Post-Production – “The More I Know” - Week 5 post

The message we wanted to share with our PSA is that technology helps students' futures. In the pre-production phase, we came to a group decision on "The More You Know" by watching several other PSA's that spoke to us. We used GoogleDocs and email to communicate with each other, and we tried using GoogleWave as well. One of us thought that having the students in the PSA would be a good idea, and we built upon that base with ideas about the narration. For the production phase, all of us wanted a genuine message from the students, so we each sought out different students whose dream careers involved some form of technology and who wanted to talk about it on camera. We work in different districts and ended with a group of students from different parts of Texas. Audacity was used to record the opening and closing narration, and it was very easy to export the files into mp3 files. Flip video cameras were used for filming, and it was easy to share the files with our editor. We finally decided on uploading the video to YouTube because of its simplicity. Most blogs and wikis work well with YouTube, and the sharing capabilities met our needs. We could improve our PSA by providing a variety of shots. With a background and better lighting, it could jump up a level in its professional appearance, however, with the available resources, the video clips seems to match well. Copyright was only needed for images taken from Google images, and the rest of the video clips and wording was original material created by us. I think the PSA holds a meaningful message and hope to inspire other teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms. We want their future companies to choose them as the innovators of their staff! 

“If something has never been done before and it’s truly innovative, how do you find the people to do it” (Nelson, 2008).

Resource: 

Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collaborative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video. 

The More I Know - PSA Project

PSA Project

My group has been working on our PSA about using technology in the classroom. We all feel that it is important to incorporate digital skills with our students and want to motivate others to do the same. Our idea is to have a "the more you know" theme through the length of the PSA (60 seconds or less). We are filming students who know that technology will help them in their future career dreams. Watching kids talk about their futures always inspires me to be a better teacher. That is the goal I have in mind for our PSA...to inspire other teachers.

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial Podcast

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial Podcast
ET8012
EDLD 5363

Video Editing Analysis - Week 2 post

After reading several articles during my Multimedia Video Technology Course, I chose three video editing software applications for my analysis. Adobe Premier Elements was recommended to us by our professor, Dr. Kay Abernathy, Windows Movie Maker is already loaded onto the computers on my campus, and Wax is a free, online software that I had never heard of. All three of them were mentioned in some of the articles I read this week. Of the three, I think that Movie Maker is my favorite. 

Windows Movie Maker is a simple-to-use video editing software that teachers and students alike can use for projects. Adobe Premier Elements, while wonderful for more advanced users, may be overwhelming for a beginner or a middle schooler. There are many options and effects that can be used, including Hollywood-style themes, to make a very professional end product. Advanced users will love all of the options available. Wax seems pretty easy to use, however, since it is freeware, sometimes it can be unreliable. I had a trying time with downloading the software, since there were 4 links to places for downloading. Some of the links did not look very professional, and I was hesistant to trust them. I ended up downloading a version that had “debug” in front of it, and while it worked out okay, I will admit that I was nervous for my computer system!

Since I teach sixth grade, I feel that Windows Movie Maker is the software I would use in the classroom. Once you open the software to Movie Maker, the prompts are easy to follow and before you know it, you have created a video file. I imported my video photostory from last week’s assignment and within a few clicks, I had a new file ready to save to my computer, make a CD, share via email or the web, or send to a camera.

The strengths of the Movie Maker software include being able to import many file formats for video, audio, and images. The system is very intuitive, and it breaks it down into 4 main steps: capturing, editing, finishing, and sharing. The options available for transition and effects were enough for a beginner to be happy. It was also easy to adjust audio files so that it fit the mood of the story.

Weaknesses of Movie Maker include not being able to import mp4 files, however, this did not affect my decision to use it. Most mp4 files are not allowed, which is fine, considering copyright law. Movie Maker also does not have any preset images for use. Again, a beginner would appreciate the ease of importing his or her own material.

As a teacher, I would feel very comfortable introducing Movie Maker to my classes. "Media production demands writing and rewriting, research, group effort, and clarity of thought." (Garrison, 1999) Students will find it fun to be creative while showing mastery of content with such an easy-to-use video editing software option. The Help Menu is very user-friendly as well, and teachers and students will find that troubleshooting any issues will be easy by navigating the Help Menu. The only other pieces of equipment needed are a camera or video camera, and a microphone!

Click here for the table of strengths and weaknesses posted on my wiki.

 

Resource:

Garrison, A. (1999, Winter).Video basics and production projects for the classroom. Center for Media Literacy. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article3.html.

Video Editing Podcast

Why Windows Movie Maker is a winner in my book - video editing podcast for EDLD 5363

Script

I definitely had to do the 4x6 index card method for writing a quick script. I often add more information than necessary. Using the index card was a great tip!

Script for Digital PhotoStory

Music is part of who I am

1. Music Notes
2. Childhood memories
3. Classic musicals
4. Piano lessons
5. Learning music theory
6. Playing the Flute
7. High School Band
8. Meeting friends
9. College music club
10. Flute in my adult years
11. Current church choir
12. Hymnal
13. Playing for occasions
14. Our music family

Storyboard

Storyboard for Music in Me

I did my storyboard in Word because I could use the comment feature to insert where I would place my photos, along with notes. I added it to the bottom of my assignment document and submitted it. It was very easy to comment about photos that I had. What was great was the fact that I really didn't need to search for many photos because I owned most of them.

Music in Me - a digital storytelling video - Week 1 post

I really enjoyed this week's assignment, creating a personal digital photostory. I never thought that it would cause me to dive so deep within myself to come up with a part of my life that I felt comfortable sharing with others. At first, I thought I could tell the story of meeting my husband; another idea was to tell the story of my Grandmother's influence on my life. A difficult story would have been one about a loved one who suffers from addiction. 

As you see, the most personal stories are close to my heart, and I ended up choosing the story about music and how it has shaped my life. I recently saw My Fair Lady on stage, and I actually cried while Eliza sang "I Could have Danced All Night," remember my beloved Grandmother singing the song with a huge smile on her face. The thing about music is that it relates to all of the other stories I considered. My husband and my church choir are included, while my loved one is also included, although I may be the only person who knows where in the video that occurs. 

I hope that as a teacher, I can allow the opportunity for my students to learn more about themselves. This is one of those assignments where the real lesson is the one about one's own strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and dreams. “Media production offers a means for students to talk to whomever they think is an important audience. It does all this because students want to say things that have meaning to them - authentic production comes from authentic learning.” (Garrison, 1999)

The technology is just a springboard to a final product that they can share with pride.

Resource:

Garrison, Andres (1999, Winter). Video basics and production projects for the classroom. Center for Media Literacy. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article3.html

Digital Storytelling Web Conference

In my EDLD 5363 course, we are learning about digital storytelling in week one.
I attended a web conference on Saturday morning to learn more about the assignment and collaborate with my peers and professor. We were asked to write a blog reflection about the webinar.

We entered the chat room at 11am, and Dr. Abernathy asked if anyone had a web camera or microphone. My personal computer met its end this summer, so I have been borrowing a school laptop to do my work. I haven't connected a web camera to it because I knew that I would just need to return it soon. But the other responses brought a smile to my face.

"You don't want to see me right now."
"No sleep, no camera!"

We were able to ask Dr. Abernathy questions about the assignment and a few people found group members for weeks 3-5. Overall, it was a helpful experience. I also found out that I should be continually posting to my blog! I have a lot of catching up to do. (which isn't even the purpose of blogging...it should be current information...good thing I saved all of my coursework!)

We also watched one of our peer's finished digital stories, got the link to Dr.A's photostory, and shared the link to our class' wiki to help us find group members for weeks 3-5.

I appreciate that the web conferences are optional and that they are recorded and shared if I cannot make the scheduled time.