Windows Movie Maker

This assignment was not too bad to complete since we had already had experience with Movie Maker. The biggest obstacle I faced was getting my video saved on the Internet. I tried teacher tube multiple times. It claimed to have worked but I could not get ti to play. Every time I tried nothing would come up. I have tried the FTP, which is the easiest to save to, but my browser keeps telling me page cannot be displayed. I finally used Google video and so far, cross your fingers, it has worked.

Here is my "embedded version" of my power point. It took me forever to finally get google docs to upload it. I eventually ended up sending it via e-mail and having the link made that way.

Jeopardy Power Point

I had no idea that power point was capable of doing this. It makes perfect sense on how it works, I had just never thought of it. I use jeopardy as a review in my class already. In the past I have wrote it on an over head sheet and covered the questions up with post it notes. This is way cooler! I chose to do the jeopardy assignment on the power point I previously made for this class. This way we can review before testing on the material from that section. Thanks Dr. Pierce for another free and useful technology!

Power Point

I decided to create my power point on the history of the Earth. This is a topic that will be covered in my science nine class later in the year. This is a great tool for presenting information. I was able to take the textbook information and incorporate graphics into it that my students will find more interesting than actually reading the text. With more time and practice I feel a teacher could make interactive power points that each student could view on their own and take part in online activities that could be hyperlinked to the power point. Very useful tool!

Podcasting

What an absolute hair pulling nightmare!!!! I had no problem creating the podcast whatsoever. I found the Audicity software to be very user friendly and exciting to work with. I made the script and recorded. No problem! The nightmare began when I had to convert to an mp3 file. I don't know what the problem was but I could not figure it out. I followed Debbie's directions and resorted to my podcasting info from a summer workshop. After an hour of frustration I finally downloaded a free mp3 converter. Just when I think all is going smoothly I hit another wall! From podbean, which I have used before, I was unable to upload my podcast. It goes as far as 1% then sits there, forever. I have been waiting over an hour with no success. I tried other computers with older versions of Windows to no avail. I have had enough. Finally I was able to save it as an ftp and provide a link for this assignment. I don't know if this is correct but I have had enough and am ready to go home! I had high hopes of developing podcasts with my students. There are so many uses for this resource in 21st century learning. I feel now that it is not worth the hassle and headache! If you would like to view my podcast and script please click on the links below.
Podcast
Script

Web Album

My web album consists of pictures used in my photo story. I wish I would have remembered to upload others before this project. I hope everyone is not tired of seeing my same photos over and over! I used Picasa 3 to make this album. I feel that it is easier and quicker to use than Photoshop. I will have a couple of uses here at school for this technology. First our school has a web site that is in serious need of reconstruction. I am going to offer to show the team how to use this service for all of our pictures. It will be nice to have a universal login for everyone to use so that they can upload different images from school events in one central location. This way everyone has access to them when working on their part of the website. The second option I will be using this for is research. When students are developing power points and such they need somewhere to store their web base photos due to our school having a download blocker. This way they can get past this obstacle.

Photoshop Express

This was a fun little tool to play around with. Several years back my wife purchased some editing software. It was hard to use and didn't have all of the capabilities that Photoshop has. Best of all this is free! A nice feature when using it in a public school setting when buying new technology isn't always possible. I can use this in my classroom when it comes to projects. I take my students out on our on site nature trail from time to time. I have them collect samples for what ever project we may be doing at the time. Sometimes they are unable to physically bring the sample back to school so they take digital photos and incorporate them into their projects. Photoshop will be great for editing these photos. Another handy option to having my album online is processing options. Sometimes I upload photos to various websites, have them printed and I pick them up later. Already having my photos online helps a bunch.