Inanimate Alice: Your Episode

Image: 'Animoto on the iPhone - start'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22019171@N00/3130831626

Using Animoto create your own original Episode #5

Teacher demonstration of features of Animoto video creation tool.

Episode 5: ?  YOU are the author!
1. Select one of the countries Alice's classmates came from.Pakistan
Taiwan
Brazil
California
Egypt

Review features of story included in Inanimate Alice Episodes.

2. Create your digital narrative using a video editing tool.
Write a story to continue Alice's adventures in her new home.  Include the following:
How old is Alice now?
A map to locate the country
A plan or picture of her home
Pictures to let us know what the setting is like
Make sure you have a problem and solution
Something about her friends (home schooling or in a "regular" school.)
What about Brad?
Optional: You might try to include a game.

Create a storyboard to help organize your video. Find a downloadable Storyboard on the internet. Here is one you might try. Xinsight

3. You must use photos, effects, sound, music, and words to tell the story.Select photos from flickrcc or Google Advanced Image Search labeled for reuse and modification.

Use the edit feature on flickrcc or another photo editing tool to change the look of the photos.

Add sound effects and music  using links found on the Lougheed sqworl pathfinder. These MUST be public domain.

Blogging/Blogger: Pros and Cons

Pros:
-free and unlimited blogs
-professional, personal, instructional uses
-unlimited content possible
-opportunity to share beyond the classroom
-opportunity for participation by all students in curriculum conversations
-personalizing with selection of themes, layout, images
-addition of video, audio, digital images, screen capture
-links to web sites, blogs, YouTube, web pages
-embed hyperlinks, video, avatars, widgets
-RSS feeds allow following of favourites
-capture favourite blogs in Google Reader or another aggregator
-tagging or labeling to ease searches
-allows collaboration
-socializes information with comments
-part of your digital footprint
-opportunity to write for a larger audience
-helps develop Professional Learning Community
-encourages critical thinking
-statistics are available

Steps to Web 2.0 audience November 20

Cons:
-institutional internet filter blocking of blogs
-Google accounts inability to "talk" to other accounts
-moderating of comment content may be necessary
-possible miscommunication or misunderstanding of posts

From here to there and back again: Qwiki

Here:
I was introducing Mashpedia to a class this week and realized that I hadn't had time to get a handle on all of the sources. I had missed one - Qwiki.

Luckily, the other resources on the site provided plenty of material.

There:
Earlier I had come across a truly amazing mind map  E-learning tools and resources for schools and education created by Jesper Isaksson with Mindomo and was trying to learn more about the tools on the page in order to introduce the link to my colleagues as my current event submission this week. 
Qwiki was listed as a featured tool.

 

Back Again:

Qwiki is a multimedia search tool which provides a slide show using a computerized voice to read the information from a Wikipedia article and includes links to multiple images. It includes options to share on Twitter, Facebook, by email and by embedding. 

I can imagine how useful our Special Education teachers will find Qwiki. We have a student who is visually impaired who craves information and I am going to search her out on Monday and introduce her to this tool. It will be especially engaging because of the popular culture content wikipedia offers.

I experimented searching for Free Trade, Inuit, New France, Samuel de Champlain, oil spill, and Canadian confederation and was not disappointed by the results. A drop down menu allows you to select the most appropriate result for your search terms. THIS IS EXCITING!

The following is a Qwiki about Qwiki.

View Qwiki and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.

Blogging A-Z: Step Three

Always be aware of your digital footprint. "In the 21st century our digital footprint conveys an important image and people should know what that is." (Nielsen, 2011,para.1)

Break down the walls of your classroom - "connect with people across the world, including experts"(Kist, 2010, p.81)

Collaborate with others. Create opportunities to engage other voices.

Draw readers by using widgets: RSS, Twitter, and Diigo feeds.

Enhance with video, digital images, and embedded graphics.

Find your voice."I'm still looking!"

Grow as a writer by learning, reflecting, and sharing.


Help students engage in preparing for  "an ever expanding information society." (Richardson, 2009, p. 28)


Interact with those who follow your blog. Communicate using comments on posts and expect comments on your posts.

Journal-blogs can be used to record, review, evaluate, and reflect on learning "and plan for additional research, as well as help when they begin to write."(Duncan, 2012, p.68)


Keep on blogging. Don't disappoint followers.


Link to other sites and interesting web pages.


Make use of email or external blog links (Diigo) to post to your blog.


"New technologies... and new possibilities...suggest that education itself is part of the revolution."(OSLA, 2010, p.38)


"Organize, manage and evaluate the information"(Trexler, 2011, p.95) used in your blog.


Post, post, post!


Question yourself and your readers in order to engage and create followers.


Read blogs by teachers, teacher-librarians, and technology educators.


Subscribe to other bloggers using Google Reader or another aggregator.


Tag (label) your posts to allow searching and finding.


Use blogs to "share successes and challenges with other professionals through Professional Learning Communities and Professional Learning Networks." (OSLA, 2010, p.12)


Voices need to be real, authentic and I am beginning to think-not too academic.


Write for your readers. "The Web is evolving to become more of an area for social and idea networking." (Crane, 2009, p15)


Your posts need to always be professional.


Zuckerberg introduced Facebook which can be considered a social blogging platform.

Five Blogging Fundamentals: Step Two

What have I learned about blogging?

My experience creating and posting to Steps to Web 2.0 has given me some insight into blogs and blogging.

1. Create a site with an interesting design:

    -preview as you play with the layout to see how things look

    -don't hesitate to change the design if it isn't working (most recently-November 13, 2011)

Blogger Design Page

2. Use interesting titles and tags:

    -play with words but be clear about the content of your blog and posts
    -tag each post to clarify content
    -be flexible and creative

3. Add images, screencasts or videos to create interest:

     -enhance using public domain, creative commons or original digital images

4. Include hyperlinks to internet sources:

     -include links to items you talk about and sources of further information. Reading on the Web includes hyperlinks which make your blog interactive and enhance content 

5. Share your passion

    -create a blog for your personal digital videos, photos, your interests, travels, or personal news or opinions

    -read, follow and comment on other blogs that interest you

   -if you want to introduce blogs to your students you need to blog yourself. Richardson (2009) states,"if we want our students to learn from blogs, we have to experience that learning first hand."(p.43)

Preparing to Mash: Step Two

Camera in position

 Ready

Action!

Over a few days I was able to capture digital images of some activities in the school library in preparation for creating my video.
Note: In September our school requests a standard student permission form be signed by parents. This year the form included a statement that photographs could be taken and used by teachers in the classroom, on school websites, school blogs and in professional publications. I asked all student subjects if their parents had agreed to allow photos to be taken and used. 

I have decided to create Lougheed Library: the movie and publish it to YouTube. "YouTube is where more and more of our students go to publish the artifacts of their lives" (Richardson, 2009) and there is the possibility of engaging students in library use through a video on YouTube. 

I realized when reviewing my video that I would have to edit the content before uploading my video to Masher. I have access to Movie Maker through the Microsoft Windows operating system on my home computer. Movie Maker is downloadable from the internet for those who need to add it to their computer. Student use may be limited without Windows bundles and if school systems are frozen to downloads. I watched the YouTube Masher.com tutorials again and decided to collect still images as well. Masher.com is downloaded and ready for my edited video.
I am ready for step three!

Inanimate Alice - Subscribe!

Inanimate Alice - Subscribe!

From the Inanimate Alice site:

"Inanimate Alice is Transmedia - designed from the outset as a story that unfolds over time and on multiple platforms, the episodes are available on all devices capable of running Adobe’s Flash Player. ‘Alice’ connects technologies, languages, cultures, generations and curricula within a sweeping narrative accessible by all. As Alice’s journey progresses, new storylines appear elsewhere providing more details and insights, enriching the tale through surprising developments. Students are encouraged to co-create developing episodes of their own, either filling in the gaps or developing new strands."

Podcasting Possibilities: Step One

Wikipedia defines podcasting as “a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication.” I was mistaken in thinking podcasts were audio only and have found after searching Twitter, Diigo groups and Google Reader that video is also a part of podcasting. Casel (2011) writes in 7 Tips for Launching a Successful Podcast ,

          Podcasts are among the oldest types of syndicated content on the web.
          Yet the format remains a popular choice among content producers looking
          to connect with a wide audience. Audio podcasts were the norm for many
          years, but video has taken the podcasting world to new heights. (para 2)

Richardson (2009), Berger and Trexler (2010) explain that podcasting includes audio, screencasting and video. I feel it is important to my inquiry into podcasting to include the creation of screen, video and audio podcasts.

Possibilities:
1. Recording of readings of books in the school library for our English Language Learners (ELL).

2. Storytelling of some of my favourite folktales using both audio and video podcasts to evaluate the impact of each media

3. Screencast showing how to use PodOmatic hosting site to create a podcast.

4."Since many of the most prolific podcasters are educators,"(Williams, 2007) it makes sense to access a variety of audio and video podcasts for professional development as well as entertainment.

5.Why not get the students to create podcasts.."Podcasting provides students with new ways of knowing and problem solving and enables them to demonstrate their newfound understanding in compelling and significant ways." (Ishizuka, 2005, p.57)

Thinglink in your Future: Step Four

This new tool, Thinglink has created interest in education and technology blogs alike. We read about Valenza's experience "...annotating and enriching (a poster) with presentations, documents, and media from school library programs all over the country."  
Van Grove (2011) presents Thinglink on the Mashable site. "Thinglink changes how people interact with photos by transforming them into a navigational surface for search, commerce, and social connection."  It's tagging allows users to create new experiences for viewers of their image by simple addition of links to a variety of media.

Thinglink is easily added to blogs and web pages. It links sound, video, social networks, and web pages to digital images. The possibilities for professional use and for uses in the classroom are limitless. Baumbach lists 21 + Interesting uses for Thinglink in a Google doc presentation and illustrates some uses on auntytechideas . |I can't wait to introduce Thinglink to my colleagues and my students. 

The only concern I can see is the use of Thinglink in school boards where internet filters block personal websites and blog hosting sites as the tool must be embedded on a web page or blog.

Thinking about Thinglink: Step One

Interactivity in a "digital medium create a set of possibilities that did not exist before, facilitating a type of active student learning with public, visual, and kinesthetic properties that cross the boundaries of multiple intelligences. " (Schrand, 2008, p.83)  

I was interested to explore an alternate to flickr image notes and read in Free Technology for Teachers,   "Thinglink is a neat service that allows you to make any image on your blog an interactive image." Including interactivity in images will engage learners and encourage creativity in demonstration of their learning.
 

For my visually oriented self, Thinglink offers "to embed not just text links to pictures but also audio, video, images and other material brought in directly from other sites.” (Johnson, 2011, para.3) When a reader hovers over a tag they will have access to a link to much more than text. The reader can link to text, to Wikipedia, sound recordings, websites, Facebook, and to iTunes, YouTube or Twitter.

The Innovative Educator wrote about Thinglink,  "Well this is pretty cool." and I agree!

Thinglink: Second of 6 Web 2.0 tools

To enhance my use of digital images I will investigate the use of an image interaction tool. Thinglink is a tagging tool that adds links to photos on blogs and websites. Reading that flickr permits users to annotate photos by adding text I was interested to come across a new web tool that allows the creator to embed not just text but video, audio files, and images in tags placed in images on websites and blogs. This tool would allow students to create a variety of interactive products and would allow teachers to design creative assignments. Baumbach (2011) lists more than twenty-one interesting ideas for using Thinglink in classrooms. The tool appears to be uncomplicated and intuitive and I am encouraged even as a novice to attempt its use possibly to add tags to a painting, a photo of my “studio” or the library at school.
Below is a sample image from Thinglink.com

My 3 digital image sharing hats (with respect to Joanne deGroot's 500 hats)

Personal:

-share family event photos

-share personal event photos with absent family

-share photos of paintings with the world

-join Flickr watercolour artist groups 
-reference photos for paintings

Learning:

-building (PLN) learning networks with T-L Flickr groups

-studying the work of watercolour artists

-share comments with artists in my groups

Teaching:

-use to develop background knowledge with flickr visuals

-virtual shared experiences

-introduction to biomes, aboriginal peoples environment, country studies

-sharing school events

-virtual yearbook photo collection

-reference photos for electives watercolour students 

Note: I offer a watercolour painting course to grade 8 students in the library. As a result of my exploration of Flickr I created a gallery of pictures including a colour wheel, a palette of colours with paint tubes, and examples of watercolour paintings I found in the Flickr groups I follow. I was able to show slides of my own paintings and suggested we might create a gallery of student work. A collection of Flickr images of iris' and poppies helped students visualize the flowers for their floral paintings.

Grade 8 Watercolour Elective Flickr slide show

Foray further into flickr: Step Two

I have saved digital images of my paintings to Flickr, edited and saved my changes, created sets and made a gallery into a slide show. By making my photos public I can post a single photo, my gallery or a slide show from Flickr to my blog. Depending on the “look” you desire any of these easy to use Flickr tools work well.


My photostream includes a variety of my watercolour paintings as well as a photo of my studio.  I thought to add some Creative Commons watercolours to my photostream but they were mainly from State Libraries, the Smithsonian or the National Archives and were ancient and not in the style I am interested. I organized my paintings in three sets which allowed me to select specific photos to be added to my blog as a slide show.

I joined and requested to join Flickr watercolour groups where I have found many examples of landscapes, impressionism and other watercolour styles.

 I considered subscribing to one of the group feeds but the discussions I read were incomplete and irregularly used. I am able to upload three paintings (photos) each day to the group pool. The quality is something I will need to investigate because beside some of the other paintings mine look weak.  I read one discussion suggesting scanning rather than photographing your paintings.  I have added a small gallery of favourites from my flickr groups and upon closer inspection notice how some group members comment about the paintings by adding notes on the painting itself.


I explored a number of links to tools using Flickr images with some made available through Flickr. “The wealth of Flickr "toys" being developed is staggering. Many of these tools allow uploading of images or connection with a Flickr account.” (Troutner, 2008)  I played with Picnik editing and although some of the elements are extremely creative and fun I limited myself to cropping, colour adjustment, and framing my paintings. Flickr allows sharing through Voicethread, Facebook, Blogger, Tumblr, Twitter and email. A link to your photostream is available by grabbing, copying and pasting. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68282437@N04/


I especially enjoyed the Pop Art Poster “Warholizer” tool found on Big Huge Labs although I was unable to save the image through flickr and had to resort to an upload from my computer.

Flickr: First of 6 Web 2.0 Tools

I will explore media sharing in order to create, publish, store, and share media using flickr.
 
In a post about Banned Website Awareness Day Neilsen (2011)  writes that one of the things we

need to do to prepare our students for the future is move from standardized textbook learning to

personal network learning using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Blogs. Past

experience with student requests for images indicate an ongoing interest in digital media.

Student access to digital photographs through the use of personal devices and online searches

would be more effective using online storage which allows access at a variety of locations with

an internet connection. Maintaining an online digital photo album for professional and personal

digital photos, and video permits me to organize and store photos easily and safely. Albums for

professional and personal use could be shared with my global community. In his blog,

Jakes (2006) lists classroom uses of flickr including “presentations, slide shows, virtual field

trips, documentation of events, and writing prompts”. My experience with flickr has been

frustrating.

I felt frustration at the time it took to prepare and upload photos and my lack of experience lead

me to create a Voicethread instead of a flickr slide show.  Successful creation of an online

album and an embedded flickr slideshow of my paintings will demonstrate my learning.