My previous post invited you to view a very creative project intro developed by a couple of Grand Forks teachers. Their mini-movie was created using a new online resource called xtranormal.
xtranormal allows users to script avatar-based movies. The narrative is generated by typing a script. You can select camera angles and the set. The process takes a little time, but it is easy to save a work in progress.
You can embed a movie you generate with xtranormal from Youtube, but that seems overkill for a simple demo. If you are interested, view my demo from the xtranormal site. The movie demonstrates a few of the basic techniques you can apply after only a few minutes of exploration.
I am a fan of online instructional videos and pay $25 a month for full access to Lynda.com (these are software and programming tutorials). The challenge can be finding good material and sometimes you have to pay to assure material has been carefully created.
HowToVideo is a site dedicated to videos that explain “how to” do something. The site really organizes AND screens resources. There is an education category that teachers may find helpful – many useful demonstrations are explained.
I became familiar with this site via a post on the ReadWriteWeb and you might read this post for a more general description and an explanation of you can add WonderHowTo you your Firefox browser. The explanations offered are intended to match the topics you are viewing. This might be an interesting option in some situations. I wonder how easy it is to turn the feature on and off?
I think I have made the following observation in previous posts. My wife and I are easy targets when we enter a store that sells technology. There is no system of checks and balances in play. There is no voice of reason. If we don’t own it, there is probably some reason one of us can think of that justifies why we need it. “We need to evaluate this to see if it would be good for kids” usually works.
Our most recent purchase is a Flip Video. The Flip is a $140 (street value – we purchased ours at Best Buy) point and shoot video camera. The camera holds 60 minutes of material and operates on two AA batteries. Moving the content to a computer is a simple matter. On a Mac, the camera shows up as an external drive. You just double click the icon, locate the folder with the video files (you can play a file by double clicking if you are looking for a specific segment), and then drag the files to the computer. Files can be imported to iMovie if you want to edit or export in some other format. File format is MPEG4 AVI (640 x 480).
Some sample videos (stored in Flickr) (Note Flickr converts to flash. I guess I am not certain what this does to the quality.) Olive meets Mr. Flower Pan of Lake Coudry
I found the camera very easy to use. For some reason, it surprised me that the image is so steady. Perhaps the position of the hand allows this. You hold the camera out in front of you while watching in the large LCD display. I thought it was awkward to zoom. Pushing the buttons caused an obvious shake. Perhaps for 2X it is not worth the trouble.
This looks like a great camera for students. It also is a nice size for carrying around in a backpack or a jacket pocket.
I would like to think that one factor giving our writing some credibility is that we prepare teachers, but are also directly involved with classroom activities. I have written before about Cindy’s unique employment with both the university and the Grand Forks Schools.
The school in which Cindy does most of her work is located on an air force base. This situation presents some unique challenges. One and sometimes both parents may be deployed and as a consequence miss their son or daughter’s school activities. This reality became part of the school’s interest in streaming today’s end of year band and orchestra concert (actually the full concerts are this evening, but performances during the day allow the students to perform for peers).
The project was accomplished using UStream, a wireless connected laptop, and the type of camcorder you probably own. This is what the video looks like. I selected a frame with the intent of not revealing too much. The content was not recorded (although an option) because of copyright issues. I listened from my office. I have a pretty nice AV setup (Klipsch speakers, large monitors) and the sound quality was great (reminded me of the concerts I used to attend when my kids were the same age). The concert drew 33 online viewers.
There were a few glitches. Cindy had to operate the camcorder in record mode so that a signal could be sent to the computer. At one point, the tape had to be rewound so the camera would continue to function. The camera was plugged in, but the connection was bad so the battery ran down.
Cindy and I are chatting during the concert. I was attempting to let her know the first time I lost the signal. Mysterious things always seem to happen when technology is involved. Cindy seems to find the unexpected problems an interesting challenge. She decided she would go back this evening just in case.
The UStreamTv technology is very easy to implement. My previous experience was in viewing the distribution of conference presentations, but there would seem to be many school applications. The equipment requirements are minimal and getting started requires little preparation or background. Information is available online if you want to explore.
We presented today. We really like poster sessions because of the opportunity to talk with individuals. It is a great opportunity to exchange information and make contacts.
Product evolution – we have now been involved with technology long enough that we find the evolution of projects to be of interest. New products with potential continually surface. Some survive and some do not. I have little insight into the business end of the educational software industry, but gaining and maintaining a group of adopters in the face of great competition and expectations for continual product development must be quite a struggle. Before iMovie, we used MovieWorks in our discussion of how description of how students might incorporate video in content area products. IMovie caught our attention and we shifted our emphasis because of its cost and power. I had an opportunity to become reacquainted with MovieWorks and it is nice to see that it has continued to evolve. Why would one pay for another product, even a product under $100, focused mostly on video? I am not certain that I would, but I am not certain that the company would want MovieWorks to be described as a video editing tool. The “works” part of the name is supposed to suggest something more – more of a suite of tools associated with video. The one feature that interested me was the opportunity to make use of buttons to program interactivity into video. I think this is a great feature. Interactive Solutions is working on a way to make available similar interactivity in on-line products created with MovieWorks. This is a possibility for the next version.
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