Is Text Only Enough for Today's Students?

An interesting Blog from Techlearning
with some great examples of how images, video, phototagging, and other medium can tell the story better than text alone.

Just in Time for Halloween

How-To Create a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Movie- MacLife: "This Halloween you could throw a boring old party or hand out the same old candy. Or you could gather your friends and family and create a cinematic masterpiece. Follow us as we lead you to the summer camp that is The Mac|Life Guide to Creating a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Film. "

Pre-Production Means Research

In my classroom, video pre-production includes research. Back in the day, this meant hitting the pavement and heading down to the library. Now, students have so much at their fingertips - but I find many of them don't know more than the basics. Here's an article with some tips for taking your google searches to the next level. I pasted the article into Word and made it into a handout that I give to the kids - and keep one at my desk too.

12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert

Side Project # 467

How To Make a Countdown Clock!

I'm always looking for little side projects I can give to students who finish early and say "I have nothing to do..." This is a nice little Techtorial that shows how to use PowerPoint to make a countdown clock. Sounds perfect!

What's a Techtorial, you say?
Education World Techtorials are weekly, step-by-step instructions on using some aspect of technology in the regular classroom. Short, practical, and educationally sound, Techtorials provide classroom teachers with simple, straightforward tips they can use today!

Each week, Education World will post a new Techtorial dealing with topics related to software applications, Internet use, computer maintenance and troubleshooting, special interest technology, and more -- with a strong focus on the beginning or reluctant computer user. The Techtorials will provide help in both classroom management and creating computer-based activities for students and will include tips for both PC and Mac users.

Using Video to Empower Children of Inmates

UgoNet - Children have become the collateral damage of the prison system. But in them is also great potential for collateral benefits. If a child can rise above the psychological and emotional barriers of a parent's incarceration, that child is far less likely to end up confined by physical barriers later in life. If that child can interpret, capture and share their environment and situation through film, they hold the power to change the way our communities understand the intersections of families and captivity.

In summer 2006, Maysles Institute partnered with the Incarcerated Mothers Program to teach six 8-12 year old kids how to create short videos of their lives, to be shared with their parents and community. Our goal was to offer these young people the experiences and tools that will empower them to create influential works of art while envisioning and realizing healthy futures. The program will continue with workshops this fall, and then regularly in spring.

Youth Media Learning Network

EVC - Youth Media Learning Network: " Youth Media Learning Network: EVC IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCHING OF THE YOUTH MEDIA LEARNING NETWORK Based on the model of EVC's study group and teacher institutes, EVC has launched the national Youth Media Learning Network (YMLN) in association with YouthLearn, EDC. With seed funding from the Open Society Institute and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, YMLN will offer professional development institutes and fellowships for youth media practitioners, after school youth program instructors, and K-12 classroom teachers in six regions, beginning with New York City in August 2007. For more information, contact Project Director Tim Dorsey at tdorsey@edc.org or Sebene Selassie at sselasie@evc.org."

See It Map It Learn It

A short but inspiring article about innovative approaches to applying new media in traditional subjects like English and Social Studies. Using Digital Place-Based Storytelling To Teach Geographical Thinking

After reading this article, I had my documentary students open up Google Earth. The characters in their story have a real connection to a specific place, so we used that spot as our starting point. And now their shot list is so much richer!

You Can Take It With You

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Here are instructions for downloading YouTube Videos to your computer (or iPod) so that you can use them with students.

All this time, I've been searching on Google Video. If it wasn't there, I just didn't use it. Thanks Techlearning!

You Can Take It With You

How To Make Student Films Better...the Basics

In his article, Adding Impact to Digitally-Filmed Stories
Jon Orech gives some basic definitions and strategies to make student film & video projects better. For example
"Movement (panning and zooming) can add a dynamic feel to still shots and can aid in developing plot, revealing character, or creating a dramatic effect."
and
"Transitions can be a real trap. Remember those Powerpoints with a different transition for each slide? The truth is, most transitions are distracting. The key is teaching the purpose of the "Big Three" and show students how to choose. I tell students to think of transitions as punctuation marks."
There's some good advice here and the language he uses is helpful for classroom application.

A Site To Get Lost In

Thanks to a visual artist in my family, I recently became aware of Rhizome.org

Here's how they describe themselves:
Rhizome is based in a wide and diverse community of new media artists, curators, critics and enthusiasts. Our commitment to open-access structures, our community's shared interest in new media and their utilization of Rhizome as an on-line forum for exchange, combines to create an environment that naturally encourages the development of connections and understanding between people from a wide range of backgrounds, geographic areas, and disciplines.

Here's how I would describe them: An infinite source of ideas.
Not only have I seen some projects here that I would like my students to put their own spin on, but also some ways to add web 2.0 elements to projects already in process. (I found the Active Terms Word Cloud very helpful in my searching around.)

Yeah, it's a very thinky-thinky site, based on all the rhetoric of the art world. But some of the ways artists are combining old and new medium are just amazing. Example 1, Example 2, Example 3...

DonorsChoose.org: Fred Wilson's Challenge

If you haven't heard of donorschoose.org it's a fascinating project. The idea is that teachers write up a small pitch for whatever they need. Then, potential donors get to read throught the ideas and choose which one(s) to donate to.

People can also make a list of pitches - called a challenge - then send it out to others. Kind of a cool Web 2.0 philanthropy. So here's a cool challenge from a Venture Capitalist in NYC, Fred Wilson. The coolest thing about it is not that people are asking and getting what they need for technology projects in the classroom. The coolest part is what those projects are. It's a neat snapshot of iTeachers at work.

Hands Free Logging and More

This handy tool came up at a conference I attended last week.
DV Log-X FireWire Videologger for Macintosh OSX
is a set of software tools that can come in very handy when working with students. (As we all know, they don't always take the best notes while shooting.)
The most basic version of the software: DV Log detects when your camera starts/stops and uses that information to make a very basic log that you can import (with some difficulty) into Final Cut Pro or many other software titles.
The most advanced version: HD Log Gold lets you save your logs in a Final Cut Pro format (XML) and also adds features like spell check and search functions.
Which version is best for you depends on the complexity of your projects and your budget. But I recommend you download the Demo and give it a try. In my experience, even the most basic version can be a handy tool for quickly scanning tapes and noting which clips are where.