I had quite the learning experience while I was using Camtasia and Jing. Camtasia is a very comprehensive program when using screen capturing software. I had a little trouble at first when I first downloaded it to my laptop because it downloaded it fine, but when I went to use it, it didn't play the video at all. All I could do is hear my audio. I wasted an hour at least because I didn't have the newest video player, but it didn't say anything about not having the correct hardware to use it. I was more than a little upset about that because I thought that I just wasn't doing something correctly in putting in my video correctly. It never told me why my screen was blank but could hear audio. So I uploaded the program to my desktop PC and that seemed to fix my problem. After I finally got it running it was pretty easy to upload the pictures, transitions, music, and title screens. I liked the fact that I could pause my recording, think about what I wanted to say and then resume my topic later. Camtasia seemed to have all of the bells and whistles that I could possibly want when making a presentation. Jing, on the other hand, was a bare bones program compared to Camtasia. Jing would let you do a one time video including audio and after you pressed stop, you were stuck with whatever you had on the video. You didn't have any music, transitions, title screens, zooming, or extra videos to put together to make a presentation.
I would recommend either application to a teacher. If they wanted to make a quick lecture and show students how to use a program, I would use Jing, but if they wanted to make a refined and professional presentation, I would recommend Camtasia in a heartbeat. The biggest difference is price. Jing is free, and Camtasia costs a couple hundred dollars to buy. Here is my Camtasia video.
Monday, July 4, 2011
!Warning Sign Creator!
I really enjoyed using Jing because it was so incredibly easy to use. You just hit record and you get to record anything that is on your screen. It is very user friendly and when you are done you just push the button to publish it and it goes to screencast and you can save the link and view it whenever you want to. Students could easily use this to put on a different type of presentation instead of the usual PowerPoint and get to mix it up a little. The only thing I didn't like was that you can't stop and start a video. Once you start, you better be flawless in your delivery.
Other Web 2.0 Apps that I liked were Prezi, Wordle, and Delicious. I think that they would have many applications in any classroom regardless of the subject being taught.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Copyright
Thanks to Dan from www.flashkit.com/loops/Easy-Listening/Dan-Osnoff-6358/index.php for the music.
Thanks to websters dictionary for the definition.
Thanks to websters dictionary for the definition.
No end to Apps in sight
I recently went out and got a IPhone this past April and I haven't been able to put it down since I got it. Its my new favorite way to waste my time this summer. I was amazed to see the number of apps that are available and what they can all do. A friend of mine downloaded a bunch of 3rd to 4th grade level education apps and every time he flys with his family, which is very often for some reason, he gives his phone to his son and he plays the games on the flight to keep him occupied.
There were a few limitations that I found with these portable devices. First is the battery life. If you were working on a personal PC, it would be plugged in and you could work all day on it. You can plug the portable devices in too, but they were made to be taken with you and the batteries don't last very long if you are constantly using them. Another limitation is the amount of computing power that their processors have. Since they are so small, they don't have they capabilities that lap tops or PCs have so they can't run a lot of the more complex software that is out there like AutoCad, Photoshop, or others that need a lot of RAM, video cards, and memory storage.
You can link up your portable devices up to come computers that have the right connecting bay. This increases the devices computing power because you are using the computer's power to run your device. The Internet will run faster, use peripheral devices that make the device easier to use, and a much bigger screen to view. The obvious downside to using something like the Asus is that you have to carry it with you everywhere you go which makes me question why someone wouldn't just carry along a laptop instead.
One app that I use everyday in my woodworking class is the bubble level on my phone. I know it isn't very fancy or ingenious design, but I can't tell you how much easier it is to just carry my phone around with me and check all of the projects for squareness instead of carrying around a rusty metal square instead. Plus it never becomes uncalibrated and it has three different levels in one. I can also use the camera on my phone to measure squareness over long distances if we are doing basic construction. The best part is that its free! Another app that I am thinking about getting is Home 3D. You can design a one level house on the device as a blueprint and then add wallpaper, flooring, windows, doors, any picture that is in your photo library, fixtures, and appliances. Then it will give you a 3D walk through of your dream house. Plus you can export it to your computer and save it as a dwg. or PDF file and print them off. This would be nice to use for my intro to drafting class so they can take a 2D drawing and turn it into a 3D video. The last app that I would like to use in my classroom is TeacherPal. I don't have a computer in my classroom because it wouldn't survive with all of the sawdust that we make on a daily basis. This means that I have to go from my shop to my office to do roll for the day. I found an application that would let me do roll on my phone so I don't have to leave the students by themselves and unattended. I can upload pictures of the students and get e-mail addresses so I can instantly e-mail the absent students what we went over that day.
There were a few limitations that I found with these portable devices. First is the battery life. If you were working on a personal PC, it would be plugged in and you could work all day on it. You can plug the portable devices in too, but they were made to be taken with you and the batteries don't last very long if you are constantly using them. Another limitation is the amount of computing power that their processors have. Since they are so small, they don't have they capabilities that lap tops or PCs have so they can't run a lot of the more complex software that is out there like AutoCad, Photoshop, or others that need a lot of RAM, video cards, and memory storage.
You can link up your portable devices up to come computers that have the right connecting bay. This increases the devices computing power because you are using the computer's power to run your device. The Internet will run faster, use peripheral devices that make the device easier to use, and a much bigger screen to view. The obvious downside to using something like the Asus is that you have to carry it with you everywhere you go which makes me question why someone wouldn't just carry along a laptop instead.
One app that I use everyday in my woodworking class is the bubble level on my phone. I know it isn't very fancy or ingenious design, but I can't tell you how much easier it is to just carry my phone around with me and check all of the projects for squareness instead of carrying around a rusty metal square instead. Plus it never becomes uncalibrated and it has three different levels in one. I can also use the camera on my phone to measure squareness over long distances if we are doing basic construction. The best part is that its free! Another app that I am thinking about getting is Home 3D. You can design a one level house on the device as a blueprint and then add wallpaper, flooring, windows, doors, any picture that is in your photo library, fixtures, and appliances. Then it will give you a 3D walk through of your dream house. Plus you can export it to your computer and save it as a dwg. or PDF file and print them off. This would be nice to use for my intro to drafting class so they can take a 2D drawing and turn it into a 3D video. The last app that I would like to use in my classroom is TeacherPal. I don't have a computer in my classroom because it wouldn't survive with all of the sawdust that we make on a daily basis. This means that I have to go from my shop to my office to do roll for the day. I found an application that would let me do roll on my phone so I don't have to leave the students by themselves and unattended. I can upload pictures of the students and get e-mail addresses so I can instantly e-mail the absent students what we went over that day.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Animoto vs. Photostory
I found that they were both pretty to use in all. I think that the hardest one was the Photostory just because I had a little difficulty getting the music to play when I wanted to. It wasn't because it was harder to create a video. I feel that I would use the Photostory in my classroom more because it had so many more options to choose from. I like that fact that I can put my own voice on the different slides to explain what is going on. The only thing that I could do in Animoto was type on the slide, but that made it harder to see what was on the slide. Plus I only had a certain number of characters that I could use so using complete sentences wasn't an option. I could see many of my students using Animoto for presentations because it is so easy to use and strait forward. They could easily play the slide show and talk in front of the class. I was really lothing this assignment and it was a pain to download all of the upgrades for my computer just so I could use Photostory, but after I got into it, I was suprised to see how user friendly.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Hello new way to spend my day!
I can't believe that I haven't found out about this before. I didn't know about readers even though I always see it in my Google Docs page every other day. I'm always downloading podcasts to listen when I am traveling and now they can come to me! My favorite site to go to is HowStuffWorks. I'm always trying to figure out how things work and I just get lost in it all of the time. I also use it in my classes as visual representations because the students really get involved. I also like to go to the Food Network feeds because I like to try to cook healthy dinners from time to time to get in shape for my wedding in a year. Plus its nice to have new things to eat from week to week. I have some of my favorite recipes that I like to make, but they aren't the healthiest to eat on a regular basis. I also subscribe to Mike and Mike in the Morning. Its a radio show on the ESPN network that I started to listen to when I was driving 50 miles one way for my student teaching in college. I got hooked on it, but I can't catch the entire show now because I don't have to get up as early anymore. (Thank goodness!).
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