Camtasia v. Jing

Camtasia and Jing had there pro's and con's but as far as use goes I would have to say that Jing is probably the most user friendly for a person who has no video editing skills, such as myself.  I see Jing being used more with educators due to the ease of the program.  The one downfall would be the time limit associated with Jing.  Jing only allows you to create videos 5 minutes in length.  I guess you could ultimately make several 5 minutes videos to cover a lengthier  topics. I look forward to using Jing for videos in my classroom.  Camtasia  on the other hand has a lot more to offer in the realm of editing plus additional features that allow you to add in callouts and transitions but the amount of time put into the video is much greater. I like the fact that there is no time limit. At least I did not run into a time limit.  One negative would be the complexity of the program and the fact that you only get a 30 day free trail.  However the tutorials on Camtasia were extremely useful.  All in all both programs were good to use and I enjoyed playing around with the editing features. 

Below is the video produced using Camtasia. Enjoy!

Jing

I did my Jing project over Prezi. Prior to this assignment I had never utilized the presentation tool that Prezi offers. I found Prezi fun to play around with and even enjoyed watching all the tutorials available. Plus in the explore tab there are several awesome presentations to watch.   I felt that the only negative that Prezi had would be the cost factor even though it's really not to expensive and they do offer a 30 day free trial to make sure you are going to enjoy using the program before purchasing.  However Prezi has a lot to offer a classroom. Powerpoint presentations would never look the same again.  Plus I think students, especially secondary students would have fun creating Prezi presentation.

Although I choose to do my Jing project of Prezi I did enjoy looking at some other Web 2.0 Educational Apps.  HootCourse is an online discussion board that taps into popular social networking sites such as  Facebook, twitter, etc., and allows you to create a "live" discussion through individual updates. It even has the capability to stream "live" through a overhead.  Zoho is similar to Google Docs in that you are able to create, edit and share word documents, power points, projects and create meetings.  Empressr similar to Prezi in that they are both applications to create presentations however Empressr seems similar to PowerPoint with the capable of embedding the presentation. I choose to do Prezi simply for the fact that it was a different way of presenting information.   

Copyright Podcast

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Copyright Terminology

Oh, Smart Phone

Oh, smart phone how you have changed my life! My HTC Evo was a gift from my husband this past Christmas and boy did I have no clue what I was getting myself into. My previous experience with a cell phone was simple. I received phone calls, sent a very limited number of text message and occasionally I would splurge the $.99 for a ring tone. Never could I have imaged all the wonderful things my current phone can do. Send and receive email, check out whats going on around the world, update my face book status. I literally had my a mini computer with me at all times. Not to mention the number of educational applications are endless, which as an educator and a parent I was very excited. Everything from early phonics for preschooler, which my daughter loves, to an AP physics app that will quiz you over common terminology you can even learn a whole new language through the use of an app. Now the question is how do we incorporate the use of these educational apps into our classroom. I think first you must consider the limitations. Not everyone has a smart phone or even access to a smart phone. The cost is a huge factor to consider, the actually phone, data plans and at times the cost of an app. While researching through my marketplace I found educational apps that cost up to $14.99. While for one person that may not seem like much but if you were to ask that of an entire class you are potentially looking at a great deal of money. Another limitations may be the size of most smart phones. Most are no bigger than calculator, which may be difficult if a lot of reading is involved or math equations. Once you are able to look past the limitations that come along I believe you would be able to incorporate a few apps into a classroom. One of the apps I looked at “Mental Maths” works solely on improving students mental calculations. This could easily be downloaded onto a smart phone and if a students finishes up with his or her work they could access this app for practice similar to flashcards. It is not necessary teaching a new skill but simply improving the speed at which students can compute math facts as well as maintaining previously learned material. This app is $.99 to purchase and covers, addition, subtraction, multiplications as well as division. Another great app is “Play + Learn” is great for student 8 years old and younger. This app covers material up to 3^rd grade in math, reading, grammar, spelling, and logic. The great thing about this app is that it is designed more like a game. The students in my classroom would love something like this. I could see using this app as a reward for good behavior, because the students feel like they are playing a game but its educational and would reinforce skills. “Bee Audiobooks Reader” would be a great app to have for some of my students with lower reading abilities. This app has the capable to turn text into audio. Those students that are below reading level but are able to comprehend when the text is read to them would be able to do it on their on. By simply selecting the text and having the app decipher and read back what it says. Although smart phones are not currently the “it” thing to use in education with the advancements of applications and the availability of phones and plans changing and growing I believe it wont be long before we begin to see them used more frequently in the educational world.

Photo Story 3 vs. Animoto

This was my first experience with both Photo Story 3 and Animoto video makers and I enjoyed working with Photo Story 3 better because I can see the benefits it would have in my classroom. Being able to add any type of audio or sound allows for more possibilities within a classroom setting.    I liked the functions because it gives your more creative options for videos as opposed to Animoto. Animoto, at least the version I was able to experience,  is extremely cookie cutter and limits the amount of creativity you may add.  One positive of Animoto was the layout of the slides. I liked begin able to see the slides as larger thumbnails as opposed to the small film strip you see while using Photo Story 3.  I feel as if Animoto would be easy for any person to use if the end goal is to put pictures to music an example of this would be a wedding video.  However Photo Story 3 would be useful in my classroom but will require extra effort. Overall I would say my experience with both Photo Story 3 and Animoto was positive. I found myself troubleshooting several issues that arouse and that helped make the experience better.

Objectives

Photo story Objective- I can see my self using this particular video with a student that has a mild visual impairment. I could either upload the video to his hand held device and he could listen with his headphones and have a clearer, larger picture to look at or I could play the video on the screen for the entire class. The story was take from the PCI program level 1. I use the program in my Communication Arts class and each student is required to master a level before moving on to the next. Mastering the level consist of having the story read aloud to you, answering comprehension questions as well as reading the story to another person. However in the case of the student with the visual impairment a modification would be made therefore only requiring the student to listen to the story and recall information.

Animoto Objective- This could be used as a review tool once the students have mastered the level (book) they could watch the Animoto video and help prepare themselves for the comprehension questions that follow. However I would not be able to add voice over to the video therefore may not be as beneficial for my student with a visual impairment. We could still upload the video to his personal hand held device to allow him a better picture and large text.

References

Book:

(2007). Time To Go. San Antonio, Texas: PCI Educational Publishing.

What I'm following

The past two weeks I have enjoyed the convenience of my google reader. I have never utilized an RSS feed prior to this class so finding sits to add to my google reader was exciting! Although a majority of the sites I checked on a monthly basis it sure was nice to have them all in one place. Plus it is always fun to find new interesting things online.

My husband and I are avid Dave Ramsey fans. We have both completed the Financial Peace University as well as seen him live. Once I found his blog Dave Says I became a follower. This column focus on questions from listeners and I am amazed at how often they pertain to us. 

I am always looking for a great deal and Frugal Living has been a great help in locating new "deals" that have surfaced.  Covering everything from groceries to retail deals plus printable coupons. A must have for a mom on the budget.

Being a mom is a very important part of my life and I have referred to Rookie Moms during several moments of desperation.  The site has fun crafts, great snacks as well as great outing ideas. A must have for all mom with kids under school aged.

Copyright, Fair Use and Creative Commons licenses...what are they?

Copyright 

 To this day I believe copyright is one of the hardest things to be taught to students and even adults.  The concept seems simple, if you are the original creator, speaker, or artist of a piece of work, writing, speech, etc, then ultimately you have the rights to the work. Rights to make a financial gain, rights to redistribute the work, rights to share with others, etc.  However copyright laws differ from one piece of work to the next, and that is where it gets sticky and may even lead to criminal charges.  During my research I ran across this article that provides 10 steps that are extremely beneficial for us as educators to be aware of. To be honest the copyright law in its entirety is wordy and filled with legalities that I am not sure I will ever understand. This article on the other hand put out 10 steps we can all follow to guarantee we are protecting ourselves as well as our students.

http://www.techlearning.com/article/34092
"Top 10 Ways 21st-Century Schools Can Protect Themselves from Copyright Violation" 

Fair Use

The owner of the copyrighted material has the right to allow others to use their work for educational purposes according to restrictions, this falls under the fair use doctrine.  Copyright laws give four standards to determine if material is being used under fair use. First being the purpose of the use- is the material used for teaching, reporting, scholarships or to enhance the learning opportunities.  Second being the  nature of the work- essentially the amount of the material. A paragraph of work would be fair use as opposed to a chapter from an original work.  Third being the extent of the material used such as duplicating a short piece in relation to the original work would be considered fair use. The fourth standard is the effect on marketability- what effect will the use of the material have on the potential value of the copyrighted work.  For more detailed information on fair use please explore the link below.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html



 Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons Licenses is essentially an extension of the copyright. The creative commons licenses gives power to the original owner to dictate how others make use of the copyright.  During my research I was able to find the six different types of creative commons licenses. They are Attribution, Attribution Share Alike, Attribution Non-Commercial, Attribution No Derivatives, Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike and  Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives.  With Attribution being the lease restrictive licenses and Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives being the most restrictive.

For an in-depth look at Creative Commons Licenses and the rational behind the six different types of licenses please refer to the link below. 


http://creativecommons.org/licenses/


At this point I would not consider myself an expect in copyright, fair use or creative commons licenses but I hope I have provided you with enough information to help you gain a better understanding.