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

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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.

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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.