I have to admit to myself (and you) that I just can’t put together cogent, well thought out blogposts when I’m caught up in the swirl of a conference like NECC. Keynotes, debates, concurrent sessions, poster sessions, chance encounters, vendor visits, old friends, new friends… I think I just need to serve things up as little more than 140 character Plurk/Tweets until I get home and can distill some of this overpowering input. So, with that off my chest, I attended our annual birds of a feather Digital Storytelling SIG for just 30 minutes this afternoon and got this gem to share from PBS’s Frontline. They are putting a new spin on “work in progress” and inviting us to not only look and listen in, but also to be part of the story. Digital Nation is a documentary that will air in January 2010. Watch how it progresses and maybe take part in it yourself.
Watch this morning’s debate about the role/future of bricks and mortar schools. Though they declared a single winner, we all win by listening to these well thought out statements by some well known educators and two very eloquent high school students.
Reflecting on this last school, it has become quite obvious to me that schools are moving away from mini-DV tape camcorders and towards less expensive, flash memory cameras like the Flip and Kodak’s Zi6 or Zx1. I think there may have been some brief flirting with DVD and hard drive camcorders, but they have their own management problems and don’t represent any significant cost savings. I had been planning to write a comparison of the two right at the end of school. What stopped me was importing video into Windows computers. (I am holding my Mac-biased tongue here, all my Apple video editing programs seem to be just fine importing video from either camera.) MovieMaker can handle the Flip’s video files after installing the right codec and Adobe Premiere Elements is happy with the Zi6. However, the converse is not true and I haven’t been able to find any online solutions. So, one of my main goals at NECC week after next will be to try and get some face time with the camera and software people to see what they know. I would also like to hear from you. Do you use one of these cameras or another flash memory brand with PC software? Would you please share your story here via comment or email me at jbtv(at)mac.com?
The latest round of winners have been announced in ISTE’s 30th anniversary, tell your technology story. But don’t dismay - you still have until June 15th to upload your story to be in the running for a trip to NECC Denver in 2010. Check out all the videos celebrating our journey incorporating technology into the classroom and ISTE’s 30th at http://www.istevision.org.
Kindergarten teacher Al Doss snagged an HP mini laptop for “Al’s Ah Ha Moment.” How can a brick and an Apple IIgs lead to a technology enriched classroom?
“New T-E-C-H-nology“ is a fun take off on a commercial done by engaged high school students who like learning in teams. Their effort won a Flip Ultra video camcorder.
Jack Tovey’s “Art for the Digital Generation” puts a new spin on Picasso and got him a copy of the ISTE book Visual Arts Units for All Levels.
Since NECC is just four weeks away and the deadline to get your impact of technology story celebrating ISTE’s 30th anniversary in, in time for this month’s drawing (an HP mini notebook or iPod touch, Flip video camera, and the ISTE book, Visual Arts Units for All Levels) deadline is May 31st, I thought it a good time for a little reminder. The grand prize will be a trip to NECC 2010 in Denver. You can see plenty of contributions already at the ISTE Vision website but might you not have some thoughts to add also? All submissions will be playing on special kiosks throughout the NECC convention center.
Graphic from ISTE’s site supporting your learning (and teaching) journey with a focus on digital citizenship.
The last Friday in April has been a dilemma for me the last few years because both the Chicagoland Television Educators Video Festival and Tech&Learning magazine’s TechForum Midwest always fall on that same day. I feel a bit cheated because I only get a half day at each learning event. Add to it the DEN Virtual Conference on Saturday (archives TBA) and my Wilkes U. digital storytelling class’s final grades due on Monday morning, and I’m glad it’s a cold, gray, rainy Sunday for catching up (sorry golfers et al.).
You might enjoy perusing our CTEC site and its resources. This year’s winners aren’t posted yet but you can look over ’08’s best and get some great ideas for projects with your students (don’t miss the link at the bottom of the page to get to other categories like commercials and documentary). This year we had almost 400 entries in 18 categories. There are also some interesting lesson ideas posted at the bottom of our institute day recaps. Check out “Lollipop Interviews” where students interview each other and “What’s My Line?” easily adaptable for video and writing projects in your own classes.
I really can’t remember how long ago I connected with the Tech&Learning conferences and its energetic staff, but it was so long ago that they are the ones who introduced me to this “relatively unknown” guy from North Carolina named David Warlick. Since then, it has become an annual reunion of learning and great dinners with old and new friends from in and out of state. I missed Jon Orech’s Advanced Thinking in Digital Storytelling this time around but you can catch up on his thoughts at his Wiki page. As an English teacher for almost 25 years, Jon brings great insight to visual grammar.
This is the “handout” for my 3/20 session here in Detroit. An abridged version of the slides can be found in the post before last (March 9th).
My hero Marco Torres (Marc O’Torres?) and his students from San Fernando H.S.
Frank Guttler’s
Google Teacher Academy video application and his Lights, Camera, Learn blog
Learn and share at the American Film Institute’s ScreenNation. And their YouTube channel.
Jason Ohler, Art is the 4th “R” and New Media Narratives
The Great Minds Foundation, students making videos to encourage other students to make a difference.
The Chicagoland Television Educators Council
Discovery Education streaming (search on “afi”)
This is the “handout” for my Makin’ Movies: Special Effects session at MACUL in Detroit 3/19/09.
My home made F/X are at homepage.mac.com/jbtv. Look for the clips that begin with “FX.”
The”Ken Burns” effect which can be used in iMovie and PhotoStory on a PC, lets you move around a still picture. Bring the same picture in a few times to get multiple moves. My daughter met her husband in pre-school.
You can make a movie rating screen in any program that you can put a transparent table over a green background.
Black and white is a great way to show a dream sequence or a memory. You may also have access to other color filters to get more video effects.
Morphing can be as simple as adding a cross dissolve between two similar pictures. It’s also a way to bring movement to still pictures or just have some fun. This video was made with still pictures taken via the built-in camera on a Mac and Photo Booth. The key is the camera DID NOT MOVE. You can do a lot when the camera remains fixed and you just cut pieces of time out.
A fixed camera is the foundation to many F/X shots. Put it on a tripod and make sure it doesn’t budge. People only see what the camera sees AND what slices of time you choose to let them experience.
…as in this passage of time (P.O.T) shot
…or in this “Field of Dreams” shot
…or in this “beam me up, Scotty” kind of shot where the Dr. just appears between the parents
…or ghosting where a long cross dissolve can make a specter appear
Reversing a clip takes a bit of planning and is a very attention getting way to make a point.
…as in this chase sequence from the California Student Media Festival
…or this recycler’s best friend
Green screen or chroma key probably goes beyond simple except in iMovie ‘09. Make the green screen a character or prop by putting the key color in the foreground. The computer doesn’t care where the pixels that it is replacing are. There are plug-ins for iMovie HD6 (old, old post but I think all the links still work) and for MovieMaker. Mac users with Leopard should look into the effects in Photo Booth.
…as in this clip from Eastwood H.S. in El Paso
…or this one from my kitchen
So, our Illinois state conference is over and I slept late today and yesterday in a feeble attempt to recover. What a great learning opportunity and cooperative venture! I had lively crowds in Makin’ Movies both days (as well as in the full day workshops) and up in the Apple room for PhotoBooth Phun, but think I scared about half my attendees off in my Apple Pro Apps session when I explained the power AND the learning curve of all the programs in the suite. Maybe I should just stick to Final Cut in the future.
So good to see folks and get to visit on top of all the great sharing. In particular, two of my friends pointed me to their students’ most recent work.
Video and media teacher Jeff Doles from Barrington H.S., who oversees the Great Minds Foundation contests, has a student who did a 20 minute documentary on GiGi’s Playhouse, which describes itself as a Down syndrome awareness center and has four locations around the Chicago area and one in Iowa.
Arlington Heights art teacher Trish Fuglestad’s class did “Let’s be Green” to encourage students to be more eco friendly. Jon Orech even showed it in his digital storytelling presentation. And as for the picture in picture special effect that brings the things around the room to life, Trish explains she used iMovie’s color controls to put a single color wash on each face (i.e. the recycle bin student is bluish, the sink girl is kind of silver, etc.) and then used a free plug-in from one of the Stupendous Software bundles to place them into another clip.
In just a couple of weeks we’ll start in on planning next year’s conference:
2010 - a Learning Odyssey
I remember when I turned 30. It struck me that I was learning to drive the year that the current freshmen were born. I couldn’t dunk a basketball at will anymore (though I like to think I had the good sense not to). We had started a family and number two was on his way. And with the old 60’s mantra, “Never trust anyone over 30!” somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I realized there was a lot to celebrate and that the best was yet to come.
This year we find the International Society for Technology in Education at the same point in its life and you are invited to celebrate the past and look towards the future through digital storytelling. Bernajean Porter is kicking off the project with a free ISTE webinar on Friday Jan. 30th at 2 p.m. EST. Join us then and/or join in the ongoing conversation about the project on ISTE’s Storytelling Corps wiki. Here is the official description of tomorrow’s webinar:
NECC 2009 in Washington D.C. will mark thirty years of ISTE and ed tech history. Join ISTE and our new Digital Storytelling SIG for this free webinar that will introduce you to basic digital storytelling concepts and ISTE’s current storytelling project.
This project aims to collect the many stories detailing the journey of successes, challenges, lessons learned and celebrations of education technology making a difference for our kids. Participants will explore local, national and global benefits for gathering these stories; the difference between digital stories and storytelling; resources, ideas and strategies for getting started; and reflect on some examples of exemplar storytelling that leaves an enduring impact on viewers of all ages.
It may be a bit more time before all my impressions play themselves out in this blog but here are a couple of things that have stayed in the fore since I got home and got some rest.
Apple and Full Sail University had a digital storytelling reception where current Full Sail students had stations set up to walk attendees through the process. There were pre-production, writing, filming, and editing tables where attendees could build their own stories. Great stuff from a great program! I look forward to spending a few days there this summer during our Apple Institute. And they even highly recommended our buddy, Jason Ohler’s book on their handout of resources. But the highlight of the program for me was meeting a precocious 10 year old filmmaker. I’ll have more on Sam and his ideas about education after we’ve traded a couple of emails
Hall was a man of many presentations at FETC and many late nights getting them just right. His closing keynote was a riot as he showed what FETC 2012 would look like. From bandwidth the size of a municipal storm drain to video enhanced name badges and Twitter renamed “Jitter” because you now only have 6 characters to get your message across, he managed to be both hilarious and thought provoking.
And for those attendees in my FETC Makin’ Movies presentation (and anyone else who’s interested) here are the links to my resources:
Search “AFI” on DiscoveryEducationstreaming.com for the full set of Sean Astin narrated videos
The American Film Institute ScreenEd Program resources: afi.edu and screennation.afi.com
Marco Torres and students - www.sfett.com
Frank Guttler’s blog - LightsCameraLearn.com
Student videos and competitions for better living - GreatMindsFoundation.org
Great digital storyteller and teacher - JasonOhler.com
Our Chicagoland TV educators and their students’ work - ctectv.org
BTW, exactly a year ago my grandson was kind enough to make his entrance right between FETC ‘08 and my return trip to Florida to keynote tech day for Brevard county. Happy birthday, Frankie!
Via RSS
