Fun new application -- voice sharing avatar Voki
The power of blogs! One of my students just shared this fun app with me via her blog, and I'm passing it along. It's called Voki, and allows you to create an avatar for yourself and have this share what appear to be essentially tweets using the voice of the avatar or you can record your own. I could see this be a fun app especially to get kids to be engaged in sharing reports about their work. If you have them type their message and have it translated into computer-speech (text-to-voice) this "tricks" them into writing and getting writing practice, and allows them to have their writing heard rather than read (which can benefit self-conscious writers).
Here is my first Voki attempt. Of course I look just like this::)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Converting a web page or any other document into a PDF
Ever found a web page that you really liked and wanted to keep on your computer for future reference (for use when you are off line, or in case the original disappears?)? Or do you have a PowerPoint or Inspirtation document that you want to share with others who don't have PowerPoint or Inspiration? Well, there is an answer... you can convert it to a PDF!
This topic just came up in our department because we (the faculty) have to provide electronic (but not web-based) copies of our syllabi to the examiners for our upcoming NCATE accreditation visit. Most of us now use Moodle as our course/content management system (CMS) and have our syllabi as web pages, rather than as Word documents. At first everyone thought that they had to convert their Moodle web page syllabi into Word docouments (which can be done, but is a hassle). But there is also the option to turn in syllabi as PDFs -- which is easy to do! I thought I'd share how to do this here on my handy-dandy techno-blog in case you wanted to know how.
If you use a Windows computer, go to http://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator and download the free application to enable you to do this (Windows users, jump in here using my comments box if you have a better tool or suggestion for Windows users). I believe this PDFForge app has a guide on how to do this (I suspect it will be similar to on a Mac).
If you are a Mac user, this feature is standard. To convert a web page (or any kind of document) into a pdf.
Happy pdfing! :)
Ever found a web page that you really liked and wanted to keep on your computer for future reference (for use when you are off line, or in case the original disappears?)? Or do you have a PowerPoint or Inspirtation document that you want to share with others who don't have PowerPoint or Inspiration? Well, there is an answer... you can convert it to a PDF!
This topic just came up in our department because we (the faculty) have to provide electronic (but not web-based) copies of our syllabi to the examiners for our upcoming NCATE accreditation visit. Most of us now use Moodle as our course/content management system (CMS) and have our syllabi as web pages, rather than as Word documents. At first everyone thought that they had to convert their Moodle web page syllabi into Word docouments (which can be done, but is a hassle). But there is also the option to turn in syllabi as PDFs -- which is easy to do! I thought I'd share how to do this here on my handy-dandy techno-blog in case you wanted to know how.
If you use a Windows computer, go to http://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator and download the free application to enable you to do this (Windows users, jump in here using my comments box if you have a better tool or suggestion for Windows users). I believe this PDFForge app has a guide on how to do this (I suspect it will be similar to on a Mac).
If you are a Mac user, this feature is standard. To convert a web page (or any kind of document) into a pdf.
- Open the web page (in this case, your syllabus in Moodle) or whatever document you want to convert to a PDF
- From the "file" menu, select "print"
- When the Print dialog box opens, instead of clicking on the "print" button as you normally would, click instead on the PDF button (bottom left side of the printing dialog box) --> then from the drop down menu, choose "Save as PDF"
- Save this to your computer (naming it something that will make sense to you later!).
Happy pdfing! :)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Reflections on the Uses and Abuses of Social Networking
This past couple of weeks have been emotional for me and have had me thinking a lot about the power of social networking on the Internet -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'll start with the good. I don't know if any of you know about the website http://www.caringbridge.org/? The purpose of Caring Bridge is to provide free websites that enable people who are experiencing serous health issues to connect online with family and friends. When a person is critically ill, family and friends really want to know how this person is doing, and also want to be able to send messages of support. Using a personalized website, which is essentially a blog, provided free (supported by donations) through Caring Bridge, the family can post updates and photos about how the patient is doing, and visitors can leave messages of support.
Although I am a big fan and user of a wide variety of social networking tools (Facebook being my favorite!), until a friend of ours became critically ill a few months ago, I never truly appreciated the importance of social networking in being a life line to some people. When our friend Cathryn was hospitalized and it because clear (a) that she was going to be there for a while and (b) that many friends and family members wanted to know how she was doing and be able to send regular messages of support to her, her daughters and a couple of close friends started a Caring Bridge site for her. Every day, and sometimes twice daily, they would update the site, letting us know the latest on Cathryn's progress. All of us, in turn, were able to send encouragement to Cathryn, her daughters and other care givers (and we also were able to coordinate efforts to help provide donations towards the astronomical cost of her health care).
The outpouring of love and support for Cathryn were a lifeline for her and her caregivers, helping support them on this harrowing journey (during the two months on her illness, her site got nearly 30,000 hits -- and this was just from her network of family and friends!). They knew we were all there for them, and Cathryn knew that even if we couldn't all visit her in person, we were with her every minute in cyberspace. For those of us unable to make the trip to the Mayo Clinic to visit her, these updates helped more than I ever could have imagined. Even though the news each day was often really hard to read, at least we knew what was going on, right up until the very end (yesterday) when she finally lost her heroic battle. Even now her Caring Bridge site continues as we all use it to show our love and support for her family, reaching out to them in their grief. How different this would be for them, and would have been for Cathryn, had we not had this Caring Bridge connection. Thank you, thank you to Cathryn's daughters and her friends for helping us keep connected. And thank you Caring Bridge for this amazing social networking tool.
And then there is the other side of social networking ... when its power is abused in the most horrific ways, to spread intolerance and prejudice through at best thoughtless, insensitive and deeply painful comments, and at worst intentional and targeted hatred. I was deeply shaken by the tragic suicide of a gay college student, 18 year old Tyler Clementi, who took his life after his roommate used the Internet to post video that he had secretly filmed of Tyler having sex in what Tyler had thought was the privacy of his room. This kind of cyberbullying fills me with horror at how the worse side of people can be unleashed through the power of the Internet. I also know that it is essential that every one of us stand together and speak out to stop this intolerance in its tracks (you can read more about my plea for GLBT people and our allies to speak out in my letter to the UMD Statesman on this issue last week).
I think I'll save my ranting and thoughts about cyberbullying for another blog entry. But I want to end with a plea to everyone out there to take very, very seriously the immense responsibility that comes with our right to free speech and our use of the very powerful social networking tools here in cyberspace. The tools themselves are just tools -- neither good nor evil. They can be used both to save and to end lives. The choice on how we use them is up to us.
This past couple of weeks have been emotional for me and have had me thinking a lot about the power of social networking on the Internet -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'll start with the good. I don't know if any of you know about the website http://www.caringbridge.org/? The purpose of Caring Bridge is to provide free websites that enable people who are experiencing serous health issues to connect online with family and friends. When a person is critically ill, family and friends really want to know how this person is doing, and also want to be able to send messages of support. Using a personalized website, which is essentially a blog, provided free (supported by donations) through Caring Bridge, the family can post updates and photos about how the patient is doing, and visitors can leave messages of support.
Although I am a big fan and user of a wide variety of social networking tools (Facebook being my favorite!), until a friend of ours became critically ill a few months ago, I never truly appreciated the importance of social networking in being a life line to some people. When our friend Cathryn was hospitalized and it because clear (a) that she was going to be there for a while and (b) that many friends and family members wanted to know how she was doing and be able to send regular messages of support to her, her daughters and a couple of close friends started a Caring Bridge site for her. Every day, and sometimes twice daily, they would update the site, letting us know the latest on Cathryn's progress. All of us, in turn, were able to send encouragement to Cathryn, her daughters and other care givers (and we also were able to coordinate efforts to help provide donations towards the astronomical cost of her health care).
The outpouring of love and support for Cathryn were a lifeline for her and her caregivers, helping support them on this harrowing journey (during the two months on her illness, her site got nearly 30,000 hits -- and this was just from her network of family and friends!). They knew we were all there for them, and Cathryn knew that even if we couldn't all visit her in person, we were with her every minute in cyberspace. For those of us unable to make the trip to the Mayo Clinic to visit her, these updates helped more than I ever could have imagined. Even though the news each day was often really hard to read, at least we knew what was going on, right up until the very end (yesterday) when she finally lost her heroic battle. Even now her Caring Bridge site continues as we all use it to show our love and support for her family, reaching out to them in their grief. How different this would be for them, and would have been for Cathryn, had we not had this Caring Bridge connection. Thank you, thank you to Cathryn's daughters and her friends for helping us keep connected. And thank you Caring Bridge for this amazing social networking tool.
And then there is the other side of social networking ... when its power is abused in the most horrific ways, to spread intolerance and prejudice through at best thoughtless, insensitive and deeply painful comments, and at worst intentional and targeted hatred. I was deeply shaken by the tragic suicide of a gay college student, 18 year old Tyler Clementi, who took his life after his roommate used the Internet to post video that he had secretly filmed of Tyler having sex in what Tyler had thought was the privacy of his room. This kind of cyberbullying fills me with horror at how the worse side of people can be unleashed through the power of the Internet. I also know that it is essential that every one of us stand together and speak out to stop this intolerance in its tracks (you can read more about my plea for GLBT people and our allies to speak out in my letter to the UMD Statesman on this issue last week).
I think I'll save my ranting and thoughts about cyberbullying for another blog entry. But I want to end with a plea to everyone out there to take very, very seriously the immense responsibility that comes with our right to free speech and our use of the very powerful social networking tools here in cyberspace. The tools themselves are just tools -- neither good nor evil. They can be used both to save and to end lives. The choice on how we use them is up to us.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Jing is an amazing teaching tool
I love Jing -- I think it is one of the most useful online teaching tools ever, both the still image screen shot option and the video of screenoption.
Screen shot:
Once I take a photo of the part of the screen that I want to show, then I can also use the drawing tools so that I put annotations right on the image to explain key steps (such as in the picture shown below, where I was demonstrating to students how to make a link in Moodle so that it opened in a separate window).
Video option:
When I want to show the sequence of how something works, and when it is useful for people to watch what I do, rather than merely reading about it, use the "record video" option and then show step by step what to do. In the example below, I did this to show students in my class how they can tell if there Google Doc actually saved or not:
This is particularly useful when I think the same question is likely to be asked by a number of people. But also, it is often quicker (and more effective) for me to make a demo video like this than it is to write out detailed directions that actually make sense. Try it for yourself and see! Way cool!
I love Jing -- I think it is one of the most useful online teaching tools ever, both the still image screen shot option and the video of screenoption.
Screen shot:
Once I take a photo of the part of the screen that I want to show, then I can also use the drawing tools so that I put annotations right on the image to explain key steps (such as in the picture shown below, where I was demonstrating to students how to make a link in Moodle so that it opened in a separate window).
Video option:
When I want to show the sequence of how something works, and when it is useful for people to watch what I do, rather than merely reading about it, use the "record video" option and then show step by step what to do. In the example below, I did this to show students in my class how they can tell if there Google Doc actually saved or not:
This is particularly useful when I think the same question is likely to be asked by a number of people. But also, it is often quicker (and more effective) for me to make a demo video like this than it is to write out detailed directions that actually make sense. Try it for yourself and see! Way cool!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
How to record a really bad teaching video
So in the spirit of sharing with you how I start our learning by doing things badly, I thought I'd show you the first video I made when I was trying to learn how to record a video of myself to share with my students on my course website. I am a Mac user, so I used Photo Booth (an app that comes built in on a Mac. I think there is a Windows equivalent). All I have to do is start the app, click on the "record" button and eureka, it video tapes me (picture and sound). But there are some important lessons that I learned here, and I'll share them with you:
So in the spirit of sharing with you how I start our learning by doing things badly, I thought I'd show you the first video I made when I was trying to learn how to record a video of myself to share with my students on my course website. I am a Mac user, so I used Photo Booth (an app that comes built in on a Mac. I think there is a Windows equivalent). All I have to do is start the app, click on the "record" button and eureka, it video tapes me (picture and sound). But there are some important lessons that I learned here, and I'll share them with you:
- Brush your hair before you go on video
- Don't have a bright window behind you, because then your face is in shadow (and it helps if people can see your face so they can read your lips, too -- especially if they don't understand your accent very easily)
- Don't have a purring cat rubbing up against you while you are trying to talk (it is a nice touch to record a teaching video from your home, especially if you are teaching an online class, as this helps students to get to know you and also to feel that online learning and teaching can happen from anywhere). But be careful of what you show them in the picture (I once taught my class using Skype, from my study at home, but didn't realize that my jog bra was hanging on a hook just behind my head...)
- Don't have NPR or any other radio station or music playing in the background, as (especially if you are recording with your computer's built in mic and not a noise canceling headset mic) the mic picks up the sound around you, too.
Anything that is worth doing is worth doing badly...
I know that what makes blogs successful and had people want to keep coming back for more is if one keeps posting regularly (and of course with interesting and cool stuff!). I have been immersed in "beginning-of-semester-getting-things-going" mode, and sadly neglecting my blog :( Now that my students are on their own blog journey, I need to lead by example, right?!!
One of my favorite saying to help me kick myself in the butt and get going is, "Anything that is worth doing is worth doing badly!" This may initially appear to be a plug for mediocrity, but actually it is quite the opposite. I think of how often, even as a child in elementary school, I would struggle to start something because I didn't know where to begin or was afraid of doing badly. The result was really bad .. i.e. nothing! Overcoming the inertia of just starting is hard when I feel like I have to produce excellence right off the bat. So what I have learned is if I give myself permission just to start -- anywhere -- and then if I feel like stopping, that's okay. At least I have started.
I follow this philosophy with exercise, too: My rule is that I have to change into my exercise clothes and go outside (if I plan to run, walk or cross country ski) or stand on the treadmill. I am then allowed to go back inside/get off the treadmill and do nothing further! Just knowing that I allow myself to opt out after even the smallest start gets me over the hurdle of starting. I have never actually (so far) quit without at least walking or jogging for at least 5 minutes (which is a whole lot better than not all all!), but usually I manage a respectable amount of time and effort. Rather than doing badly, it actually is a reasonable beginning, and sometimes is even great.
As a teacher I believe that it is really important for me to help my students develop courage and the confidence in their ability to try to do things that they might not believe they can do well. If you give yourself permission to start out badly, to be playful about your initial (and even subsequent) attempts, and even to try to make mistakes so that you learn form these, if can become really fun and a whole new adventure!
So this is what I will try to model here with my blog, and invite my students and anyone else out there who may stray across this blog to join me. Let's go on an adventure in Cyberland and see what we can learn about what is out there. Let's try new tools, subscribe to geeky apps, and see what they do (always making sure, of course, to follow basics of Internet safety, like not giving out home address and phone number). I look forward to learning along with all of you and sharing my own learning with you!
I know that what makes blogs successful and had people want to keep coming back for more is if one keeps posting regularly (and of course with interesting and cool stuff!). I have been immersed in "beginning-of-semester-getting-things-going" mode, and sadly neglecting my blog :( Now that my students are on their own blog journey, I need to lead by example, right?!!
One of my favorite saying to help me kick myself in the butt and get going is, "Anything that is worth doing is worth doing badly!" This may initially appear to be a plug for mediocrity, but actually it is quite the opposite. I think of how often, even as a child in elementary school, I would struggle to start something because I didn't know where to begin or was afraid of doing badly. The result was really bad .. i.e. nothing! Overcoming the inertia of just starting is hard when I feel like I have to produce excellence right off the bat. So what I have learned is if I give myself permission just to start -- anywhere -- and then if I feel like stopping, that's okay. At least I have started.
I follow this philosophy with exercise, too: My rule is that I have to change into my exercise clothes and go outside (if I plan to run, walk or cross country ski) or stand on the treadmill. I am then allowed to go back inside/get off the treadmill and do nothing further! Just knowing that I allow myself to opt out after even the smallest start gets me over the hurdle of starting. I have never actually (so far) quit without at least walking or jogging for at least 5 minutes (which is a whole lot better than not all all!), but usually I manage a respectable amount of time and effort. Rather than doing badly, it actually is a reasonable beginning, and sometimes is even great.
As a teacher I believe that it is really important for me to help my students develop courage and the confidence in their ability to try to do things that they might not believe they can do well. If you give yourself permission to start out badly, to be playful about your initial (and even subsequent) attempts, and even to try to make mistakes so that you learn form these, if can become really fun and a whole new adventure!
So this is what I will try to model here with my blog, and invite my students and anyone else out there who may stray across this blog to join me. Let's go on an adventure in Cyberland and see what we can learn about what is out there. Let's try new tools, subscribe to geeky apps, and see what they do (always making sure, of course, to follow basics of Internet safety, like not giving out home address and phone number). I look forward to learning along with all of you and sharing my own learning with you!
Saturday, September 04, 2010
My Techno Journey continues!
Welcome to a new school year and another chapter of my unfolding technology journey! If there is anyone out there who might have been following this blog before and you are wondering what happened to my earlier posts, they are gone! I am starting a new semester with a new group of students in my Computer in Education class, so I am starting a fresh blog with my students so we take our techno-journeys together this semester.
To my Educ 3412/5412 students: Welcome to the world of blogging and the wonders of learning together through online sharing and collaboration:) I'm looking forward to following your blogs and to having you share your comments on mine. To begin with, all of you jump in and say hi (using the comment link) so I know that you are out there and have found my blog. Also subscribe to my blog (easy way to do this is by clicking on the RSS icon next to the URL at the top of the page) so that you are notified automatically when I update my blog (I will be doing the same for your blogs).
Stay tuned for more! :)
Welcome to a new school year and another chapter of my unfolding technology journey! If there is anyone out there who might have been following this blog before and you are wondering what happened to my earlier posts, they are gone! I am starting a new semester with a new group of students in my Computer in Education class, so I am starting a fresh blog with my students so we take our techno-journeys together this semester.
To my Educ 3412/5412 students: Welcome to the world of blogging and the wonders of learning together through online sharing and collaboration:) I'm looking forward to following your blogs and to having you share your comments on mine. To begin with, all of you jump in and say hi (using the comment link) so I know that you are out there and have found my blog. Also subscribe to my blog (easy way to do this is by clicking on the RSS icon next to the URL at the top of the page) so that you are notified automatically when I update my blog (I will be doing the same for your blogs).
Stay tuned for more! :)
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