PressPausePlay Trailer 4 (OFFICIAL)
Examines the implications of today's world of versitale & amazing producations tools for artists & muscians in the social media culture of 'cut & paste' sharing.
(Also available for rent on iTunes store.) From: Buy This Movie Or Legally Download It For Free: Your Call | TechCrunch
...and in literature
Goldsmith, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, takes a critical eye to our traditional standards for what qualifies as 'creative' and 'original'. His "Uncreative Writing" course requires the free-wheeling cutting and pasting from others, the 'original authors'. The outcomes are interestingly creative.
"On Tuesday, Siri will be reborn as Assistant. And while we have not had a chance to play with Assistant ourselves, we’ve heard amazing things from the people who have used it...
The key though is that Assistant will learn. It will figure out what results you don’t like, what restaurants you frequent, and what people you want to talk to the most. It will adapt to your needs and become more than just a module for voice commands"
from Mashable OP-ED
When the excitement subsides, I wonder: What if I don't want Assistant to be a 'yes PAL' but need it respond outside 'the box'? Do I have to buy a new one everytime I need a new set of responses? . . . what if I lose my taste for Chinese food?! It looks like I'll need to practice fibbing to my personal devices.
I began a very ambitious day to use Camtasia screencasting, with an iMovie presentation as the final product.
It's been eight hours and I've just realized that a clip I created still needed permissions! I cut that segment out and just uploaded the chopped movie to have something to show for the hours, if nothing else
Please excuse the choppy elements: I need much more practice with audio, voice editing, adding the fading in /fading out and overall editing skills. Creating multimedia pieces for teaching online is a great option, if you have a lot of prep. time or focus to hone skills.
Regardless, here is a short intro. to view before Sunday, if you like.
ADDED: Link to the documentary trailer -- to start at :13. (I didn't link it because it starts at the begining and not at :13.)
Login 2 Life: Segment with Alice K. /Gentle Heron
NOTES:
Having much more frustrating times:
I can't tell how to view edits before publishing on this blog,
I realized that I chopped an important part of my narrative from my presentation and
I've just tried 3 times to cut out a terrible intro to this short promo. for the documentary: It doesn't represent the warm, charming part of the movie we were shown.
I tried 'sharing' at the starting point in options but it continually starts at the begining of the video.
I had meant to spend a few minutes to add the trailer link and have now just spent :45 minutes trying to figure out the html of embedding the clip, removing it and then trying to make it start at the :13!
Complaint is over:)
Oh well - I either have to persist until I get more adept at this or just avoid it. The tools offer so many more options but take an enormous amout of prep. time.
I was surprised one day to notice that Vance's adVancEducation had the text-to-speech icon. I didn't realize these services were offered so freely.
Thus, I followed the button to find the free service, Odiogo
However, my tech. problem is that it doesn't appear to me that this particular blog service is supported by odiogo. I'll go without the button option for now.
It did offer the posts in mp3 format, which could be either download individually, reached via RSS feeds or by accessing a page dedicated to my blog site.
How fabulous to see this technology offering so widely availabe: Yeah to expanding Internet accessibilty 'and beyond'!
---from, "To Infinity and Beyond!" That great futurist, Buzz Lightyear
Click 'read' (right of the title) then open the window large enough to
see "coach" icons on bottom left of the reader.
Background:
I first learned of this CAST Book Builder platform in my recent, "Teaching Reading & Writing Online" course (via the TESOL "Principles & Practices of Online Teaching" certificate program) but hadn't had the opportunity to give it a try.
Content:
Dowling's article, "Web-based learning: Moving from learning islands to learning environments" was suggested reading for our course but it isn't directly related to my eportfolio focus--and, I ran out of time to comment on it earlier! However, by cutting the content into 'chunks' (Dowling's suggestion for introducing new tech. & content) I was able to pull the salient points I liked into my very brief book demo.
Cast book builder:
This ebook builder was is terrific because it applies Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts for reaching people with special needs. The scaffolding and support with multiple avenues for learning are something innate in TESOL, I know. It is interesting to see how literacy support applies the principles applied for language teaching but it often isn't apparent to many people to offer mulitple channels.
For more about CAST (an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning).
Posterous Notes:
Once again, I thought I was going to have the link appear on this blog page by 'sharing' via e-mail from the book builder site. It may just be slow to appear. I noted the other day that I had multiple of postings that I didn't think happened.
Please let me know if you aren't able to open the book - I didn't publish to their library.
Wednesday seems to be the day for webnars. I've got three booked: CoolCast, Change11 and a free one offered by eWeek.
I decided to use the screen capture Jing to announce my attending the webnar. It allows the user to either voice record or mark it up, so I've marked it up to explain the 'how' I was hooked into registering.
As MOOCs suggest, once your communities of learning (personal learning networks) know your interest, your inbox will quickly fill with links of possible interests. My husband and business partner e-mailed this to me as he gets to listen about my research regarding assistive technology for teaching online to special needs learners.
I'll keep you informed about anything new that I learn: watching a webnar is always a learning experience for online teachers, regardless.
(Special note about the tool practice: It was only after I posted that I realized that my personal toolbar was shown. I will need to remember to crop such things. I had to use Photoshop to crop.)
My eportfolio goal is to practice mixing various medias to demonstrate my focus on assistive devices and/designing for universal accessibility when teaching online. (Note: "People with special needs" typically includes ELLs when the term is used within the US school system. However, I prefer the terms universal design and universal accessibility.)
As I was preparing with this new tool that I'm just learning, Camtasia,
I discovered the option to add captions to my screencast videos.
Then, when I uploaded to YouTube, I noted the option to show the video transcripts.
Both handy options not just for special learners but those who are more text-based over auditory learners.
Special note about this practice session: The screen that I thought was being filmed presented smaller than expected. Also, I had altered the caption text and background colors and changed the placement; yet, the default black & white below the screen is what appears.
I hope you'll bear with me for these 'raw' cuts. These are awkward mediums for me to use but my objective is to be nimble enough to be able to create lesson supports in a variety of medias, on the fly. . . That's quite ambitious at this stage!
Web 1 was "No one knows you're a dog."
Web 2 is "They know your breed & favorite treats."
Web 3 will be "They'll know you via your avatar's travels."
In light of the TESOL "Principles & Practices of Online Learning" course and the Multiliteracies course's focus on MOOCs, this webcast offers some especially important considerations about choosing the technology for online learning and/or MOOCs by seasoned teachers/facilitators.
(Jeff Lebow is Vance's partner in the Wednesday's COOLcast (http://learning2gether.pbworks.com/w/page/32206114/volunteersneeded)
It begins with the host (Jeff Lebow) throwing out the discussion about the new Google+ for education but then progresses into evaluating it and other networking applications for compiling threads and/or recording a new MOOC. Many structural issues that an online teacher needs to consider--from engaging particpants who begin as strangers, to school security questions to issues about ways to compile post MOOC artifacts and/or archives, particularly when there is no lms, is very helpful for novice online teachers, like myself.
This group of seasoned online teachers cover many well-known applications with the insights of experienced, early adapters. It concludes with some interesting analogies about the experience of a MOOC: what it's like to begin randomly and evovles into interesting conversations.
As far as the MOOC that's discussed in this EdTech webcast, it's an ambitious 36-week MOOC that begins next week. I first learned about it (and ambitiously registered) via twitter; recruitment is taking place randomly via the Internet.
These photos were posted and tagged on my flickr page as well.
Second Life® World (SL™) Tools for education and training
Taking photos is a great tool for students to document SL™ activities for their epotfolios or to simply share information. For a low level ELL, they can use these visuals to communicate, of course.
I've always liked using SL™ for learning, for no less reason than it naturally introduces many new tech. tools. Students can either learn the basics of these tools out of necessity or in media courses that focus on the tools. The application is so rich of choices and tools, people often find new interests in the various media offerings. (SL™ also offers filming (machinima) and live streaming--often launching new film/edit/radio/dj careers!)
Second Life and it's heavy use by people with special needs began my interest in assistive technologies. Here, the multimedia oppportunities are assistive for ELLs as I explained above.
I'm an education professional with an e-publishing & design studio. I specialize in instructional design for elearning experiences; particularly in the field of adult Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
