During Spring Break, my family traveled to Dallas, Texas to visit my husband’s sister and her family. We enjoyed touring the city’s World Aquarium. My daughter’s “assignment” was to select one animal from the aquarium to bring home to Missouri. She had to choose an animal based on its ability to survive in our habitat, as opposed to one she liked. No, the animals aren’t available for checkout. I was just once again using her as a guinea pig while preparing for my first digital storytelling workshop. Another part of her inquiry lesson was to collect video footage and provide narration. Below is our first digital story. Click the big triangle play button to stream the  video, or right-click on the Download link and choose “Save target as” or “Save link as” to download the video.

Download World Aquarium

The technicalities: Using Windows Movie Maker, we captured and cut the video. Then imported some images from our digital camera, and a few downloaded public domain images. After recording the narration, I added in some creative commons licensed music. The title and transition features polished off the project. Then I saved the project as “video for broadband (340 kbps)” in a Windows Media Video (wmv) format. I uploaded the wmv file to archive.org, where it was automatically converted into other formats and various file sizes (flash, mpeg4). I chose archive.org because it is free, and not blocked by our District’s filter. The flash version was the fastest to load, but too blocky for my daughter’s standards. The wmv file is the best quality, but a large file (better to download and not stream). It is the one I used for this blog post. But I’m guessing since this is a wmv file, it won’t play on all computers. Next we will publish a Voicethread version, and a then Photostory version. Please leave your recommendations, comments, or suggestions.

tag: edtech k12 Dallas World Aquarium digital storytelling Windows Movie Maker Creative Commons

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when my attempt to embed a Google Gadget in an Edublog’s post was successful. I didn’t anticipate it working, since the embedding of javascript and other code directly in a post has been disabled due to security concerns. After having a little time to read some RSS feeds last night, I see that Edublogs now allows you to embed javascript, iframes, and object code. You can just copy the provided embedding code, click the code tab while composing a post, and paste. This will also work in text box sidebar widgets. See Sue Water’s Edublogger post with some Tom Barrett’s screenshots illustrating the process.

Tips

• If you click the Visual tab after pasting in the code and don’t see anything where you embedded the object, that’s to be expected. It will show up when you publish or preview.
• Sue Waters recommends pasting in the code as the last step before publishing. As Mr. Farmer explains, if you edit and resave a post with embedded object code, it will break the code. He is hoping to fix this bug soon.
• Sue Waters also states that if you are embedding flash (swf) or a video, you should still use the toolbar buttons on the Visual tab. See the examples on Edublogger, along with the screenshots of how to embed a VoiceThread or Animato presentation.

I know of several teachers who will be thrilled with this new feature.
tag: k12 edtech Edublogs code javascript embedding widgets Sue Waters Tom Barrett James Farmer

Image Credit: Greasemonkey by xrrr

I stumbled upon a new feature for Google Docs Spreadsheets, the Gadget. The chart button now has a new look and provides access to a menu to choose a Chart or a Gadget. Wow! There are some fun things here. First I tried the Map Gadget, to add an interactive map to my spreadsheet.

1. Enter the addresses in Column A.
2. Enter the name of the building in Column B.
3. Select the data with a click and drag.
4. Click the Insert button and choose Gadget.
5. In the Add a Gadget window on the right, click the Maps link.
6. Under Map, click the Add to spreadsheet button.
7. Enter a Title if desired. Check the box for “Last column as tooltips.” This displays the name of the building when the tack is clicked or hovered over.
8. Click the Save & Close button.
9. When I added another building to the spreadsheet, is was automatically displayed on the map.
10. Click the Gadget menu button and choose Publish.
11. Copy and paste the provided code to publish the gadget in a webpage.

As you can see below, the code works well in an Edublog’s post.

The Organizational Chart could be used to generate a calling tree, change of command, etc. The Gauges look fun. I’ll try that next.

I was surprised to find Pivot Tables, a more advanced feature that I use in Excel to track Federal Programs’ Budgets. And, of course, there is are search gadgets. (We are talking Google here.) Just enter a few search terms in a cell, select the cell, and insert a Web Search or Image Search gadget. There are many other gadgets available.

There are a few other upgrades. The new “Set Notification Rules” allows you to choose to receive an email when changes are made to the spreadsheet. Three formulas for sorting and filtering data have been added. The color palette has been expanded. The Delete menu features a Clear Comments option.
tag: edtech K12 Google Docs Spreadsheets Gadget

[slideshare id=33834&doc=shift-happens-23665&w=425]

Willard Staff: If you are not able to participate in one of the SlideShare workshops last month, or would rather learn on your own timetable, you are in luck. The Fusion: SlideShare webpage offers a handout and short video tutorials (screencasts) to lead you through using SlideShare.

And, there’s more! If you want to earn 1 Salary Advancement Workshop hour while you work, you can enroll in the free, online professional development, Moodle course: SlideShare. This course uses the handout and screencasts on the Fusion webpage to lead you through the steps. Work at your own pace, when it fits in your schedule, from any computer with Internet access. Just in time learning, at your convenience!

Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or suggestions. I’m happy to provide you with additional assistance.
tag: k12 edtech SlideShare tutorial screencast slideshows

Willard Staff: If you are not able to participate in one of the Google Docs workshops this month, or would rather learn on your own timetable, you are in luck. The Fusion: Google Docs webpage offers a handout and short video tutorials (screencasts) to lead you through using Goggle Docs in your classroom.

And, there’s more! If you want to earn 3 Salary Advancement Workshop hours while you work, you can enroll in the free, online professional development, Moodle course: Google Docs. This course uses the handout and screencasts on the Fusion webpage to lead you through the steps. Work at your own pace, when it fits in your schedule, from any computer with Internet access. Just in time learning, at your convenience!
tag: collaboration communication arts Google docs Moodle presentations productivity professional development publish screencasts spreadsheets tutorials web publishing word processor