Trying My Hand at the Looping Video Assignment

Now that I'm almost done with the course, I have time to go back and tackle that assignment that was changed to optional. Melinda Ronat said she found the trick.... so I tried it and it worked.  Very easy!  So easy I wanted to do it twice, so I looped two videos. 

The assignment was to post a video from You Tube and make it "loop" (as in play all day, or until someone screams "Turn that off!")  This will be POPULAR  with the Pre-K set!
Here are 2 video's from "Sounds Like Fun" by Barbara Milne.
Opposites Are Tricky





If you can stand it, this is the Alphabet Song, Pre-K's really enjoy this song, and it's great for early phonemic aweness!




What I Did:  I logged into YouTube, and found these two videos close together.  My children used to listen to these, and I still use them for younger students in my class.  The assignment had proved difficult, and Prof. Pierce said it was optional.  But smart Melinda figured it out, and posted the solution on the discussion board.  Click here to see Melinda's solution.

What I Learned:  The more I do this kind of thing, the more comfortable I am with HTML codes.  It's always looked like gibberish to me.  I saw that I had to replace "embed" with "v".  I think that shows an insertion.  I also had to add "&loop=1" to tell it to keep replaying.  Greater minds than mine understand HTML code, but her solution made sense to me. 
When searching for this video, I also noticed that there are quite a few educational videos for the younger set.  Good for future reference.

NETS-T:  This activity aligns with:
- Standard 3c, which says that teachers are to "communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of diguital-age media and features."  These songs are effective for conveying basic concepts when presented aurally, but are even more effective through the visual media.  Looping frees me from having to keep "hitting to rewind button" (very last century!)
-Standard 2b, which says that teachers "develop technology-enriched learning environments..."  Use of this educational format promotes the technology environment in the classroom.

How It Can Be Used:  I have a music background (BS, Music Ed, University of VT, 1983).  I use music extensively in my classroom.  Sometimes it is background, sometimes to set a mood, sometimes to teach.  I dislike having to come back to the machine to keep replaying, so I know I will use this feature.  My district dislikes YouTube, so I will have to check to see if I can use the educational YouTubes.  (Or maybe TeacherTube.)

Next week at the Beach!

Helen and Alison

Click to Listen to the Beach Boys sing Surfer Girl.  (YouTube)

Photostory: Cyberbullying

My Photostory is about Cyberbullying. Ths information was used in the narration of the video. . It contains my references

Click the arrow to begin viewing my YouTube video: Helen's PSA. 
What I did: This was a heavy project.  I downloaded Microsoft Photostory.  That took a while because I also needed Windows Live Essentials.  I researched cyberbullying, then wrote a 3-page report on the subject of cyberbullying.  This was my narration.  I created a Photostory using Google images.  I added the images to Photostory, then arranged them to fit my document.  I bought a microphone and narrated the story.  After quite a bit of fussing with the thing, I was finally able to save my finished project to Windows Movie Maker.  From there it was quite easy to upload to YouTube.  I embedded the video on this page with a link to the narrative, and documentation of my references.

What I Learned:  I learned that the schools and the police are quite ineffectual in stopping this plague on our young people.  But I didn't add everything I learned into my video. I didn't want to help the bullies feel "safe" in their wrongdoing. In the video, I stressed that it is against the law, not to mention mean and cowardly.  I encouraged open communication between children and parents and the school.  Privately, I am worried...It's never been so easy to be cruel and get away with it.

I also learned how to use the microphone.  There were issues with the sound settings.  It's ok now.  I've never used Windows Window Movie Maker or Photostory.  The next project will be easier.

NETS-T:  This assignment corresponded with:
-Standard 1a, which states that teachers are to "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness."
-Standard 2b, which states that teachers are to "customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources."
-Standard 4c, which states that teachers "promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information."

How it can Be Used:  It don't know if I would use it for class presentations.  It was too time-consuming for something that kids would look at once.  It would use it for presentations to the faculty.  It would make me look very S-M-A-R-T.  Anything I use Photostory for will have to be something that is viewed more than once for more than a few people.
This could be a good project for my LD students, in place of writing a report.  They show and speak better than they express themselves on paper.  It would have to be 4th and 5th graders.
I think my daughter will like to learn how to do this, because she enjoys digital photgraphy and online scrapbooks.

File converter

This is a picture of what Freecorder looks like on the tool bar.

What I did:  Despite misgivings, I downloaded the Freecorder app to my toolbar.  I've played with it a little and it is pretty cool.

What I Learned and How It Can Be Used:  I learned that Freecorder can record anything it "hears" on my PC.  I can record from YouTube, I Tunes, sound clips from the Internet, to mention a few. It saves to a file that can be converted.   According to the site, these are the things I can do:

·         =Download videos from thousands of sites with one click.

·         -Save videos as MP3 or FLV files.

·         -Record audio from ANY site or source.

·         -Convert to WMV, AVI, MPEG, iPod/iPhone/iPad and other popular formats.

·         -Add free gadgets (Radio Player, TV Player and hundreds more).

I'm looking forward to learning more about it and exploring all it's capabilities.  However, I am worried about the space problem on my computer.  Already, it's slower.

NETS-T:  This assignment is aligned with :
-Standard 3d, which states that teachers are to "model and facilitate effective use of current digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning."  This is a good tool to show students so they can use sound more effectively with their presentations.  This would be helpful for use in Techsteps.
-Standard 4d, which says that teachers "develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools."  This tool could be readily used by students of diverse cultures that collaborate and share.

Appropriate a Video that has been Removed

What I did: First thing I did was to go to YouTube, found a video of Frank Sinatra (see the post below) and embedded it to my blog.  Doing that was a simple matter--I right-clicked in the center of the image, copied the embed code, then pasted it to my blog page.  Eddie was pleased with my selection.

Referring to the assignment, I went searching for how to view a video that has been Removed.  I'm not all that likely to do that, but if I do, I have some references.  Click here to find out what I found out about viewing this type of video.

What I Learned:  Some of my classmates mentioned TeacherTube.  I didn't know that this existed, but I checked out this site.  I don't think my school district will have an issue with TeacherTube.
Also, I realized that I don't have to have all the answers myself, it is ok to borrow from others who have "blazed a trail".  There is a wealth of information in the form of text and images online at YouTube to answer any problem that might come up

NETS-T:  .This assignment aligns with:
- Standard 4a,which states that teachers will:  "advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources."  All of the solutions I found were safe, legal and ethical.  I credited sources.  I would teach students about respect for the digital community when seeking information.
-Standard 4b, which states that teachers will "address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-center strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources."  It might be important for a student to gain access to a digital communication that , for some reason, is no longer available.

How it Can be Used:  I can use TeacherTube and YouTube more often in  my classes (and not be such an old fogey teacher!).

I found this amusing YouTube video "in my travels": 

Appropriate a YouTube Video

Frank Sinatra sings  "New York, New York". 
Click on the arrow to hear the song and view the video

What I did: I explored YouTube.  I am a "newbie" here.  I found this video of "New York, New York" and embedded it to my page.  I also uploaded images of Eddie and Frank. (Notice the resemblance!)

What I Learned:  I am gaining skill with linking and embedding. I didn't know much about YouTube, and was surprised that I enjoyed perusing the videos.

NETS-T:  This relates to:
-Standard 4a, which states that teachers are to "advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including the respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources".  Being a musician, I feel strongly about ethics in "borrowing" music.  YouTube makes it easy to document sources.
-Standard 5d, which says that teachers are to "contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community."  YouTube holds exciting possibilities for teaching and learning in our 21st century classrooms.

How It Can Be Used:  Students are required to use music clips in their Techsteps presentations.  Also, there are many educational YouTube videos, some for students and some for teachers.

This is dedicated to my boy, Eddie, who idolizes Frank, and sometimes performs his songs.  Eddie was pleased with this clip.