at this link. The article is titled, The Future Story(board) of PowerPoint by Cliff Atkinson. Going further in exploring Atkinson website/blog I found this page that has a free Storyboard Guides, Storyboard Formatter and 4-Row Story templates to download. They all should open in PowerPoint if you have it loaded on your computer.

http://www.squidoo.com/browse/homepage

Squidoo.com is a Web 2.0 tool that lets you construct simple webpages about something you are passionate about in life. Before you explore it as a tool, take a look at its layout. It is clean, cool, colorful and well organized. Notice the soft gray text and table containing the picture images.

The curious thing about it is that it claims to make a contribution to your favorite charity if you make a squidoo. You'll have to go there to read and find out how.

When setting up an account, one gets to give your lens a catagory & a rating. As a parent I like this feature.

This is a great place for educators and students to create a webpage on their favorite topic. Squidoo's focus is a "show and tell" on the WWW. It is very appealing to families, educators and children.

Great place for Colour! www.colourlovers.com

While working on my Information Commons' webpages, I came upon the http://www.colourlovers.com/ website. I use to just go to Webmonkey.com to refresh my webmastering skills and pick web safe color codes but this time I was interested in discovering more color hex codes. Anyway, this site is wonderful. Here you have a way to: explore color patterns used by other artisitic types; see what webdesign professionals are choosing for their color palettes and do some creating of your own.

Be sure to check out: Website Color Trends, Magazine Colors, Lovers, Palettes, Patterns and Colors. If you want to create your own color- scroll your mouse over the Palettes, Patterns or Colors tabs at the top of the page to Create New. Here you can try your hand at color mixing, creating patterns and palettes. Every Graphic Design and Web Design student should check this out.