Wednesday
Educational Technology Points Us Towards The Study of The Future
We all know that Web 2.0 is the Future. Educational Technology points us towards a great site - Mediatedcultures.net - that's all about the study of how people are using digital teachnologies.
Don't Just Use What's In the iBox...
As tempting as it may be, I would encourage all iTeachers to not stay inside the iBox. In other words, search out and BUY plug ins and other useful tools for iMovie, Final Cut, and all of your digital applications.
Today I stumbled across this gem called Magnet. They've just released a new version and MacInTouch made mention of it.
"eX-cinder's Magnet 1.5 provides advanced motion tracking for video compositing and special effects. With it, you can attach tracking probes to moving elements, create compositions linked to the probes, and then preview and render the result. It includes direct access to iPhoto and iMovie media, iSight support, and other features. This release includes many new compositions, better integration with Quartz Compositions, preview mode, improved mouse tools, faster incremental tracking, and motion smoothing. Magnet is $39.99 for Mac OS X 10.4 and up (Universal Binary)."
Yes, for the price of 10 fancy coffees, you can have some really cool effects. Be sure to check out the demo movie on the Magnet site.
Today I stumbled across this gem called Magnet. They've just released a new version and MacInTouch made mention of it.
"eX-cinder's Magnet 1.5 provides advanced motion tracking for video compositing and special effects. With it, you can attach tracking probes to moving elements, create compositions linked to the probes, and then preview and render the result. It includes direct access to iPhoto and iMovie media, iSight support, and other features. This release includes many new compositions, better integration with Quartz Compositions, preview mode, improved mouse tools, faster incremental tracking, and motion smoothing. Magnet is $39.99 for Mac OS X 10.4 and up (Universal Binary)."
Yes, for the price of 10 fancy coffees, you can have some really cool effects. Be sure to check out the demo movie on the Magnet site.
Saturday
Managing the Classroom When Students Have Computers
Another excellent article from Techlearning about One-to-One Computing and Classroom Management.
Some of the techniques include "MWA" (management by walking around) and "No Secrets" (let students know that you will be checking their hard drives for illegal downloads). I wish they had a few more pictures of sample classroom setups. I've found this is probably the most important factor when running an edit lab as a work site, not a play zone.
Some of the techniques include "MWA" (management by walking around) and "No Secrets" (let students know that you will be checking their hard drives for illegal downloads). I wish they had a few more pictures of sample classroom setups. I've found this is probably the most important factor when running an edit lab as a work site, not a play zone.
Friday
Share web text, video, and more with your phone - Lifehacker
Even with the smallest student project, there is some distribution. Currently we output everything to quicktime and then let the students use iDVD to make their own copies. We also have a youtube site where we post students' videos so that they can share them with their friends. (It also serves as a great publicity tool for our organization.)
But this looks kind of fun. Lifehacker gives a review on Joey, a service that allows you to move video to your cell phone. I know that our students would love to do this.
But this looks kind of fun. Lifehacker gives a review on Joey, a service that allows you to move video to your cell phone. I know that our students would love to do this.
Saturday
What Else Should You Know?
Did You Know 2.0 has been out for only a month, and already it has gotten over 100,000 views.
In my humble opinion, it's unfortunate that this piece hints at so much but actually says so little. And, of course, as a filmmaker/teacher of moviemaking, I'm sad that that there's nothing in here about the democratization of media (especially video).
Price of a video editing system
in 1984 - over $250,000
in 1994 - over $25,000
in 2007 - under $2,500
In my humble opinion, it's unfortunate that this piece hints at so much but actually says so little. And, of course, as a filmmaker/teacher of moviemaking, I'm sad that that there's nothing in here about the democratization of media (especially video).
Price of a video editing system
in 1984 - over $250,000
in 1994 - over $25,000
in 2007 - under $2,500
Sunday
Teaching Girls to Embrace the Geek!
This article from St. Louis Today
talks about a camp aimed at teaching girls science in the 9th and 10th grade. It's been well documented that girls and boys do equally well at math and science until about this age. For some reason, then girls drop significantly.
In video I've seen this phenomenon as well. It still surprises me that I am one of only a handful of female camera operators. After all, composing good shots and pushing buttons is not a uniquely male or female skill. But there's something about filmmaking that seems to make people think it's too technologically challenging (or geeky) for girls.
Funnily enough, when girls meet me and see me with the camera, a lot of this fear seems to melt away.
What about you? Do you see girls shying away from the behind the camera jobs? What about working with computers and post-production? And if you do see this phenomenon when teaching 'the science of moviemaking' what do you do about it?
talks about a camp aimed at teaching girls science in the 9th and 10th grade. It's been well documented that girls and boys do equally well at math and science until about this age. For some reason, then girls drop significantly.
In video I've seen this phenomenon as well. It still surprises me that I am one of only a handful of female camera operators. After all, composing good shots and pushing buttons is not a uniquely male or female skill. But there's something about filmmaking that seems to make people think it's too technologically challenging (or geeky) for girls.
Funnily enough, when girls meet me and see me with the camera, a lot of this fear seems to melt away.
What about you? Do you see girls shying away from the behind the camera jobs? What about working with computers and post-production? And if you do see this phenomenon when teaching 'the science of moviemaking' what do you do about it?
Friday
Where to get Fonts
"Fonts are about the easiest way to add to your creative arsenal, and I’ve compiled a long, but certainly not complete, list of Web sites offering fonts ranging from completely free to uber-expensive." Great article from James Dempsey over at Macworld: Creative Notes
Thursday
Filmmakers That Think Outside the Film
Filmmakers That Think Outside the Film: This article takes you on a tour of some of the ways filmmakers are thinking beyond the film. Examples include how the assets of a film are repurposed, how filmmakers offering components of their film in digital format for anyone to ‘remix’. Courtesy of WorkbookProject.com
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