Following a tweet to Mashable: The Social Media Guide

Locally, there has been a lot of articles in the newspaper about twitter and how it's being used. A lot of people trying it out aimlessly do not understand the attraction users have to tweeting publicly. To them it seems a waste of time but for regular users who move in a fast paced world it's a way to connect to like minded individuals and find great resources and information quickly. 

I'm constantly on the move working with students and taking care of the administrative duties of the library's Information Commons. I've helped a dozen students while writing this post at the Help Desk. So you have an idea now how busy I am.  Twitter gives me a chance to follow other's in my field and find links to new resources in a quick glance. Yesterday, I linked from a tweet to a blog article on 10 tips for using twitter as a marketing tool  for artist. Today, I used a tweet link to find, Mashable: The Social Media Guide. 

It is a great tweet find for me since I now have a new resource for WordPress and other great articles on using web 2.0 tools in mashups. It is a great tweet because this summer I'm moving the FAQ blog for the Help Desk to WordPress and I don't have a lot of spare time. HTG, I have another student needing assistance.

Go Animate with GoAnimate.com

I hear a lot about the uses of Twitter in the news and from co-workers. One thing I have found it useful for is discovering new applications, web 2.0 articles and websites. Just today I found out about GoAnimate.com. I never would have checked it out except for a Tweet. GoAnimate.com: Welcome! by Alvin


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Animoto.com retrieves photos from picasa.com and flickr.com

Just tried out the "Retrieve From Another Site" option now in Animoto.com. Here is a video I created from photos retrieved from one of my online Picasa albums. There is one trick to this. Edit and place the photos in an album that you want for the video before you start creating in animoto. This way the pictures can be added as a group.

Tips on Using the Mini Camcorder Flip or Kodak Zi6

I've spent the last two weekends documenting a Lighting and Grip Crew Workshop held for a Chattanooga State Technical Community College Film and Production course. I am taking the Production Assistant (PA) Internship which is an accompanying course with instructor Dave Porfiri. As a PA, Dave gave me the opportunity to assist him on the set and video the workshop.

My goals were three fold. One, I was able to use the school's Flip camcorder and share it with other students on site to introduce them to the camcorder available for student check-out. Two, by passing the camera around to students I could see how easy it was to use and I could evaluate how well this camocorder would stand up in the real world. Third, I was able to video the Lighting and Grip Workshop to provide review material for the final exam in the course and to show case our CSTCC students and instructor.

I confess, I had a fabulous time. I learned alot about the students in the course and picked up tips on filming I could only get with hands on experience. I also learned a lot about the film industry and the equipment used to create a film. The big plus for this post-I learned how to use the Flip camcorder to make good videos. Here are my tips to shooting video with the Flip...

Tips:

1. Find an area out of the wind to record or try to block the wind from blowing on the microphone located on the front of the camcorder. I filmed on a windy day and the voices were picked up well but the wind blowing against the mic was too.




2. Two AA lithium batteries will last 2 hours, the same length of time you will fill up 4GB on a SD memory card.




3. Duracel batteries last about an hour have dozens if you plan to video all day.




4. Have extra memory cards too. Nothing less than a 4GB. I'm not sure the Kodak Zi6 takes larger memory cards but I'm going to try it.




5. Don't try to over edit on the spot. When the record button is first press the video is a shakey for 3 to 5 seconds. Give yourself an extra few minutes on the end of the clip. You can always fine tune the edit then.




6. Don't try to add music from a location unless the location is about the music going on there.




7. Add music in the editing. Most video editing applications let you add your own music selection.




8. Your images will be shakier if you try to hold the camera alone. Brace yourself or the camcorder against a solid services to minimize shaking. Better yet-bring a tripod and use it if you know your subject is sitting or standing in a contained space.

Mini Camcorder Update on Flip

In an earlier post I mentioned that I was trying out the Kodak Zi6 as a replacement for my Flip mini camcorder that was dropped and doesn't work anymore. Before my Flip crashed I loved using it. I still like using the Flip and last summer I encouraged our library to purchase one for student use. This week was the first time students could check it out. A young lady used it to interview a man from Zimbabwe. The video interview will go in a group PowerPoint presentation. The Flip is still number one with me in ease of use. When she checked it out, I went over the basic controls and told her to ask for me when she came back with her video.

When the young lady came back, I walked her through the steps of using the USB adaptor to plug the Flip into the computer's USB port. Basically, you plug it in and the software for editing and saving your video pops up on the screen. An easy application for uploading, editing and saving your video appears. Once we loaded her video we watched it together then saved it to her flash drive.

As we viewed the video I pointed out the positive film techniques she used to make the video. She did a good job. Lighting came through soft white curtains for back light, overhead lights were on for fill light, and a desk lamp, slightly in front of the man lit the face in 3/4 light (This is the most flattering light for men.)

The Flip recorded the video and the sound well. The draw back from the Flip's sound recording is the background noise. Background noise gets picked up at the same level as the sound your trying to record. So... in her video we have the sound of a train traveling in the background for a few minutes and a baby crying softly from another room. I point this out so others will be sure to check for and listen for any background noise that might be picked up while filming. When you can, try to turn off these background noises (fans, televisions, radio). Be sure to close the doors and windows to the room too to block out lawnmowers, passing trains and passing conversations.

Over all, it was still an informative video interview. The video uploaded quickly and it was easy to save first to the computer then the student's flash drive. To put it in her PowerPoint, she just needs to open a slide, click insert media and there it is. Just a reminder for everyone, the video file must be saved in a folder with the PowerPoint. This keeps the files together so that you don't accidentally leave the video file on another computer. It won't show in your PowerPoint if it isn't there.

Web 2.0 and Beyond-Book Review

Web 2.0 and Beyond: Understanding the New Online Business Models, Trends and Technologies is a book written by Tom Funk. It is newly released and very current on the topic of mobile and computer web 2.0 tools and their merging technologies.

In the book Tom begins by explaining that Web 2.0 tools are not just changing the Internet but society itself. We have a whole new generation of technology users that have embraced and expanded on combining mobile and computer applications.

We now have a global society sharing their platforms and ideals on every subject, using their voices and taking on a new democratic power. The power of their voices are projected 24/7 and they speak out on everything from products to politics. They are changing the way business and especially marketing is being done.

In the book Tom address these issues and demonstrates what makes a successful web 2.0 company. He also covers cyber crimes and methods to protect your online business.

Make Comic Books with Comic Life @ Plasq.com

I've used Comic Life with students for a few years and had lots of fun with it. You can create your comic books and save them as HTML to post to your blogs. Here is an example I did this morning. The standard Comic Life is $30 a year for a subscription. Here is a link to the website, http://plasq.com/comiclife-win

There is also a new application by the same company called Comic Life Magiq with more super graphics and PhotoShop abilities. It is only available for Mac at the moment but hopefully they will have a PC version in the near future. You can get more information about the new application and view a video demo for the Magiq version at http://plasq.com/comic-life-magiq. The price for the Comic Life Magiq version is $44.95 a year for a household.

Taking a Moment to look at Monolab

Here is another jewel sent my way from one of my friends. I thought I'd share it with you. It seems almost harsh to call it a website when it seems to me- to be more like a work of art. I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. You can turn off the sound effects. Look for the off switch at the bottom left of the window.

A Song for All my Web 2.0 Friends

Instead of a long post this week here is a song for all my web 2.0 friends. It came through on a Second Life Listserv and it is by a talented singer and writer, Linda French. I hope it makes you smile. http://allmyinternetfriends.com/

P.S. This song does not reflect my real life (RL) work world. We have the best RL at Chattanooga State!

Kodak Zi6 mini-camcorder vs Flip camcorder

I just purchased a Kodak Zi6 camcorder to replace my Flip that broke. My child dropped the Flip one time and it stopped recording. I can still plug it in and access the video through the computer but when I try to turn it on to record- the window does not open. When I contacted the company they said to take out the batteries for 24-36 hours and it would reset. It did reset but then stopped again for good the next time I tried to use it. I did learn from the experience. I learned that though the Flip is easy to use, it only has a 90 day guarantee. There is no place to send it for repairs and though the technical assistance e-support is quick to respond, there isn't anything they can do if it hits the floor.

So, before I replaced the Flip with another I checked out the competition and decided to try Kodak Zi6. There were only four other mini camcorders on the market other than the Flip that I found: RCA, DXG(a Kodak knock off I saw at Walmart) Creative Vado HD, and the Kodak Zi6. The DXG, knock off offered a 2GB memory card, re-chargeable batteries, battery charger, carrying case and tri-pod which sounded good. However, when I tried it out the picture quality was very poor. I moved on to other stores to try the others out.

The Flip Mino HD was on display at another store but would not turn on. I took that as an omen and moved on to the Kodak Zi6. In the store the Kodak Zi6 worked well enough and was on sale. I decided to buy it since I couldn't try out the RCA or Creative Vado. I opened the box in the car. It took me about ten minutes to figure out the controls but deleting was not so easy to figure out. It was simple when I stopped to flip through the manual, something the Flip did not have. Of course, the Flip is so easy you don't need one.

After I got home I started trying out the camcorder in earnest. This is what I've found out so far about the Kodak Zi6:

It has a 1 year guarantee. The structure seems more drop proof, though time will tell. It has a SD memory card slot and can record almost 2 hours on a 4 GB card and will take larger memory cards for more recording time. So far I have not found a way to completely erase and format a memory card. Though directions are suppose to be on the software's website. You can not delete more than one image/clip at a time--within the Zi6 unless the clip is on the Kodak's built-in memory and you do not have a memory card inserted. Kodak expects you to delete video/clips when connected to the PC via its bundled software and I can't get that to open on my home PC.

Moving on, I was able to open the video files in Quick Time and delete them from there. The Kodak has some built in memory but the review said it was only 128 MB but with the memory card that is fine with me-if I can figure out how to format my SD memory card. It is an HD camcorder and actually records for VGA, HD, HDTV. When you enlarge the viewer to full screen the quality is decent. It is, of course designed to format at resolutions more geared to uploads to the web then television viewing. It records .mov files instead of the .wmv file format that Flip uses.

So far it records pretty well though the controls are a little more tricky to use than the Flip. There's a joystick button in the center of the controls with a video/playback button and a stop/delete button on either side of the joystick. My son only had to watch me use it for 5 minutes before he mastered the controls. He liked the quality of the videos and encouraged me to keep it even if I was having problems getting to the editing software.

The Kodak Zi6 does adjust to lighting changes pretty well I think. Though a few reviewers thought it could be better. When you pan or move the camera, it seems to be less shaky than the Flip. It records more smoothly than some but not as well as more expensive full-size camcorders. The video clips my son made were clear and even with a lot of sudden movement, the images did not jerk around like they did with the Flip. I think it might even handle lighting changes better than my Flip. The images are sharper but this is because the Kodak Zi6 is HD.

The drawbacks for me at the moment: the Kodak camcorder doesn't turn on when you plug the USB into your computer, the way the Flip did. It can not be charged through its USB. The editing software is not pre-loaded onto the camcorder the way it is on the Flip and you have to load the software first on your PC then to the camcorder. That is, if you can get it to open and save to your PC. My computer would not recognize the .exe file to set-up and install the software. I'm still working on this.

At work now, the software loaded right away. My office computer runs Windows XP. Not sure if that had something to do with it. After trying to import with the Kodak Zi6 software for 15 minutes, I've given up trying to import. This is not looking good for kodak Zi6. With the Flip you just plugged the camcorder into the USB port and the software opened. It provided quick menus to import and to edit video either on the camcorder or the PC.

I just tried turning on my Flip again and Voila! It is working but for how long I wonder. It must have sensed my trying out the competion. Kodak Zi6 if I don't figure out how to import my videos and edit with your software-you're going back!

Obama, the 2.0 President Has My Attention

Our new 2.0 president has posted his first weekly address from the White House website, via the White House official blog. This, as everyone knows, is not Obama's first encounter with web 2.0 tools. Who could miss the CNN and Facebook postings or the news stories on President Obama and his tight bond with his blackberry. After you view the above video blog, which I embedded via a tool provided by the White House website, I encourage you, the reader to visit the http://www.whitehouse.gov/ website and read the President's Agenda for Technology. As a technology instructor, a librarian and most of all the parent of Net generation children, I am very pleased to see his technology agenda.

Age of the Geek, Baby!

Most of the shows I'm drawn to have a lot of geek technology or show a history of technology with adventure and sci-fi psycho-psychology blended in to them. It is kind of obvious when you look at my top favorites: My Own Worst Enemy, Leverage, Life on Mars and GhostWhisper. The last one might surprise you because it really depends more on the technology behind the special effects that are part of its creative process. Here is a clip by the techno geek of Leverage.

Lee and Sashi LeFever Explain Video Licenses

When I first started exploring the features of Google. I adored the short and simple videos they posted by Lee and Sashi LeFever of commoncraft.com. Lee & Sashi knew just how to explain Google applications and tools in a clear and easily understood video clip. Now they have expanded their video business online and they make how-to videos for other businesses, including Microsoft. You can visit their business at http://www.commoncraft.com/ . What I want to point out is the way Lee and Sashi explain their business practices and show us (and students) how they as a business handle copyright, licensing and fair use. There is a lot to be learned from these two ecommerce entrepreneurs. I hope you'll visit their website to view their video,Video sharing in Plain English. Since this is a blog and I may use one of their free videos here I hope you will enjoy watching this one on blogs...by commoncraft.com : )

Microsoft Trys to Take on Open Source

Microsoft is now seeing the light and promoting collaboration and offering their own web 2.0 tools free of charge. You can go to their microsoft.com/education website and view a webcast on the their new down loadable add-ons and the free online Live@EDU email accounts and Live Office 2007 accounts. The online Office 2007 programs are for Office 2007 licensed users and are being marketed to educators and students. The webcast, Teacher Tech Tuesdays - Free Tools and Resources from Microsoft tells you about these tools and others offered. One can learn more about their new initiative in pursuing the higher education arena by watching the webcast, Live@edu Overview.

I've mention the free down loadable screen recorder, the Community Clips Recorder in a previous post. I've also mentioned the Live Office. I've tried both and think they are impressive. Yet, I hesitate to put full confidence in using them like I do Google tools because they are both still considered Betas and one wonders how long they will last. Of course, one could also wonder if Google can last at the speed that they are offering free web 2.0 services. Will Microsoft stay with their goal of chasing down open source competitors with their own free web 2.0 tools? Can they really adjust to giving away free access to components of their software without charging for it?

I have to admit their webcasts at the Microsoft eduction website are very enticing. I also like the websites student and education product tutorials that is linked the the education web page.

http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorials.mspx

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.