Wanting to keep up-to-date with information about video and what you can do to create, make and share videos online?
Online video is a huge trend – so huge that’s it’s proving hard to keep track. Mashable to the rescue with Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources. From video sharing sites to video mixers, mashups and converters, they’ve brought together more than 150 of their favorite sites in this category.
See? Now you’re cool!
Working with a group of teachers the other day, I was inspired to reflect upon just how much things have changed in just 6 months!
Of course the workshop was about Web 2.0, and we had some attendees who were at the ‘big toe in the water’ stage, as well as Bob, Martin and super enthusiastic Deputy Principal John. What a great school to have such a passion to move on through Web 2.0. Bob at McAuley runs a blog to support their ‘Focus on Learning’ project (which is about Web 2.0) and which will represent money well invested by the State in this school! Bob has joined me on FaceBook, and we had some interesting discussions after the workshop about the value (or otherwise) of Facebook for teachers. The answer? Not much value right now, but we will keep our eye on it 🙂
Bob & Martin, along with some teachers from a number of our other schools, are also involved in a Learnscope project – once again around the use of Web 2.0. My young geek friend Melinda says:
The focus in this project is to acquire sound evidence on which to base future organisational decisions about communication and networking processes.
This will be done through investigating the use of web 2.0 tools:
- to support VET teachers and students as learners
- to facilitate workplace communication about VET teaching and learning issues
- in supporting industry and TAFE networking opportunities.
What’s different then you ask? Well, not just the fact that it has become ‘mainstream’ to undertake specific projects to investigate and integrate the best possible use of Web 2.0, but that through Web 2.0 we can reclaima teachers prime role of mentoring, nurturing, modelling or even teaching! students with technology that is online, intuitive, and embedded into the framework of learning and teaching.
The difference now is the existence of Web 2.0 as a framework for social networking and social communication; and Web 2.0 as a state-of-the art technology that is more and more intuitive rather being an ‘add-on’ to the core business of learning.
I’ve hear someone at work say a few weeks ago: “Web 2.0 is out there – we don’t need to do anything special to incorporate it into learning.”
Oh dear! – of course those of us ‘on the road’ and working with teachers know that the story is very different. . and that we are lucky to have so many projects to help people make the transition to Web 2.0 learning and teaching!!!!
So what WAS so different yesterday?
Not the workshop, but what happened afterwards. The staff attending the workshop didn’t all just pack their bags and run. A bunch of us gathered around and watched some videos that Bob has collected in his EventHorizon VodPod!! Were you doing that 6 months ago? A year ago?
We watched the amazing TED talk about Photosynth. We topped it off with some comedy! before driving home on a cold winter’s afternoon.
A very impressive Web 2.0 presence from Seattle Public Schools who have clearly got a great lead on integration of social networking into their learning frameworks!
Know as L3RN – Learning equals creating, learning and broadcasting, A visit to their fantastic portal is a must. School libraries have their own area for News, tips, resources, and help from Seattle Schools’ libraries.
The portal has browse, video, audio, docs and channels in its suite. Fantastic.
Thanks to Awapuni for ‘links for you’ through Del.ici.ous!
[Cross-posted from: iLibrarian because it is too important to only post in one place!]
If your school can’t afford to invest in video-editing software, Jumpcut offers a low-cost alternative to getting students and staff up and running on innovative projects that incorporate digital video.
Students actually make online videos directly in Jumpcut’s browser—editing, mixing, and adding music on-site. They can then post them, YouTube-style, for parents to view.
If you have used this, have you got any feedback?
A quick post, specially for my teaching colleagues, who I know are regularly engaging their students in issues about web media, communications and design.
Here is a good overview, from Infotangle, that looks at current trends in website and application design in the post Information Design for the New Web.
Principles of Information Design for the New WebPeople are changing the way that they consume online information, as well as their expectations about its delivery. The social nature of the Web brings with it an expectation of interaction with information and modern Web design is reflecting that.
New Web Philosophies
Read the full post.
Thanks to Media Cafe Polska for alerting me to a neat New Widget Its My News – that thinking laterally, could be an interesting addition to various school blogs, media studies units, literacy units etc.
You can easily select from among 50,000 media sources – newspapers, magazines, blogs, TV and radio, and more – and build your ItsMyNews page, which updates automatically for you, all day, every day. We’ve collected news from all the popular topics in every format: text, photo, sound, and video.
Krzysztof has a good set from ItsMyNews on display at his post on the topic, and has inserted some in the sidebar of his blog. He was also online in Twitter as I was writing this post – BUT I can’t read polish. What a pity!
You’ll find me as heyjudeonline in Twitter or Judy O’Connell
in Facebook.
Bloglines Image Wall is considered by some to be pretty interesting.
Here’s the deal. Bloglines indexes zillions of pages every hour — and just as many images. The Bloglines Image Wall picks up these images as they come in and places them into a constantly updated grid.
You’ll never see the Wall the same way twice – in fact, it changes right before your eyes. Curious, funny, challenging, good, bad, and ugly – it’s all there. The variety alone is fascinating.
Much has been written about this since the release, and adjustments have been made by Bloglines in response to concerns from educators and librarians. Yes, we can now block the image wall URL.
But here’s the rub – that’s not all there is to worry about!
One of the factors in social networking is being able to share! Somehow this was touted as a fair reason to have an Image Wall. There are some things I never want to share – and the complaints to Bloglines makes it clear that I am not alone in this.
Bloglines, as you know, allows you to have a public profile – others can see what you have in your RSS feeds. As an educator I thought this yet another good example of professional collaboration. In fact, at times I have checked other’s feeds to see what I have missed and what I should subscribe too – a function that Bloglines allows you to do easily.
Here I was happily checking out everything in a subscriber’s folders – his school, his lovel family, concerts, professional readings etc – and then I struck the smut – big time! Should an educator have this stuff in a public place where teachers and students can access it. NEVER. (Fortunately I have been able to block this subscriber from view in my public bloglines account).
What concerned me was that I had a subscriber with that sort of content – porn is considered inappropriate to be housed in the folders of a teacher’s computer – shouldn’t the same guidelines apply online?
So in relation to management strategies in school with Image Wall, Barry Schwartz said is already:
To be fair, you have to agree before entering to “The Image Wall is comprised of dynamically generated images from user feeds and may contain material of an explicit sexual nature or other adult content.” And you must say you are over 18. OK, now what elementary or high school student using bloglines won’t click the agree button?
Like everyone else, I will have to think of moving soon.
In the meantime, please, if you are an educator who’s also into porn, DO NOT make your bloglines subscription public.
Keynote presenters for K12 Online 2007 have been announced. Check out full details here.
This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26 of 2007, and will include a preconference keynote during the week of October 8. This year’s conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries.”
Last year was just fantastic, and many of the presentations have become key resources on Web 2.0 and Learning 2.0!
Join these educators at the conference by sharing your take on “playing with boundaries” in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice! It’s time to submit your proposal. The deadline is June 18, only days away!
For your convenience, you can find the initial call for proposals here and the link to the proposals submission form is here.
We’ve been doing a bit of a ’roundup of possibilities’ in our school libraries, and some of our Teacher Librarians and Technology Co-ordinators have become keen to expand this aspect of their digital services within their schools. For those who are on the same path, I thought I would highlight one of the excellent series of Technology Reports from ALA TechSource.
Author Tom Peters explains that his issue of Library Technology Reports (Jan/Feb 2007), Digital Audio Book Services through Libraries “examines in some depth digital audiobook services that can be purchased or leased. It also looks briefly at a few free online digital audiobook sources.”
I have purchased some of these Library Technology Reports – which for us in Australia are very expensive – and they are absolutely excellent 🙂
However, the good folk at ALA kindly make digital copies available for viewing and download.
View (and then save) your pdf copy here.
After some testing and ‘dialogue’ shared at Twitter, Daniel Kuropatwa says:
The winner is: Sendspace for simplest interface for non-techies to send large files to family and friends.
Sendspace gives you:
judyoconnell.com 