Creating a PSA

For the past three weeks, I have been working with a great team from across the state to create my first public service announcement. Our pre-production process involved lots of brainstorming. I created a new Google doc for us to use and generate ideas. We were very fortunate, I thought, to have a team member with experience in creating PSA's with his students. He proved to be a plethora of ideas and knowledge throughout the course of this activity. Once we created our game plan, each of us took different elements of the piece that played to our strengths. We each collected shots that we felt would be useful to the PSA theme - encouraging voters to vote. During the actual production of the PSA, our team decided to each try putting together a sample of what came to mind, and sent it via e-mail to each other for critique. Post production followed the critiques and the final video was published to www.schooltube.com to share with the world.
I think if our group had more time to invest in working on this project, a more detailed final product may be possible. However, considering we all just started a new school year, I feel that we did a good job with the time and abilities we had.
For the still shots we used in our PSA, we relied on free stock photos from www.istockphoto.com. We also incorporated music from www.soundzabound.com.
Working through the Google doc allowed communication to be more fluid than e-mails. Each of us chose a different color to type in and then we were able to keep on running record of the production process we used throughout this collaborative process.

The Value of Web Conferencing

Sadly, I have missed the web conferences that were available for Week 2 of my Multimedia class. However, this did not stop me from pouring over the ten page long transcript sent to us by our Academic Coach.
I do feel that web conferencing is a very valuable tool to have, especially when those you are meeting are spread out over distances. Since beginning my Master's work, I have participated in about three or four web conferences and all of helped me learn more about my understanding of technology and its value in education.
After reading the transcripts of the last web conference, I was able to have many of my personal questions about using video editing software answered. I would have liked to have asked someone about posting a podcast and which sites are the most user friendly for uploading them. This part of our assignment this week was a struggle for me, and I wonder if the assignment would have been easier if I had someone to ask.
All in all, web conferencing is a very valuable resource. Many questions get answered, many more good questions are asked, and the value of being a part of the class is something that can not be replaced. Even though transcripts were provided, I feel like a student getting notes after being sick from school - it's just not the same.

My first podcast

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Crossing Over from PC to Mac

I have spent practically all of my computer experience as a PC user and I must admit that is where my comfort lies. When I returned for teacher inservice week last month, I was asked about piloting a Mac-book at our campus. I immediately jumped at the chance to learn something new and have been trying to stay on top of the differences between PC and Mac. When I started my multimedia class the following week and saw that Apple iMovie was a program for us to test out, I again was up for a challenge. While I am still waiting for my Mac-book to arrive, I did get to play on a friend's Mac this week and try out iMovie for myself.

I was a bit apprehensive getting started in iMovie, not knowing what to expect, but I was surprised at how similar to PhotoStory3 and Microsoft Movie Maker this program actually is. Bringing in pictures, video, and audio works the same as the PC programs. My favorite part of using iMovie was being able to set a theme to a video.

Currently, there are only two elementary schools in our district using Macs consistently, and my campus will soon bring us to three if all goes well this year. As with any of the video editing software programs available, there are plenty of applications to the classroom where video editing will be a great asset. One way that I have started brainstorming with the teachers at my school involves creating video storybooks of student writing to share with family. Other was to use this tool that I have read about this week include:
-storyboards (which our 4th grade teachers have used for years with writing)
-creating a video alphabet (maybe using math or science vocabulary to wrap up a unit of study)
-make a new ending to a take the place of or "follow the last scene of a story or event"
-adapt a scene or story (similar to the new ending, but it's the students own version of a story)

Once you have finished crating your masterpiece in iMovie, you will want to save your work as a mpeg file if you are planning to share over the computer. PC computer users will need to have QuickTime or Windows MediaPlayer on their computer to view the finished product.

While it may still be a while for my district to completely cross-over from PC to Mac, there are plenty of districts around the world that use Mac daily and would greatly benefit from using iMovie.

Classroom applications referenced from:
Garrison, A. (1999, Winter). Video Basics and Production Projects for the Classroom. Center for Media Literacy. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article3.html