Jing & Web 2.0

My Jing is about a Web 2.0 site called Woopid.com. It is a site where you can watch technology training videos or tutorials. I have used Jing last semester but I'm not an expert. It is such an easy program to capture screenshots and video with. The only problem I'm having is uploading to YouTube, it won't recognize the SWF file format. I'm still working on that so I can share it in Youtube. Here it is on screencast.com

Three other sites that I liked were ReadWrite & Think, a site from the International Reading association, busuu.com, a language learning site and blabberize.com, a fun program to make uploaded photos "talk."

What is Cloud Computing?

I think Cloud Computing is doing something on your computer or mobile device when the application is NOT on your computer but on a remote server somewhere. Google is trying to create (maybe they already have) an operating system that is on the cloud. You won't have to download anything, update anything you just connect to the internet. One man in the video called it the "big computer" that we all connect to. For example if PowerPoint was on the Cloud, I wouldn't have to worry about making a presentation and not being able to show it on a different computer because they had an older version of it installed. I could use Google Docs Presentation tool and I'd be able to pull it up on any computer that had an internet connection. Web 2.0 tools are more the applications we use that we can be interactive with. I think of Wikipedia, Facebook, blogs, YouTube when I think of Web 2.0. We might have to have a program on our computer to access these but they can be edited and viewed by anyone with an internet connection. I liked this You Tube of Web 2.0. It really gives you some things to think about.

Animoto vs. Photo Story 3

I did 2 videos using photos of mine of how to make beer. I used Photo Story 3, a Windows program you can download for free. I also used Animoto, a web based download that allows you to do short videos for free or longer ones for a fee.

And my Animoto version can be found on their web site.
I preferred Photo Story 3 because if allowed for more control. It let you decide on transitions and let you put voice for every photo you wanted. Neither option was available in Animoto. I felt like I got to do the work and decide how the final product would look. I think you could use Photo Story 3 more in education. However, Animoto has it's good points too. It's really fun and allows you to make very cool looking videos quickly. I can see this being used more for family photos and fun displays of many kinds of work. Over all I LOVED working with both programs. I have loved working with videos for many years and it is one of the only ways I feel creative and successful.
Finally got my Photo Story up on You Tube...

Animoto

How to Make Beer by Tracy Bartlett
My objective for this video is to demonstrate how to make beer using photos from an actual beer making session. This video will be shown to an adult audience of novice beer enthusiasts. Music was provided by Peter Doyle, called Butterfly uploaded from the Animoto site.

Podcast

I used my Podcast assignment as a way to record my resume and career aspirations.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Thank you Jason Shaw for use of your music.

Copyright Protection

Copyright seems to be an easy concept to understand but in reality is difficult to interpret.   It gives the author of literature or art the exclusive right to copy, distribute and make more of their creation based on the original and perform or display the work publically.   Since 1978 you don’t even have to apply for a copyright protection, it’s assumed so the author can have control.  When I was a teacher in Florida, our principal wanted us to realize and model the law and reminded us that we were not allowed to show whole movies in our rooms.  Sometimes as a special reward, teachers would show a Disney movie or something similar.  But we came to realize this was illegal because we were showing the movie to the whole class and this was potentially taking away from Disney profits.  The only time I really think about copyright protection in my life now is when I’m writing a paper for my classes.  But this is always done under the Fair Use condition.

Fair Use is one of the few conditions that copyrighted material can be used without permission from the author.  When I site an author of an idea in a paper, I don’t have to contact the author and ask if I can use the material.  I can do this because it’s for educational purposes and because I’m not using a lot of the material.  But there are other ways you can use copyrighted material without permission.  If you won’t make money from it, if the work is more factual than creative it is considered Fair Use. But these are not the only guidelines and that is why copyright protection can get confusing.  I remember a history teacher that wanted to show Saving Private Ryan to class studying WWII.  But it was decided that he really only should show the first 3 minutes, which is what Fair Use covers, and the students would get the idea of what the fighting was like.  I found a great chart to show teachers how much of copyrighted material they can and cannot use.

Work or Materials to be used for Educational Purposes	Fair Use Restrictions for Face-to-Face Teaching	Illegal Use without Explicit Permission from Creator/Author
Chapter in a book	Single copy for teacher for research, teaching, or class preparation. Multiple copies (one per student per class) okay if material is (a) adequately brief, (b) spontaneously copied, (c) in compliance with cumulative effect test. Copyright notice and attribution required.	Multiple copies used again and again without permission. Multiple copies to create anthology. Multiple copies to avoid purchase of textbook or consumable materials.
Newspaper/magazine article	Same as above. Multiple copies of complete work of less than 2,500 words and excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10% of work, whichever is less. For works of 2,500-4,999 words, 500 words may be copied.	Same as above
Prose, short story, short essay, Web article		Same as above
Poem	Same as for first item. Multiple copies allowed of complete poem up to 250 words -- no more than two printed pages. Multiple copies of up to 250 words from longer poems.	Same as above
Artwork or graphic image - chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon, picture from periodical, newspaper, or book, Web page image	Same as for first item. No more than 5 images of an artist/photographer in one program or printing and not more than 10% or 15% of images from published collective work, whichever is less.	Same as first item Incorporation or alteration into another form or as embellishment, decoration for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes.
Motion media - film and videotape productions	Single copy of up to 3 minutes or 10% of the whole, whichever is less. Spontaneity required.	Multiple copies prohibited. Incorporation or alteration into another form as embellishment for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes prohibited.
Music -sheet music, songs, lyrics, operas, musical scores, compact disk, disk, or cassette taped recordings	Single copy of up to 10% of a musical composition in print, sound, or multimedia form.	Same as immediately above
Broadcast programs	Single copy of off-air simultaneous broadcast may be used for a period not to exceed the first 45 consecutive calendar days after recording date. Use by only individual teachers. Copyright notice required.	Same as immediately above. May not be done at direction of superior. May not be altered.

Creative Commons Licenses seem to be something that has become more popular since the expansion of the internet. This is a special license that allows the author to keep copyright protections but allows the public to copy and distribute work when they give the author credit.  I found some very interesting authors who are using Creative Commons Licenses.  Flicker, is a photo or image web site that allows the public to copy and use the photos as long as they give the author credit. Nine Inch Nails has given away part one of a 1-4 set and offered the other parts for between $5 and $300 for a full box set.  They have reported making almost a million dollars in sales just from the box set.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology OpenCourse Ware is also under the Creative Commons License and has over 1900 courses available for free. Wikipedia has changed from a GNU (open source license) to a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. 

References:

A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright. (1997). Copyright and Fair Use Defined. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Purpose of use

Teaching Copyright. (2010). Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq

Creative Commons. (2006).  Creative Commons About. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://creativecommons.org/about

Creative Commons. (2006).  Creative Commons Who Uses CC?.  Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://creativecommons.org/who-uses-cc

RSS

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1oJv99-ev9JbkNzVzLtpF41NE5Bt_sYjsGmTA13Y9Dlc

RSS, an acronym for Really Simple Syndication, I also found one site that called it Rich Site Summary.  RSS feeds give you information you request sent to your computer so you can read it when and where you want.  It also gives you the updates to those articles or feeds.  I like having one place to keep all my blogs and news articles that I’ve started following since enrolling in this program last semester.  I used to bookmark the blogs and publications that I was following, but this is much better.  I can tell the New York Times that I just want articles about technology or education.  What I find amazing is the amount of  information available out there.  Not only professional journal articles but the amount of laymen blogging is astounding.  I had no problem at all finding 10 to subscribe to.  In fact I’ve found more than 35 in just a few days.  I can’t say I read them all every day but they are ones I will definitely keep track of.

        When I first set up Google Reader, which was as simple as a couple of clicks I was amazed at what it could do.  I liked the organization and how easy it is to organize my subscriptions into folders.  I feel much more relaxed when I’m organized.  Then I installed Feed Demon, mainly because a classmate suggested it but also because in their description it said how it synced up with Google Reader in a couple of steps.  I don’t like doing the same thing twice so this was an attractive feature.  Now that I’ve been using both I think I like Feed Demon better.  One of the main reasons is the ease I’m having with the RSS subscription button on the page.  When I try to subscribe right from the page I want in Google Reader I always come up with a page of code.  In Feed Demon, a pop up window appears and I can tell it which folder I want it in and I’m done.  I think on my home computer I’ll use Feed Demon and then on a mobile device I’ll use Google Reader.  I don’t know why anyone would not use a RSS reader, especially if they are consistent online news consumers.  For instance, my mother is retired and has a lot of time read local newspapers from the many towns she is interested in.  Every day she uses bookmarks to go to the newspaper’s home page and scans and reads.  If she used a RSS reader she could subscribe to the specific sections of the paper she was interested in and have all the information in one place.  It saves time and keeps you focused on the things you are looking for.
        As an elementary school teacher in a past life, I know how precious collaboration time is with other teachers, administrators and parents.  We are all here to help students succeed and sharing information is important.  I know when I find a great article the first thing I think of is “Who can I share this with?”  I recently read an article from my husband’s Wall Street Journal and wanted to cut it out and give it to the principal where my child goes to school.  If I was reading that online, I could have shared it with her and many other people who would have enjoyed it with just a couple of clicks.  I also think RSS readers help students and educators find the information they are interested in.  Like I said before, the amount of information and opinions out there is almost overwhelming and RSS readers send you the information you request.  So instead of reading through a whole magazine trying to find the article about Egypt, you can have the article sent to you.   I typed in Egypt in the Feed Demon subscribe button and hundreds of options about Egypt came up.  I was able to pick from tourism to news to blogs.  Students and teachers can share the sites they like with each other with their RSS readers.  Teachers could keep a class calendar on her blog and all the updates for homework and any important information will be sent to students and parents RSS readers.  I was also thinking it would be another way to inform parents of snow days.

Some of the sites I found that I’ve enjoyed reading are The Bill Gates Notes , which talks a lot about school reform and technology, two things I am passionate about.   Mark Wagner Ph. D. also writes a great blog about Educational Technology and Life.  Another blog I’m following is by Clint LaLonde, he is an Education Web Specialist in Canada and has a lot of great ideas and I like the way he writes and how he organizes his blog.