Laura Blankenship October 16th, 2007
These are my notes for our Video Workshop held on October 17, 2007.
Some questions we need to think about to start off with.
- Why use video or multimedia in your course?
- How do you use it? How do you want to use it?
- What about student-created media?
Answering these questions for each instance can help you decide on such practical issues as file format and size and distribution method.
File formats.
- .avi - uncompressed format; somewhat outdated; larger file size.
- .dv - also an uncompressed format, generally associated with digital video recording and mini-dv tapes
- .mov - Quicktime format, an Apple native format, can be wrapped around several different codecs
- .mp4 - similar to Quicktime format, but is a broad standard
- .mp2- Format for DVDs
- .wmv -Windows Media format, compressed format, created by Microsoft
- .swf, .flv - Flash and Flash video, compressed formats, .flv is used by YouTube
The basic process
- Source video–from DVD, VHS, miniDV, or file is imported into video editing software
- Using iMovie, FinalCut or other video editing software, video can be manipulated–cut, audio added, special effects, etc.
- Completed video is exported into a format for distribution–burned to DVD or exported into one of the above formats
- Video is distributed on hard format such as CD/DVD or posted for download or streaming on the web
Links to documentation for video editing:
Other kinds of video to work with:
- Machinima
- An Explanation and example:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/dPLzKur06Vo" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
- Screen Recording–can be done with Camtasia or other available software
- How to embed YouTube videos
Laura Blankenship October 6th, 2007
bFree is an application that allows you to browse your Blackboard archives offline so you can see what’s in there before you upload it into Bb. I just discovered this app a couple of months ago and now they have a new version out. It’s free and it’s pretty easy to use. Check it out.
Laura Blankenship October 5th, 2007
A couple of people sent this to me and I’ve already printed it out and put it on my door (come see it and more!). It’s also blog worthy.
jkarianjah September 27th, 2007
Lee LeFever on Del.icio.us, which is a social bookmarking website that makes sharing information so much easier.
You can also create similar groups with Searchles. Check out this video on how to create a TV channel with feeds from blip.tv ,MySpace and other social networking websites.
Laura Blankenship September 26th, 2007
Another fun-filled episode. We talk email, lolcats, Google book and infoboards.
Click here to listen.
Relevant links:
I can fix this!
Google books text feature (try using the text select feature on this page)
Infoboard article
Laura Blankenship September 26th, 2007
For those of you unable to attend last week’s presentation on social software, here are a few resources from the talk:
Laura Blankenship September 26th, 2007
Following up on Catherine’s post about Google presentations, here’s a video that explains the basic concept and why using something like Google docs is way better than emailing documents around.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/eRqUE6IHTEA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
aharding September 20th, 2007
The scanning documentation is now up, which means you can read about various scanning techniques to your heart’s content. Topics covered include basics of scanning, how to scan into Adobe Acrobat, and how to scan photographs. To reach this documentation, you can click on “How-To” in the top navigation and then on the various sub-pages about different kinds of scanning.
Catherine Farman September 18th, 2007
I am a devoted evangelist of free office applications that chip away at the hegemony of Microsoft Office. Last week while on duty here in the New Media Lab, a fellow student asked me if I knew where she could get the new Microsoft Office for her Mac- and I encouraged her to instead try a couple of these free, open source office programs. On a college campus, where the faculty and staff use Microsoft Office and the students who interact with them cannot or do not want to pay for such expensive software, free programs such as OpenOffice (for Windows and Mac) and my personal fave, NeoOffice for the Mac, are vital for those sharing projects, papers, and presentations inside and outside of class.
I have used Google Documents for about a year now, and find it has many advantages over desktop applications- I can backup my papers there; create documents quickly for notes on-the-go; convert files quickly online to PDF, Word, and other file types; and I have found it useful for filling out forms or writing reports for projects and professors that I wish to share immediately through email. I’ve even helped friends write resumes and papers through the sharing features; I read and mark up places for change, and the other person sees it immediately as a revision. In short, I love Google Docs- so when I saw today that Google Presentations had just been introduced, I gave it a try to see if it would win me over just as Docs has done. I’ve presented my findings in- what else?- a Google ‘powerpoint’ file that I am now sharing here in this blog. The first few slides are me messing around, seeing what I can do with the app- and the last couple list what I found to be the strengths and weaknesses in the app.
The coolest feature I’ve found is something anyone reading this can use right now: integrated Google Talk, right alongside the presentation. Viewers and the presenter(s) can interact online as the powerpoint unfolds. You can join in just by viewing the presentation- so go there now and let me know your thoughts.
Laura Blankenship September 14th, 2007
I’m very excited to be bringing to campus some wonderfully innovative teachers and researchers to talk about social software, Steven Greenlaw, Jean-Claude Bradley, and Jim Groom. I’ve been reading Steven Greenlaw’s blog, Pedablogy, for a number of years now. He writes about his thoughts on teaching, often right in the midst of a sticky situation (see 9/11’s entry, for example). I also met Jean-Claude Bradley via his blog and he has come to Bryn Mawr before to talk about his use of tablets. He’s been pushing the Web 2.0 envelope for quite a while now, using blogs and wikis to track research and interact with students as well as working with Second Life. Jim Groom also keeps an amazing blog. I first ran into him via a talk he gave on open source software in Academia and found what he had to say fascinating. He will likely be joining us virtually, but I think his energy will come through over the Internet.
If you’re a part of the Bryn Mawr community or going to be in the area, please feel free to come hear these three people discuss their use of Web 2.0 tools. It’s in Dalton Hall, room 20 from 2:30-4:00 on September 19th. There will, of course, be refreshments and probably a reminder or two.
