Doing Something Nice

Today, while picking up some page tabs at Dollarama, I found myself in a rather cute situation. I proceeded to the line after finding my page tabs and of course stopping to pick up a Turtles chocolate Easter egg (yummm..to die for!). While waiting in line an older woman pulled her cart up behind me. She politely said, "Excuse me miss, you see, I have quite a bit of stuff here (only about two bags worth), and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to help me carry it out for me?" I replied with, "Oh of course! No problem at all." Then she continued by telling me how she just had a hip replacement and was recommended by the doctor not to lift anything heavy. After thanking me several times before I even did anything, we made our way out to the parking lot where I loaded her bags up for her. She thanked me again and said how kind I was and gave me a big hug.

It felt good to do something nice for a stranger. I hope that when I am old and need a hand that someone kind helps me out. Usually, being from a small town, when opportunities like this arise I know the person that I am helping. I am glad I could make a positive difference in this ladies day.

I challenge everyone to leave a comment telling one nice thing that they have done lately! :)

Weekly Photo

This was obviously not taken recently, but like lots of you, I am really anticipating being done school. I can't wait for the warm weather so I can bask in the sun like my little kitten is in this picture. The countdown has started for the last two weeks before classes are done. Then final time (booooo), and then SUMMER BREAK!

I hope this picture brings a little sunshine into every ones day!

Survey for Mentoring Class in Italy

This is a survey intended for my mentoring class in Italy. Please leave it for them to fill out, as I will create a seperate survey later to compare the results (one that Ecmp 355 students can fill out)

Thanks!

Games in Education

Tonight we had an interesting class about incorporating games in the class. Second Life seems like it will be a great classroom tool that will take over in schools in the near future. I enjoyed seeing the students work in creating Batoch. I have been there, and could recognize a lot of the things that students spent time building after their trip there. One thing that peaked my interest was when the teachers emphasized how the students who were often less successful in the regular classroom excelled extremely in the virtual environments. Maybe this is because these students are less “social” in terms of verbal in the classroom, but they succeed when they work on their own, during their own time, without having to talk to other people if they don’t want.

Sylvia Martinez talked about how there are so many games that are a waste of time. They are labeled educational, but often do not really teach students anything. She discussed how games can be useful in the classroom if they get kids to want to play them and challenge them. One site that she suggested, ironically, was Awful Games.com

There is a lot to think about when bringing games into the classroom, but after tonight I have some great starting points and ideas.

Final Project

I have finished my final project and submitted my three videos to Next Vista.org. I had a few challenges throughout the process and learned several things.

I decided to do a project that connected with a project I was doing for another class. In Education Aesthetics I was doing my personal arts project on photography. I had originally planned to just make a simple picture slideshow for that class but decided to incorporate an audio element to give myself more of a technological challenge. I posted my project plan for the three videos, which began with the idea of just being one video. After submitting this plan to Rushton at Next Vista.org he suggested to split it up into three (they like to keep all videos under 5 minutes). This was a good idea because it allowed me to not have to rush with my pictures and descriptions. It was a bit harder though of course making three videos rather than one. I wanted to keep things uniform so they were like a sequence. After the first one was complete, the other two went much smoother. I sent my first set of videos in for Rushton to look at. I had forgotten to include where I got the music (which originally I had just downloaded, but decided after to get it off of podsafeaudio.com after fixing up a few other things). He also suggested that I leave more space and pauses in my audio to give the viewer more time to enjoy the photos. So, after these few minor adjustments my videos are complete. I learned a lot about working for someone other than just myself. It was good to have Rushton there to give me tips in making my project better. If I wouldn’t have been working with him my final videos would not have been as successful without the changes he suggested. It was a learning experience to have to communicate about the planning process and ideas (I am used to just doing things my own way). I think it was a positive experience because I gained a more professional idea of how to create an educational video.

These How To Videos will help me in my future teaching career. If I ever get the opportunity to teach a photography class or even if I am doing a project using cameras or videos, these will be a great quick little intro to help students think about what they are putting in the frame. Not only will it be able to help me in the classroom, but once they are posted on Next Vista.org they will be accessible to other teachers and students around the world.

Weekly Photo

How to Basics for Audacity

First of all, download the program free from the Audacity site. Then once the set up is all complete (if you have troubles with this check out a tutorial video on youtube for some help with that). There are basic buttons on the top including the red circle (record), green arrow (play), blue lines (pause), square (stop), etc.



Once you have your mic hooked up, let lose with the record button pressing stop or pause when you are done or taking a break. To cut, make sure the I button is selected on the far left at the top and highlight the selected area you wish to cut. To increase the size of the audio track (in order to see more detail to make it easier to be precise in your cutting) use the magnification tool (left click on the track to increase and right to decrease). If you need to add a silence or a pause somewhere within your recording, an easy way to do this is to go to Generate at the top menu, and then click Silence… Make sure your courser is on the point where you want this silence on the audio track. Then, a pop up box will come up and ask you how long of a silence you want. Type in the desired time (in seconds) and then click generate.



Another way to have spaces between tracks of audio is to add a new audio track below the first one. To do this click Project on the top menu and go to the drop down of New Audio Track. Adding a new audio track is also handy when you want to have two or more tracks playing at once (background music, sound effects, etc.)



A few important effects that should be noted with basic recording include Amplify, Change Speed, Fade In and Fade Out. Play around with the rest, but these are the ones that I use the most when doing normal recordings. To add one of these effects, highlight the desired area (using the I tool) and then go to Effect at the top menu and select the effect you want. Another important tool is the <--> which allows you to slide your clips along the track.

I think that’s basically it for starting out. The more you play around with things the more you will learn, just like everything else. If I wasn’t clear about something and you have a question just let me know! Amber.blow8@gmail.com

He's Just Got To Go

I decided to think of my podcast in an educational way. I am not feeling so great today. Maybe this was my inspiration for this tech task. I thought of coming up with a lesson plan that I could have ready for any age level of class if I was to be sick and needed to call in a sub. I thought that reading a children’s book filled with images and descriptions would be a great starting point for various assignments. After this, depending on the subject and age of the students, they would be required to complete an assignment based on this book. For example, if it is an art class, have students take one of the lines from the book and use it for inspiration to create a work of art (any medium). A drama class could act out one of the scenes from the book, create a mime, or do charades. If it is a social class, have students research a historical building or aspect of Vancouver. For elementary students, do a project on cats. These are just a few examples, but they can be taken as far as ones imagination goes. I only read part of the book due to the 1-3 minute time limit of this assignment, but you get the picture. I chose to read the beginning of Mister Got to Go by Lois Simmie, one of my favourite authors.

http://www.archive.org/details/MisterGotToGo

I ended up going a bit over three minutes in the end, but it was hard to end before that point. I added sound effects from Partners In Rhyme.com and music from Pod Safe Audio.com.

Weekly Photo

Google Map Tech Task

For the tech task of creating a personalized Google map, I decided to dedicate it to my mentoring class in Italy. I thought it would be neat for them to see where I am from and get a better understanding of Canada and Saskatchewan. I included some of my favourite restaurants, the University, places I like to go and places I have travelled. I included some pictures and text, but couldn't figure out how to upload a video... Can anyone help me out there?! Once I do get some videos on I will update this post.



View Larger Map

Podcasts: Tech Task 14

Tonight we learned about podcasts and iTunes. I found a few interesting things in my short search including a podcast on technology in education by Two Tech Chicks: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=165244308, and a short video podcast on a fashion show http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=126292549. This is a Chanel fashion show including "cutting edge" designs and interviews with designers. I chose this one because I enjoy watching fashion shows and seeing what new and crazy things designers come up with. The one done by Two Tech Chicks includes, "Tips and tricks for gadgets and software for your digital life given by two Texas chicks obsessed with anything digital. The podcast is geared specifically to educators interested in integrating technology into their curriculum. Companion blog, forums and resources at: http://techchicktips.net/" It discusses some story telling techniques and the writing process using collaboration as well as other cool tips to use in the class. Dean showed us a great video that shows how a grade 3 and 4 class uses podcasts in their everyday routine. It was so neat to see these kids working together. They seem to really be into sharing their knowledge with other people. I think incorporating this type of learning will be increasingly common in the future. It is crazy how easy it is for us to share things with so many people around the world. I found a site that will be helpful when I make my own podcast, How To Make A Podcast. I am excited to have a few spare minutes so I can check out the Canadian Indie music that Erika suggested on the CBC Radio 3.

The Art of Film: Tech Task 12

Ecmp class last Wednesday was spent learning about videos and filming. We learnt about flip cameras and experimented with them by creating short videos, some of which turned out unreal!

I chose a clip from the movie August Rush. If you have not yet seen it I highly recommend. It is a story of a musically gifted young boy who is homeless. The story has a great plot line. I chose this clip because it uses a variety of filming techniques that we have discussed. I counted the number of different shots and there were approximately 55 in the almost two minute clip. Although this may be distracting to some, I thought it made the scene more productive and effective. With all of these shots we understood that this boy is very musically inclined and that the other characters are rather impressed by his skills.

The clip includes close-ups and extreme close-ups: shots of his fingers, the strings and frets, his face, etc. It includes pans: going up and down the guitar neck and going from the window outline down on an angle towards Robin Williams sleeping. This short clip also includes many tilts where the camera moves up and down. An example of a tilt is when the camera moves from a shot of the guitar up to the boys face. A variety of shot angles are used including low, high, straight on and canted. An example of a high angle shot is when the camera is looking down on the boy playing guitar showing his inferiority as compared with Williams who is looking down on him. There is a point of view shot when Williams is standing in the door way and we see the boy as he sees him. An eye line match is used when Williams is walking down the stairs and it goes from a shot of him looking to the left to a shot of how he would see the boy. Techniques like zooms are used when the camera moves quickly in towards the guitar strings.

It is amazing how much work goes into making a film with all of these interesting techniques. We can see through this short clip that the people filming this movie put a lot of effort into each take and shot in order for an effective product.

Enjoy!

Mentoring Updates

I have been pretty excited the past few days with the several comments and emails that I have recieved from Seth's class in reply to my video. If you want to check them out just look under the blog heading Mentoring Video for Students in Italy. English is their second language, but they have been doing great in their replies! Tomorrow the class will be doing a wiki page to explain some psychology where Alex and I will be able to check it out and leave comments for the students.

Weekly Photo

Downtown Regina

Voicethread

I decided to try using Voicethread for a second way to tell a story. I liked how this site let you have a choice of where you wanted to upload your pictures from. It was an easy site to use, but I found it didn't have a lot of options in terms of transitions, timing, background music (there was no option on having that) and text. Voicethread would be a great device to used in an Elementary level class where all you want is to show a basic story using voice and pictures. I think the limited transitions, effects, etc. would make this less appealing to an older audience.

I think Voicethread was an alright way to communicate the story that I told, but I believe there are better ways out there. When comparing this tool with Animoto I think that Voicethread better projected the story I was telling. The use of narration rather than fancy effects and high paced music made it more of a personal endeavor rather than a commercial selling my trip. Both are great in their own ways.

Picture of the Week

This one goes out to Dean and all the Corner Gas fans out there.
(I took it a few summers ago at the lake, some family thing.)

Update on Final Project

I have recently finished one part of my final project, which was completing the How to Take a Good Photograph video. I planned to have it all in one video, but after sending my outline to Rushton (nextvista.org), he suggested I split it into three smaller videos. On Next Vista the rule is to be under five minutes in ones video. Anyways, I think I will wait to post them for a bit yet. I will be sending them to Rushton for him to check out in the next few days.

Missing Small Town Life

Once in a while you encounter an experience that makes you recall the things that are taken for granted in your life.

While driving on Sunday evening I started to notice something strange going on with my car. I was on Ring Road and noticed that my car was taking a bit more power to speed up. At that point I didn’t think much about it. As I continued from my apartment near the university down to Victoria Ave. I got wondering what was up. I turned on a side street and thought maybe it was just icy and bumpy causing my car not to ride properly. I thought I had best turn down my music and shut of my heater so I could listen to my car (who, by the way, talks to me and has a connection with me that not many people understand.) There was something weird going on. When I arrived at my friend’s house I got out to see what I had predicted, a flat tire on the front of the driver’s side. It wasn’t just soft or slightly flat, it was completely flat. How smart did I feel after driving over 5km going around 100km/hr on ring road?! Not very smart.

I have had to help change a tire a few times in my life so far, so I knew basically how to do it. The only thing I wasn’t so excited about was the fact that it was about -30 and the wind was blowing like crazy! It couldn’t have been an easy process where we got the spare tire out of the trunk, jacked up the car and tossed it on, OH NO. The spare tire was frozen solid into my trunk. How you may ask, well, whenever I open my trunk and there is snow or water on my car it falls into my trunk and seeps into where this spare tire is. After about 25 minutes of prying at it with a crowbar, (and after almost giving up and calling CAA) my friend and his strong muscles got the tire out. Then, the jack had to be chipped out from the few inches of ice in which surrounded it. After a few warm up trips into the house, we finally managed to get things done (about an hour and a half and twenty numb toes later).

I guess after this whole ordeal I felt a longing to be back home in my small town. If this would have happened in Tisdale, no matter where I was, I could have left my car there until it was warm enough to be outside to change the tire. I wouldn’t have had to be pressed with the time and worry of getting a ticket or getting towed. I also really missed my dad. This was because he is the one who does all my maintenance and fixing for my sister and I. Not like it was a big deal to change a tire, but I guess in the past he has just always been right there to help me out whenever things like that happen. Oh, the joys of growing up.

I like to tell people how being in a small town makes you feel safe. A great example of this was the time my sister’s belt blew off her car and she was stranded about half a mile out of town. She called me and asked if I could come and get her because she hadn’t gotten a hold of dad yet. At this time, I was driving around with my friends in our grad car (the big pink one featured in my Mastercard video). Right about the time she called, our big old beast was dying on the side of the road also. It had a tendency to overheat pretty easy and would take a lot of pumping on the gas to start up again. So I told my sister I would try and make it there as soon as our car would get going again. In the meantime, a few people had stopped to see if we needed help but we waved them on saying we could get things going shortly. And, not to my surprise, once we arrive at my sister’s car, my dad had stopped on his way home from work. What would the likely hood be of that happening in Regina?! Dad saves the day again…

One time while driving my friend’s old standard car on Main Street, I stalled. Thinking, well no big deal, just start it up, not like downtown is that busy. But, after turning the key several times we realized something was wrong, the battery cable had unhooked when I stalled the car, leaving us with no power. So we got out of the car and started to push. Did I mention Main Street Tisdale is kind of on a slight hill?! Anyways, everyone who is driving by waves and one of our friends from the store we were across from came out and helped us push. My mom popped her head out of the building she works at and yelled across the street asking me what was going on.

I guess those are some of the reasons why I like small town life. You are never far from someone you know. Actually, you are always near a lot of people that you know, and that you can trust to help you out whenever you are in need.

Animoto Video

Here is a quick little way to tell a story with pictures and some audio using Animoto. Like Erika said, it only takes about 10 minutes to make. It doesn't have many editing options, rather it is quick and simple. All one needs to do is upload some pictures (via your computer, or an online source), add some music (either from their collection or your own files) and then let them put it together for you.

All of these pictures were taken on a trip to Vancouver with a friend in the spring of grade 11. We went to check out the Art Institute, visit some of her family, and do some site seeing.

Photostory Experimentation

After last Wednesday's class I have been experimenting with some of the 50 Ways to Tell a Story. I have had some trouble and frustrations with my trials but I finally have managed to create something. It's not much, rather just a sample of what I have been trying out. I had troubles with Comiqs.com but ended up spending an hour of my time to come out with nothing because the program would not let me save my project for some reason. I tried several times and created a few different trials but none of which would save. I then decided to try Scrapblog. For all of these sites one needs to create a user account and often one is required to have a certain type of email account before doing this. Using Scrapblog you access your photos from another online source rather than straight from your computer, which I wasn't a fan of. I ended up signing up for a Flickr account and uploading some pictures. I thought this was kind of a weird process and it took a lengthy time. For some reason, this Scrapblog wouldn't let me save my work either. Maybe it is my technology illiteracy or something but I was very frustrated at this point and moved to One True Media where I created this little photo montage. I didn't find a way to record audio on this program so it just has a background music accompanying the photos with some text. It is more of a visual story rather than verbal. But, like I said, this is just a trial and once I have a bit more time and am less frustrated with things I will make a better product.

I enjoyed using One True Media because it automatically saves your project, and you can come back to it and start where you left off. It has some great background transitions and effects to make your pictures flow together nicely and interestingly. One True Media gives you the choice of uploading your photos from your computer, Flickr, Photobucket, Stock Content or using an Image URL. Along with getting images from several sources, this site has a variety of music choices to choose from.

I will keep working on learning how to use digital storytelling devices.

--> After viewing this online a few hours after posting I realized that none of the text that I had written under the photos saved (reason for the random "Tokyo Pop" and "Spring" phrases). This is a work in progress, so I will delete this one once I get it fixed up.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Expanding My Horizons

Last Friday I attended a dance performance presented by New Dance Horizons at the Conexus Art Center here in Regina. The show was titled 0101 Compagnie De Brune by Lynda Gaudreau. The reason I spent the last Friday before the break was finished at this event was because of an assignment called Expanding My Horizons for Education Aesthetics 201.

I didn’t know much about the event before getting there, and was a little nervous that it may not be something totally new for me. It was, however, a very different experience from what I usually think dance to be. It made me ask myself some questions like: what is dance, why do people choose to express themselves this way, and why do people attend to watch dance? I had a lot to write about in terms of how it was a new experience and how I felt about it aesthetically.

The dance included two performers and a drummer playing a three piece set. The show was filled with simple movements and basic beats played out on the drums. The background music alternated from a game show type tune to an eerie, scary movie like music (comparable to The Ring). Anyways, I often found myself confused by the whole performance, but in the end realized that I had achieved my goal of expanding my horizons.

http://www.lyndagaudreau.com/info/img/download/LyndaG.jpg

Mentoring Updates

I am keeping fairly busy with this mentoring assignment. Yesterday, Alex and I recieved an email from Seth Dickens with a plan for the rest of the semester. I am excited because he has asked us to plan a lesson for his 3rd Year Class (ages 17-18). The lesson is to do with PLN's (Personal Learning Networks). He suggested we teach his students some of the best things that Dean has taught us in Ecomp 355 this semester. Alex and I will have to brainstorm some ideas and put something together.

I am not sure if this link works for anyone except myself, but let me know. Seth has put it together for his class.

http://mail.google.com/mail/?account_id=amber.blow8%40gmail.com&ui=2&view=att&th=11fbde768a267285&attid=0.1&disp=attd

My Final Project

I have been working on a plan for my final project and have decided to do the Interdisciplinary Project as well as the Video Tutorial with Next Vista. I am doing a video as part of my Ed Aesthetics final project on photography. To include as much technology as possible, I will have audio along with the pictures I have taken and some of the digital editing I have done. For the Next Vista video tutorial I am going to make a "How To Take A Good Photo" video. I am working with Rushton who supplied me with a basic outline to start planning my video. I finished it all up today and sent him my work so far. I plan to get most of the video tutorial done this weekend. I will keep working on my other one as well.

I am trying to make these as creative as possible so if anyone has any great ideas they think may work or help, please let me know!

Here is my outline, not including the pictures though because I want those to be a surprise for the final project.

Know your subject
· What is it that you are trying to capture in your photo, what is it of, and why are you taking it?
· This photo clearly shows what the subject is. The background does not distract from the object and shadows enhance the distinction between the two.
Eliminate distracting elements
· Avoid having background distractions like people walking by, a bright poster, a light or a busy scene. Decide if all things belong and are necessary in the photo or not.
· In this picture I digitally edited the photo to get rid of the green plant and the vase from the background. The ideal situation here would have been to remove them before taking the actual photo so one could avoid having to edit. With the edited version there are no distracting elements taking focus from the actual subject of the photo.
Rule of thirds
· When dealing with the rule of thirds, divide your picture or camera screen with three horizontal and three vertical lines (most new digital cameras come equipped with this as a built in function). To make a more interesting photo place the most important elements where these lines cross. Following this rule will help you create balanced photos.
· This picture follows the rule of thirds because the subjects face is in the upper third of the picture. If one was to draw lines over the image it would be clear that the position of the subject fits into this category.
Filling the frame
· It is important to fill the frame with your subject, rather than having a vast amount of open space. When taking photos of people it is recommended to have their head near the top of the frame with just a small amount of space.
· This flower fills the frame almost completely. By eliminating background space the subject can shine and show all of its important details.

ANGLES
High
· High angle is the opposite of a low angle. When a photo is taken from above the subject it gets smaller and possesses a feeling of less value.
· In this particular photo the angle gives a sense of immaturity and play. It gives the subject a young and free energy.
Low
· Having the camera at an angle below or lower than eye level creates a feeling of “power or importance making the subject look bigger, more solid,” or more dominant.
· This angle gives dominance to the subject. Having her pose at the top of the stairs gives her power. If she was to pose at the bottom of the stairs and have the angle pointing down at her, she would look small and somewhat unimportant.
Subjective
· “The subjective angle has the subject looking at the viewer.” This type of angle is used to create an interaction between the viewer and the subject.
· Having the subject stare into the camera creates a very subjective photo like this one. Even though she is doing an odd pose, as a viewer one gets drawn to her direct stare.
Objective
· This can be an action shot, or a shot of someone in a certain environment. Objective angles create a sense of being a spectator. Unlike the subjective angle, the objective angle does not allow for interaction.
· Giving space in front of what the subject is looking at helps achieve this objective sense. It gives viewers room to see what the subject may be looking at. If the image was cut off on the right side of the window frame this image would not be as impacting.
Oblique
· Oblique angles are used to create interesting, dramatic or artistic effects. Seeing something from an odd angle makes us look twice.
· I took this picture on an angle intentionally to add to the eerie effect I was trying to achieve with the old abandon house. Using this angle gives a sense that the world is off kilter or balance.
TYPES OF SHOTS
Extreme long shot
· This type of picture is used to show a large area like a crowd or a landscape.
· This example of an extreme long shot allows the viewer to see the whole scene; clouds and sky, boats, trees, etc.
Long shot
· This type of shot is used to emphasize on a subject but also have part of the environment playing a role. When taking a long shot photo of a person you capture their body from head to toe.
· It is clear to distinguish what the subject in the photo is, but the picture as a whole is more impacting with the background and floor included.
Medium shot
· This type of shot focuses predominantly on the subject, not on the background. A medium shot of a person shows them from waist to head keeping the hands in the photo if possible.
· This shot includes all of the mentioned elements. It focuses on what the subject is doing, including her body from waist up with her hands visible.
Close up
· This picture creates closeness between the person in the photo and the person viewing the photo. This shot shows ones shoulders, neck and head.
· Intimacy is created between the subject and the viewer with the closeness of this shot. Details are shown with the necklaces and hair lying softly on the shoulder.
Extreme close up
· This photo shows a lot of detail focusing on one main aspect of a subject. Often part of a whole is cut off, for instance the top of ones head. This creates an uncomfortable closeness between the viewer and the subject.
· The contrast in colours make this extreme close up pop.

USE OF LINES
Explicit
· Explicit lines are created by elements that are in the photo like railings, posts, hallways, or trees. Using these eyes you can draw the attention of the viewer to, or away from certain things.
· This is a good example of explicit lines because the stairs draw the eye towards the subject who holds onto a post. Theses posts, along with the rest of the structure of the building, also create explicit lines.

I think, after tonight's class, I might also do a photo story using one of the 50 Ways To Tell a Story mentioned by Alan.

Mentoring Updates

The past few days I have been working on commenting on Anne Smith's grade nine English honours class. They are doing wiki pages that include multimedia filled papers with links, videos and pictures. The basis of their papers is a book by Daniel Pink titled A Whole New Mind. I have read some really interesting insight on the book, which I plan to read sometime this summer. These grade nine students have some great writing techniques for their age, and have mature ideas that are presented in a professional manner. They back up their ideas with quotes not only from the book, but also from other sources. Most students have included embedded videos from sites like youtube. Many of the students have become really creative in the way they introduce their topic by using quotes from interesting or famous people, highlighting the main points that Pink discusses in his book, or using images or a video to draw the reader into the paper.

If anyone in Ecmp 355 has read A Whole New Mind and would like to tell me what they found most interesting, what was something they really enjoyed, or their favourite part, I challenge you to post a comment!

I posted my video for the students in Seth's class in Italy. I hope they enjoyed it and if they have any comments or questions they can leave comments below the video.


http://www.danpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/a-whole-new-mindreprint.jpg

Powerpoints

Last weeks class was filled with a lot of useful information pertaining to the preperation and delivery of presentations within the classroom. We talked about where to get good copyfriendly photos, via Flickr in creative commons, and searched to find our own images that we felt reflected an emotion or could be used in a class.

Another major aspect of the class was talking about what makes or breaks a Powerpoint presentation. Some of the key points here included:
• Use the key notes section
• Use lots of visuals, “a picture paints a thousand words”
• Use good images, not cheesy clipart
• Don’t steal
• Design matters
• Use a sans serif font
• Incorporate multimedia, audio, sound effects (these links are from the video sent to our class by Rushton Hurley from Next Vista.org)
• Always face the audience
• Don’t have tons of text, if you need all the information to be provided to students give them a print out for reference rather than having everything on your slides.

For some more great tips, refer to Alvin's Educational Technology Blog to see How to Create a Great Powerpoint.

By following these basic guidelines, preteachers like us can change how classroom presentations are done. We can make things more interesting and fun for our students! What is worse than sitting through an hour of someone reading off a screen filled with black text and a white background? Let us all consider these points when creating presentations in the future.


http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/newimages/addicted-powerpoint.gif

Weekly Photo

Tech Task #10

This is my Glogster poster for my tech task # 10. The assignment was to "sell yourself in four pictures." It was a challenge trying to pick four pictures that would best represent who I am. I chose to put a picture of my family because they not only helped shape the person I am, but they are also some of the most influential people in my life. Being a visual arts major I figured I would add one of my favourite drawings. I decided to put one of my favourite pictures that represents the fun aspect in my life. To make it complete, I had to add a picture of some of my best friends. All of these pictures represent major aspects in my life, so I guess I am sold in these four pictures.

Using Glogster is a great way to create fun and interesting posters. You can have animations, add videos and do tons of other crazy things. This would be a nice tool to use in the classroom for students to do an "About Me" poster at the beginning of the year. It would also be fun to use for different themes/occasions. I liked how it had a variety of different backgrounds and images to use.

Mentoring Video for Students in Italy

Finally got this silly thing uploaded! Had some difficulties but here it is. It goes out to the class that I am working with from Italy, Seth's class. They asked some questions before I created the video so I tried to answer them all.

Tech Task #9 Mastercard Video

Greetings everyone! We were asked in ECMP 355 this week to create a Mastercard video. Here is mine, I hope everyone enjoys it. I am from a small town and when you are in grade 12 it is a tradition to get together with some friends and make a grad car.

Where Are You From Survey Results

Here are my survey results. Thank you to everyone who took part in it. There are 5/14 people from a city or suberb, 3/14 from a town, 3/14 from a rural/acerage/farm and 1 person who has moved alot. I also concluded that the places we grew up affect the person we are today. If anyone has any cool stories they want to add or share about where they are from and how growing up there affected the person they are, I challenge you to share them!

Mentoring Project

I am excited to be a part of the three classrooms that I will be mentoring shortly. I contacted the teachers this morning (I was away all weekend and only had dialup on the farm which is awful for trying to blog) and am waiting for them to reply so I can find out exactly what I will be expected to do in their classes. I will be mentoring with Anne Smith from Colorado, Seth Dickens from Italy, and Teryl Magee from Tennessee. I will write an updated post after I have more information!

Wednesday's Class

Last Wednesday we had our second "in class" class for ECMP. To connect with a few of the students who couldn't attend the university we did an online broadcast using USTREAM. This is a great tool for connecting with people all over the world. It is easy and seemed to work perfectly other than a small lag in time.

After a short period of discussing things about the class we headed into a class with the ECMP 455 students to watch a presentation by Ben Hazzard on Smart Boards. In his presentation he outlined some of the reasons for using smart boards and some of the top ways to use and misuse this technology.

In my high school there were a few teachers who had smart boards in their classrooms, but one teacher in particular used her smart board in many of these top 10 ways that Ben listed. I think in doing this she created a more efficient learning environment that kept the students interested.

I found a site that has some good links for tips and ideas on using smart boards.

I also found a very basic video for anyone who missed Wednesday's class and isn't familiar with smart boards.

Weekly Photo

I thought I would post this picture because, yesterday, I turned 19! And this weekend on my way home to Tisdale I had to stop and get a picture by this sign.

Can you do the Heel Toe 1, 2, 3?

Yesterday in my KHS 232 dance class we spent the class dancing like we were attending a small town wedding dance in Saskatchewan. What a blast! Who knew a class of 30 students would all know the basics to several different dances, with a number of varieties for each?!

We did the Chicken Dance, the Heel Toe (1,2,3), the Butterfly, the Two Step, the Waltz, Saskatchewan Pirates, and the Polka. I think as an Arts Ed teacher these dances will be important to incorporate into my teaching. I think that students should be familiar with all of these social dances in order to keep the traditions alive. These dances are very basic, so bringing them into the classroom at any age level will be easy enough to do. For younger students one could keep the waltz and polka pretty simple and slow. Older students can try to do more difficult things like spinning, faster steps, and different arm positions. By giving the students a basis to these social dances they will be able to be participate in wedding dances and other social functions. Some other dances that we talked about but didn’t do were the bunny hop, YMCA, locomotion, and the hokey pokey.


http://roger14850.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/swing-dance-classes-lindy-hop-image-1001.gif

Mmm... Popcorn

Here is my photo of the week. I tried several different shots trying to make this single piece of popcorn look interesting. I chose this image to post because the popcorn is in focus and the background is slightly blurred giving it a cool overall look. I had my camera set on Vivid colour rather than on normal which gives more contrast in shades.

Choices!

In ECMP 355 class on Wednesday we had several amazing guest teachers talk about their classes. As an ECMP student, I will be required to mentor two or more classes online. It was extremely hard to choose what teachers I would like to work with because there were so many great sounding classes! I would love to be part of all of them, but that is impossible. I am excited for this experience to work with teachers and students from all over the world. I am sure it will be a positive learning experience, and it will help me to prepare ways of using technology when I go out for my internship in a few years.

A couple of teachers in the school from Florida got their kindergarten students to make a video to show us. It was so cute!

Kindergarten Mentor Video from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Tech Task #8 TED Talk on James Nachtwey

This is one of his AIDS photographs. Click on "James Nachtwey" to view his website with more images.

During Wednesday's class we were broken into smaller groups. Alex was in my group and she talked about what TED talk she watched and suggested that I watch it because I am doing a photography thing for Eaes class. James Nachtwey is a photojournalist who has worked for over 30 years in the field of photography, doing mainly war shots, African poverty, disasters, etc. His TED talk was very interesting, and I was captured by his amazing photos. Photojournalism can be viewed in many facets. Some people may look at some of the pictures and see them as invading these suffering people's space. What I see when I view these images is the truth. Like James mentioned the pictures put a human face on these dramatic events. By having these images we can personally connect with the stories rather than just hearing about a disaster that happened in another country. Pictures can, more often than not, tell a much more detailed story than words. James also mentioned that his photos give a voice to people who don't have one. Showing this pain and suffering can lead to good things like mentioned about the picture of the man who had been ran over by a train and lost his arm and leg and was living with his family by the river. After the photo was published people donated money out of their own will to help the family get a home. James talked about how when he is taking pictures he is often filled with anger and uses this emotion to clarify his vision for other people to see. I suggest if you get time, and if you have any interest in photography or war/poverty/aids, check out this TED talk or visit James' site.

Ken Robinson's talk on Creativity and Education

For our session tonight in ECMP 355, we were to have watched Sir Ken Robinson's talk on Creativity and Education. I really enjoyed his speech because he views education in a similar way as me (from an Arts Ed type of view). There were several interesting points he made:

• We are trying to educate people for a world we have no idea about
• All kids have talent
• Creativity is as important as literacy
• Kids will take a chance and they aren’t frightened with being wrong
• If you are not prepared to be wrong you won’t produce anything creative
• We run our education systems so you can’t make mistakes
• We need to let creativity grow not educate it away

Picture of the Week

I am doing some exploration in the world of photography for my Ed Aesthetics class. Some of my pictures I have done some digital editing to. Enjoy!

Tech Task #7: It Is the 21st Century, So Let’s Teach Like It Is

Professor Stephen Heppell compared education with the fall of the economy in his broadcast titled: It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though it Was. Heppell had some interesting points in the content of his speech about the “us-ness” of the connection of the internet. He talked in a professional way and seemed knowledgeable about his topic. He was comical, and kept my attention. Heppell discussed the history of the internet and how it was used in education. He made a point about how a lot of jobs are going to robots, so the world needs smarter kids to create better robots. He also talked specifically about how some students got the chance to be connected to professionals in the field, like scientists and engineers. By having this connection students become more engaged in conferencing with someone who is actually doing the experiments rather than learning strictly from their teacher who may just have the information provided by the textbook. Heppell used the saying, “Me, We, See” to describe how the process of online learning and education can work. It starts with one person who puts their personal ideas down, then shares them with their classmates and teachers in an intimate setting, and finally the student can have the world see it.

It is easy to see how comparing the economic downfall in today’s society to education can be relevant. Heppell made many strong points in his discussion. I also believe that if the world of education doesn’t step up and adapt to the new technology it will crash. Kids are being brought up in a totally different era, so as educators we need to adapt to them in order for success. I liked how he explained “rediscovering learning” in terms of technology. One point that stood out particularly in my mind after viewing this was the one about students being so engaged in what they are learning that the janitors are having to kick them out of the classes afterschool so things can be cleaned (in high school I was one of these kids that was frequently at the school after hours). The thought that someday all education will be online and there will be no “physical” school is an interesting thing to ponder. It is hard to think, especially coming from a small town where school is more than just a place to go and learn, that these facilities will be purposeless. I loved going to school for many reasons, to socialize with friends, to feel a sense of community, to play sports and be involved in clubs, and to get away from the lull of being at home. With total online learning few of these things I mentioned would happen. Yes, one could socialize with friends, in a less intimate way, but, the involvement in sports and clubs (like drama, choir, etc.) would be obsolete. To tie things together, It Is the 21st Century, So Let’s Teach Like It Is.

Technology Today

In Response to Kristin Hokanson’s blog,
The age of Citizen Journalism has arrived

Kristin talked about how the world has changed in terms of mass media and how the news can be broadcasted to EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, at ANYTIME using today’s technology. She used the example of the recent coverage of the live inauguration in the United States. Because of technology and mass media more people were able to be apart of this event with instant coverage that was posted online.

On Tuesday, I personally noticed the constant updating of pictures every time I signed onto my computer and the MSN homepage had changed its headlines and pictures of the new president. A few years ago this event would not have been made as accessible to people, but due to the web, the power of uploading videos at lightning speed, and the ease of digital photography anyone around the world can feel like they were a part of this event in history. To check out what else Kristin had to say about the inauguration relating to technology you can visit her blog.

This is a screenshot of my igoogle page. Enjoy!

All things Google

This weeks class was filled with tons of information on how to use google and all of its tools in the field of education. Lisa talked about how google can be used in a classroom and how teachers can filter it making it fit the specific needs of the class. I think this will be really useful in the future. There are many benefits of doing school work online: being able to access work anywhere in the world (therefore students won't have an excuse that they left their books in their locker and couldn't work on something), a second advantage of having things online is a technological issue, say the schools server crashed or got a virus (like Alex's school with the yearbook thing), students work would still be there online.

I think one thing that I will use in my teaching will be the survey/form for students to fill. Responses are then sent back in the form of a spreadsheet. This could be handy in many ways, simple survey questions to see where students are in their projects, or to give students a way to give comments and feedback on topics discussed in class.

The google calander will also be a great asset in online education. This is a nice place to organize where all the due dates are, as well as upcoming events.

The final tool that I feel will be most useful as a teacher is the Gmail accounts. By having these, students will be able to communicate between each other, and have a way to hand things in or pose questions to me in a more personal way rather than posting something on a blog for all to see.

Email Survey ECMP 355

Picture of the Week

Taken while walking home from the university on Friday, January 16th.

The Place to Bee

I am from a small town in Saskatchewan called Tisdale, "The Land of Rape and Honey." Tisdale has it's claim to fame, Brent Butt, who surprisingly enough is also a relative of mine. This is a picture I took at a family event. Barnabee the Bee is also another monument that symbolizes Tisdale, mainly used as a backdrop for people passing through to pose in front of. Teens in Tisdale often make an event of "riding the bee" on a Friday or Saturday night. Being from a small town and coming to Regina I have been challenged with many differences that I am slowly getting used to.

Blogging... Before this class I never really thought about blogging as being beneficial to ones career or to other people in the world. When thinking about blogging in the past, I thought about people complaining about certain issues, teen angst, and uneducational conversation topics. Using blogs as a form of teaching never came to mind. I think this tool will be helpful in my preperation to becoming a teacher as well as when I am out in the field. It is a good way to keep in touch with students in a technological way that is part of their daily lives.

My First

This is my first experience in an online class setting. At the beginning I found it both nerve racking and exciting. It was interesting to see how everyone slowly caught onto things and started going with the flow. I found it really helpful when Dean was on the web cam. I not only could hear him talking but I also had a visual that kept me interested and focused. Things got a bit challenging when the 455 class came in. It seemed like too many things were going on at once! I am excited for this class and I think it will be enjoyable to get to know my fellow classmates through blogging as well as chatting on Wednesdays.