Teachers and Computers

Online Photo-Books: Mixbook

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:57:00 +0000

I remember an advert from Kodak from a few years back, which highlighted the importance of taking photos of special occasions and events in our lives, as to cherish and treasure the moment forever. Nowadays of course, getting hold of a camera and taking photos is a tad easier than it was in those days; and the emphasis has shifted from actual photo-taking to photo presentations. How are we going to store and share the photographs that we have so lovingly taken? How can we embed them in an innovative and interesting way on our websites or blogs for others to see? On this blog I have often dealt with online applications whose purpose varies from sharing photos (Slide, Animoto, Flickr...) to applications which help us edit pictures online (Picnik, Picasa...). The application which we are going to view today, Mixbook, allows users to create interesting online scrap-books with their favourite photographs, essentially creating embeddable online books for sharing or printing.

Getting Started

As with other Web 2.0 applications, the first thing to do is sign up: go to http://www.mixbook.com, and click on Sign Up at the top right hand side of the screen. Take note of your username and password, click on Sign Up and the system will automatically log you onto your welcome screen and dashboard. You will immediately be able to (if you wish) upload a profile picture and get started on your work. You will immediately be able to see a menu on the left hand side of the screen, plus a number of icons on top.

From the left-hand side menu, you will be able to access your works in progress by clicking on My Projects. Your Mixbook friends, with whom you can interact can be found by clicking on My Friends. All the photos uploaded on your various Mixbook projects can be accessed by clicking on My Photos. Finally, by clicking on My Inbox, you will be able to access, reply to and send messages to your Mixbook friends.

Creating your first Mixbook

To start your first Mixbook, click on the Create icon on the top of the screen. You will be able to set up your project by giving a name, description, category and tags. In the creation stage, you will also be able to make your project private, viewable only to your friends or public (that is entirely up to you) and also invite contributors who can edit the Mixbook together with you. Inviting contributors is especially useful if you are engaging in project work and you have more than one person working on the same project at the same time. When you are satisfied with your settings, click on Create Mixbook. You will then be able to choose from a variety of different size-templates with which to create your project. (Do not worry that these appear with price-tags attached: there is no charge for simply creating online, the charge only applies for when one needs to order the actual printed books).

Choosing Themes, Styles & Layouts

After choosing a the size of the album, you can then select themes according to the photographs you are going to use: choose between general themes and themes linked to special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, seasons, educational and kid's themes. Browse through the themes by scrolling down the Themes Menu on the left; you will get a preview of each theme in the central canvas, to give you feel of what that theme looks like. When you choose a Theme, you will notice that at the bottom of the screen, there is a tick next to Give me a book that is almost done option at the bottom of the screen. This option will enable you to work with a pre-prepared book of 20 pages, and you can keep, edit and delete the pages to suit your requirements. This is especially recommended for beginners who might be unsure of the options on offer from Mixbook and especially so if you are using the application for the first time. To start on your first Mixbook, select a theme, make sure that there is a tick next to Give me a book that is almost done option at the bottom of the screen, and click on Choose Theme. This will give you some time to familiarise yourself with the application gradually.

(N.B. Some people however like experimenting and are keen to to start projects from scratch. In that case, untick the box next to Give me a book that is almost done and click on I don't want to choose a theme in order to create your blank project. You will then be presented with a blank, 6 pages long book, and you will be able to add photos, stickers, captions, and choose themes and colours as the project progresses).

Adding Photos to your Mixbook

There are various ways in which to upload pictures onto your Mixbook: you can either grab them automatically from another social networking site, such as Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and PhotoBucket. Or you can upload them the old-fashioned way: by browsing your hard disk or removable media (pen drive, flash card) and upload them directly to Mixbook. To grab photos from an online repository, click on the appropriate icon (the blue "F" for Facebook, the blue and pink coloured bubbles for Flickr, etc); or click on Upload to access photos which are stored on your computer. The wait time will depend on the size of the photos being uploaded and the speed of your connection. As soon as your photos have been uploaded, you will be able to drag the photos into your Mixbook. (You will notice that if you have used a pre-loaded theme, there are already boxes where you can drag and drop your pictures. If on the other hand you opted out of having a theme, you will be able to drop your pictures practically anywhere).

Editing your Mixbook

After filling in your Mixbook with photos, you might also want to edit it in other ways, such as adding captions, stickers, changing colour schemes and adding and removing pages. Each photo in your project can be resized, sent to front/back flipped, rotated and edited (basic editing such as B/W and Sepia effects are available). This is achieved by clicking on the photo, whereby a small editing menu will appear underneath it. You can also edit the pre-loaded captions by clicking on them and a similar editing menu, this time for text and sporting various font settings, will appear. Adding extra captions/text is possible by clicking the Add Text tab at the top right hand side of the screen.

From the menu on the top left hand side of the screen, you will also be able to change the page layout, theme and colour scheme of pages. So even if you had chosen a particular theme/colour at the beginning of your project, if the effect is not as desired, you will be able to edit accordingly. Another feature is that of adding Stickers to your photos or page to create some interesting designs. Once again, the stickers can be accessed from the menu on the top left hand side of your screen.

Finally, you can also change the number of pages/location of particular spreads etc. This is achieved through the Timeline underneath each project canvas. You are able to Add a blank page, Duplicate or Remove a page from the timeline by clicking on the appropriate Page Tools at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

NB Remember that, at any time during the building of your Mixbook, you will be able to add contributors to your project. Simply click on the icon Add Contributors on the top menu to add more people to your project.

Save and Share Your Mixbook

When you are done editing your Mixbook, you will be able to save it online, share it with your friends and even embed it in your favourite website or blog. Click on the Save button on the top menu, and exit your Mixbook by clicking on the window's red close button. You should be re-directed back to Mixbook.com (or if you don't, simply type http://www.mixbook.com in the address bar on your browser). Make sure you are still logged onto Mixbook and click on My Projects tab on the left hand side of the screen. Locate your project and click on its thumbnail (do not click on edit). Drag the sidebar to the bottom of the screen, find the About this Mixbook box, and copy and paste the embed code onto your favourite website or blog. Alternatively, you can just share your project's URL by either copying and pasting the project's Internet address onto an email, or else by clicking on the email to a friend button on the left hand side of the screen. From the About this Mixbook box, you will also be able to add additional contributors, should you wish to do so at this stage as well.

This is an example of how an embedded Mixbook looks like in a blog...I have kept this very short of course, but you can add as many pages as you like to your project:

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Sites to remember:

http://www.mixbook.com

Smile: It's a Smilebox Creation!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:03:00 +0000

I remember a time when I was pretty young, when taking a photo was a rather stately affair. We only had a small camera which produced tiny squarish photos, you had to change the flash light often and developing photos was rather costly in itself. A far cry from today: you can say that nearly everyone owns a camera or at least they are able to take pictures and videos using their phones. Traditional photo developing is a thing of the past: photos can be easily printed off at home, and of course, one may also choose not to actually make a hard copy of one's photos, but use them creatively to create an interesting slide-show or collages to be shown on a computer. The Internet is rife with free programs that enable one to make impressive photo presentations with the mere click of a button. Today we will explore Smilebox, an animated PhotoAlbum, Scrapbook and Slideshow creator, which allows very creative use of media by allowing users to browse through different designs and create some impressive digital presentations.

Getting Started

To start using Smilebox, go to http://www.smilebox.com and click on the Get Started Icon on the bottom right hand side of the screen. You will be able to download a small programme (under 7MB) that installs itself on your computer and and which will allow you to use Smilebox on your computer. You must also provide a valid email and create a user name and a password so that your work will be stored under your profile online. There is no confirmation email to check and click; once you submit your details you will be able to use the application. Thereafter, when you wish to use Smilebox, you do not have to open your Internet browser (although you must be connected to the Internet); simply click on the Smilebox icon that will appear on your desktop after installation.

Browsing Designs

Smilebox offers literally hundreds of design combinations to choose from and work with your photos. You can choose designs by either Theme (bottom of the screen: choose from themes such as Holidays, Special Occasions, Birthdays, etc) or by Format (Collages, Slideshows, Photo Albums, Invitations, etc.) You can take your time to browse through the different themes and formats which best suits the work at hand. Below is a table of all the possibilities:

As you can see from this table, the possibilities are, quite literally, endless.

Examples of Smilebox Creations

Although there are so many different things to do on Smilebox, all tasks across the different themes follow a certain pattern: that is, uploading a photo or video on to form an Online Album is no different from uploading media to create a Greeting Card. What changes is not the method, but rather, how your audience will view the final product.

Let's assume you have a set of photos that you want to group together and share with your friends or colleagues. First, you may click on Browse by Format on the bottom right hand side of the screen, and choose the format which mostly suits your needs (for example, Collages). You will then immediately be prompted to choose a Design for your collage - some more suitable to certain events than others, for example, you can find designs suitable for holiday pictures or for more formal presentations. You can also sift through the designs by sorting them by name, format, number of photos, style or newest first. Once you choose and settle on a design, click on Personalise to download and be able to edit it.

Once the design has finished downloading, a template will open up for you to edit. If there is any text, you will be able to click on the textbox and delete or edit the text as you wish. You can add your own pictures or videos by clicking on the Get Photos or Get Videos at the bottom left hand side of the screen to browse through your hardisk or removable media and upload resources onto your Smilebox project. The pictures or videos can be then dragged directly onto the design template to create your collage. From the menu on the right hand side of the screen, you will be able to make changes to your design, such as increasing/decreasing the number of photos used, your layout, font styles and colour schemes. You can also choose to add some music to your creation to make it more lively.

When you are finished editing, click on the Save button at the top right hand side of the screen; Smilebox will automatically save your creation in the My Smilebox Creations folder which the is automatically installed in the My Documents folder. Then click on the Preview button on the top menu to be able to look at your creation before finalising it; if you wish to make any changes hit the escape key, but if you think your creation is ready for sharing, click on Share, Print or DVD button. You can share it for free online by sending the link as an email (Email your creation) or posting onto your favourite blog or social networking site (Post it on Facebook, Blog or Web). Printing or saving your creation to DVD will require additional subscription to Smilebox Club (no fee is incurred for online sharing though).

To embed it online for free, click on Post, choose a name for your creation, choose a repository (Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, etc) and click on Continue. Remember to also choose the Basic Design if prompted, which allows for free sharing of your creation. Wait for the code to be generated, then copy and paste the code onto your favourite Blog, or, in the case of Facebook and Twitter, log onto your respective account and your Smilebox will be uploaded automatically. For example, to upload my collage on this blog post, I have asked the programme to generate the Blogger code by clicking on the orange blogger logo on the top left hand side of the screen, and copied and pasted the code in HTML mode.

Customize a picture collage

As I said before, the process to create an animated collage can be applied to all the other types of creations and designs: be it a Photo Album, a Scrap-book or a Calendar....The system is the same throughout: chose your design, upload the photos, drag them to the template and change the template accordingly. And that is the beauty of Web 2.0 applications: once you find your way around one, with a bit of thought, you will be able to navigate your way through the others...

Happy creations!

Sites to Remember:

http://www.smilebox.com

Let's write a story: Storybird

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:41:00 +0000

Children all love a good story. They like to discover, to listen, to read. And in the course of their classroom lives, they might also be asked to produce stories of their own, either on an individual, group or classroom basis. Teachers use stories as lesson starters, to enhance listening and reading skills and to engage their students. And if the students get to use their imagination a bit and create stories of their own, so much the better.

Storybird is a service that uses collaborative storytelling to connect students and teachers around the world. Two (or more) people create a Storybird in a round robin fashion by writing their own text and inserting pictures. They then have the option of sharing their Storybird privately or publicly on the network. The final product can be printed, watched on screen, played with like a toy, or shared through a worldwide library.

First Steps

To start your first story, go to http://storybird.com, and click on Sing Up to create your accounts. Students can click on the Kids Click Here sticker, and they will be asked to register using their parent's email. After registering and subsequent log in, you will be taken to your Storybird Dashboard, where you will be able to take a look at both your published and unfinished stories, and also at your Reading List. This is because the application will let you browse through other people's stories and select any number to add them to your list.

You, Create, Read

Your Storybird dashboard is divided into three broad areas, accessible through the top left :

You: This is where you can find your work: what you started, published or were invited to. Your reading list is also accessed from here;
Create: This is where you let your creative streak loose, and get inspired by art and explore the available themes;
Read: Finally, this is where you take a look at others' published Storybirds, and add them to your reading list.

Creating your Story

To start creating a new story, click on Create and you will have the option to start browsing through the Artists' Story Art, Take The Challenge or Explore Themes. You will be able to use the different artwork to create a Storybird of your own.

Artists' Story Art: Browse through the different pictures created by artists from all over the world. Your will be able to "like" - by clicking on the Heart icon, and share your favourite artists by email, Twitter or Facebook. Some artists may have created artwork about different themes, too. At the bottom of the screen, you will also be able to preview any Storybirds who have used the artwork you are viewing. When you an artwork that you can work with, click on Start a Storybird with this art at the top right hand side of the screen, and then on Jump In to start
out.

Take The Challenge: Every month, Storybird launches a themed competition, which is usually sponsored by a third-party (for example, the December 2010 competition is sponsored by Cheerios, the popular children's breakfast cereal). Users have to create a Storybird according to a pre-set theme and thus enter a competion. Even if you are not interested in enrolling in these competitions, in this section you will be able to view other people's entries and perhaps get inspired about your own project.

Explore Themes: The artwork uploaded by others is naturally tagged for ease of reference. In this section you will be able to browse through all the tagged categories instead of by individual artists, and hence you will be more able to find what you are looking for if you have something specific in mind.

Working Together

After you have chosen your artwork, you will be able to start working on you own story by clicking on Start a Storybird with this art. You will be presented with a blank canvas, which you can fill up with the artwork scattered all around the page. To fill your page with an illustration, click on the picture you require and drag it onto the page. Note that the illustration will not fill up the whole of the page: a textbox will automatically be created so that you will be able to fill in some text too. Page navigation can be found at the bottom of the screen: click to Add or Delete a page, or Previous Page/Next Page to navigate from one page to the next.

You will be able save, share or publish your Storybird by clicking on the menu on the top right hand side of the screen. Click on Save to safeguard your work; on Menu>Invite Someone to invite collaborators; and on Menu>Publish This Storybird to make your creation available online to others. After you have published your story, you will also be able to share it online with others through blogs or websites by grabbing the Storybird's embed code and copy and paste it onto your platform. Currently, Storybird code is accepted by most popular platforms accepting standard HTML code, such as Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr and Ning. Below is a Storybird created by my friend and collegue, Jeannette Cardona:

Whilst you can use Storybird with your own class, to create a classroom-based story, the straight of the application lies, of course, in the ability to share your creation with others and allow others to add to your own story, to create a collaborative project together. The only drawback I encountered in Storybird seems to be that you are unable to add your own drawings to a single story; however, if you are so inclined, you can apply to be a contributor here: http://storybird.com/artists/

Sites to Remember:
http://storybird.com/

http://storybird.com/artists/

Prezi: An Innovative Presentation Application

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:30:00 +0000

When one thinks of presentation software generally, the thought tends to drift immediately to PowerPoint, within the MS Office Application Suite. While one agrees that PowerPoint has its merits, it is not the beginning and end of all presentations: there are various other applications available which can do an similar or an even better job of presenting your work. Mashable.com gives a whole list of alternatives that can be used and these include Google Docs, Ajax, Thinkfree and Zoho. (The full list can be accessed online at http://mashable.com/2008/02/16/forget-powerpoint-online-presentations/). One such free, web based presentation application is Prezi.

Prezi is a web-based presentation application and story-telling tool. Instead of using the traditional slides which come one after the other, Prezi gives the user a single canvas which can be filled with words, pictures and videos. The user can fill up the canvas as he or she desires; then, one has to create links from one "item" to the next, to create a free-flowing presentation. The result is a non-linear presentation, where users can zoom in or out of a visual map. The end result can be quite stunning visually. Prezi also allows multiple users to work on the same presentation (by email invitation), making it an excellent collaboration tool.

The video below explains in brief what Prezi is all about:

Getting Started

To start using Prezi, you need to first create an account. Prezi offers three types of accounts: Public, Enjoy and Pro. Public is the only free service available, and apart from allowing limited online space, all presentations created will be visible and searchable by other Prezi users. On the other hand, Prezi offers special student/teacher licenses, which give an immediate upgrade in storage of 500MB. This is possible by registering to Prezi with an email account which can be traced back to an educational institution, such as teacher's .educ and .gov accounts. After you register for the first time, you will be asked to log into the email account you have used when registering and click on the confirmation email which is automatically sent by Prezi.

Your First Prezi

To start your first Prezi, go to to http://www.prezi.com/, log in using the email you have registered with and your newly created password, and click on New Prezi on the top right hand side of the screen. You will be presented with a new window where you can input the title of your Prezi together with a short description. After this is done, you will be able to start working. Your screen should look something like this:

A huge white canvas, with the words Click anywhere to add an idea in the middle of the screen;
The transformation menu on the top left hand side of the screen;
Save/Print/Exit menu on the top of the screen;
Zoom in/out menu on the right hand side.

To start writing, click anywhere (litteraly) and start typing away. A text box will automatically open and your will be able to write your message. The text within each text box can be changed in an autonomous way. After you have entered your text and clicked on Ok to save it, you will be able to access it again either by double clicking and re-opening the text box, or else by clicking once and opening the Transformation Zebra.

The Transformation Zebra - Move-Scale-Rotate

The transformation Zebra is a dynamic menu system used by Prezi. By clicking once on the word or item of choice, it will open up and allow you to zoom in, out, delete, duplicate, bring an object to the front or relegate it to the back of the canvas. By moving the scroll button on the mouse, you will be able to zoom in or out of the text box; by clicking on the "X" you will be able to access all the other options. The Transformation Zebra is pivotal to the correct usage of Prezi.

Adding onto your Prezi

Of course, adding textboxes to Prezi is only the beginning of the journey. Click on the transformation menu on the top left hand side of the screen, and choose Insert. From here, you will be able to insert pictures, videos (from your disk or from an URL) or draw shapes with the freehand drawing tool.

To insert a picture or video from your disk, click on Insert > Load File. A standard file browsing window will open, from which you will be able to select the desired file. Alternatively, to add video content which is already online to your Prezi, click anywhere on the canvas to open a text box, and copy and paste the URL of the desired video from YouTube or any similar video repository.

You can also change the fonts and colours of your presentation. Click on the transformation menu and then on Colours and Fonts. You will be able to change the way your presentation looks; however for the moment this is limited only to about 10 templates.

Paths

Of course the most important feature of Prezi, which puts it ahead of its game, is the ability to create paths between your words, pictures and videos. The path will determine the order of the information being presented. One can also zoom in or out of specific words and pictures by using Frames.

To create paths, simply click on the transformation menu, and then on Paths. By clicking on each individual item - text, picture, video - you will be able to generate the order in which the items will appear on your screen one after the other. Numbers will appear on each newly created path so that you can tell at a glance which item will come after which. If you wish to delete a path, simply drag the path (where the number is written) out of the text box, video or picture.

If you wish to zoom onto a specific parts of the text, you may also create frames by clicking on the transformation menu and then on Frames. You will be able to select specific parts of a picture and zoom in directly onto it by creating a new path for the frame.

Saving and Downloading your Prezi

As soon as you have finished editing your Prezi, you can preview it by clicking on Show from the transformation menu. When you are happy with the results, click on Save on the top menu, and then on Exit. You will be taken to the Prezi dashboard.

From here, you have several options at your disposal, which are accessible from the menu on the left hand side of the screen:

Edit Prezi: to edit your existing presentation;
Save a copy: to create a backup of your prezi;
Download: to download a copy of your prezi for offline viewing - however, bear in mind that if your prezi contains online material, such as videos from YouTube, they will not work without an Internet connection;
Delete: to delete a prezi from the online repository (make sure that you have downloaded it for future use first).

Collaboration with others

Like other Web 2.0 tools, Prezi allows great collaboration between groups of people who will be able to work together on the same presentation. You will be able to get a link and share the Prezi by email, or embed it onto your website or blog. But best of all, Prezi allows you to invite editors to work together with you on your presentation. Click on Get Link to get your presentation's link, on Embed to grab the code and or on Invite Editors to invite your collaborators to work with you. You will be able to work hand-in hand with your colleagues or friends on this innovative presentation software.

Sites to remember:

Prezi: http://www.prezi.com

Examples of other free, online presentation software: http://mashable.com/2008/02/16/forget-powerpoint-online-presentations/

NB I would like to thank Franco for teaching me how to use Prezi, and Jeffrey for having the patience to repeat :)

Online Publishing: Issuu

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:35:00 +0000

Web 2.0 has changed the way that ordinary people look at the Internet. In the times of Web 1.0, the Internet was read-only, static, authoritarian: and most importantly, it was only the people who knew how to who could upload and share their information online with others. This has of course changed with the advent of Web 2.0 and a more collaborative, user-generated content web. Along the years, a number of online media repositories - some of course more popular then others - have sprouted on the Internet: for example, YouTube and Vimeo for online video sharing; SlideShare for presentations and documents; Picasa and Flickr for sharing photos, etc. The list is ever-growing, and the trick is to find something that not only works well for you, but, in the case of educators, works well in the classroom as well. Today I am going to take a look at Issuu, an online service that allows for realistic and customizable viewing of digitally uploaded material, such as portfolios, books, magazine issues, newspapers, and other print media.

Getting Started

The first step is, of course, registration: log onto http://issuu.com/ and click on Sign Up Now. It will allow for quick and easy registration, and then it will immediately allow you to find other users in your contact list who are using Issuu as well. This will allow even easier sharing of your documents with your friends. You will also be asked whether you want to view the introdoctory videos to get you started: here is the very first one which I have embedded here:

Uploading Your publications

Uploading a document on Issuu is relatively as easy as adding or sending an attachment by email: simply click on the Upload Document icon on the top right hand side of the screen, and then on Browse to choose your file. You will also be prompted to enter the title, description, keywords, and to choose a URL for your file. You can also select the document type, the recommended audience, language and target area. Other settings include whether or not the document will be public or private, and whether comments or ratings are allowed. Only after those details have been set will the system allow you to upload your document (which it does rather speedily). After uploading the document, you will be taken to My Library.

Open publication - Free publishing - More resources

My Library

My Library is the place where all your uploaded documents will be featured. They will appear on

virtual Shelves and you will be able to organise and move your documents around on the different shelves.

The menu on the left hand side of the screen will help you to organise your work, and your friends' work, in a way that is easily recognisable for you. This is because Issuu, being a document repository and social networking site, allows you to add "friends", join groups and follow other people's updated publications. There is also a handy internal mail which you can use to communicate with your Issuu friends.

From your library, you can also grab the relevant links and embed codes in order to be able to embed the document into a website. In order to do this, follow these simple instructions:

From your Home Page, click on My Library.
Choose from your shelves the document you would like to work with.
Click on Embed on the top right hand side of the screen. Choose the type of code you want to work with - HTML, Blogger, Wordpress etc.
Scroll down and customise other settings, including layout, size, colour and theme, whether you want icons to appear on screen, whether your publication will be flicking automatically from one page to the next, etc. As soon as you are happy with your settings, click and copy the Embed Code itself from the top right hand side of the screen.
Paste the Embed Code onto your blog or website.

Below is a simple tutorial about My Library, and how to organise your publications and embed them onto any website:

Visitors to your website will be able to either flick through your publication on your very website or blog; or else they can choose to be re-directed to your Issuu profile, and look at your other work, too.

Your Friends and Other Publications

The scope of Issuu is not only to upload your favourite publications for ease of sharing: you will also be able to browse through what other persons have uploaded. Publications are categorised and tagged for ease of reference. You will be able to browse through educational, inspirational, and many other types of publications by clicking on the Publications tab on the top left hand side of the screen. By adding your friends as contacts, you will be able to follow what they are uploading themselves and communicate with them through the internal emailing system.

To start using Issuu, go to http://www.issuu.com and create an account. Get publishing :)

Tags and Tag Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:04:00 +0000

Every day, thousands, if not millions of people all around the world, update their own personal pages and blogs. This of course results in unumerable amounts of new data being uploaded onto the WWW. Data which, sooner or later will be searched for in Google or Yahoo, by all those who require it. Out of all the millions of searches performed daily on search engines worldwide, what determines which results are listed on top and which are relegated to the bottom of the search?

To facilitate a search, websites and especially blogs and wikis,

allow the creator to Tag the post or update. A Tag is rather like a label given to a post; a piece of metadata which helps describe the item. For example, Blogger has Labels, which the user can insert at the end of each post, with the most popular keywords taken from the post itself. Forum posts, messages, pictures and videos uploaded online can all be tagged - most popular multimedia repositories such as YouTube, Flickr, etc. allow users to tag their posts so that they can be both retrieved more easily by the person uploading them, and also enable users to search for the information they require in a more clear fashion.

Most popular Tags are usually displayed on a website's sidebar and are usully just a list of the most commonly used words. However there are several online applications which make Tags much more visible and attractive to the site visitor. The aggregation of Tags according to the most common word used is called a Tag Cloud and it allows the person looking at it [the Tag Cloud] to immediately identify a Tag which is used more often then others.

Wordle

Wordle (http://wordle.net/) is a online application which generates word clouds from the text provided. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Word clouds can be generated in three ways:

Write or simply paste text into a box;
Enter the URL of a Blog feed or any other feed that has an Atom or RSS feed;
Enter a del.icio.us user name to see thier tags.

Click on submit to generate your word cloud.

After your word cloud is generated, you have the option of changing the language, fonts, layouts and colours from the drop down menus on top of the screen. As soon as you are happy with the results of your Tag Cloud, you can click on Save to Public Gallery so that your Tag Cloud will be published for others to see. You can then either print your Wordle or, more appropriately, embed it in your blog or website by clicking on Print and then copy and paste the embed code.

Unfortunately - and that is the only flaw that I have encoutered - Wordle does not allow you to search for other people's Wordles or track your own effectively at that. The only way to track other people's Tag Clouds is to subscribe to their RSS feed. However this should not be a deteriment: in order to keep a copy of your Wordle you can either print it out (both as hard copy and as PDF) or do a Print Screen of your Tag Cloud.

I also have a word of advice for the gallery: while the application itself is suitable for children, some of the items in the public gallery aren't. So - as in the case of other media repositories, such as YouTube, it is imperative that students are supervised at all times.

Tagxedo

Like Wordle, TagXedo allows users to create intersting Tag Clouds from any given piece of text, website, RSS feed, etc. Click on http://www.tagxedo.com/, and click on Start Now. It requires the latest version of Microsoft Siverlight to be installed (the application will prompt you and redirect you to install it if your version is not up to scratch).

You will be able to insert words by clicking on Words>Load, and either input a URL in the address field, or copy and paste text from any other document. As in the case of Wordle, you will be able to change the fonts, colours and layouts from the right hand side menus: find the Respins menu, and click on any of the options - Colour, Theme, Font, Orientation or Layout - to give a different "spin" to your Tag Cloud.

An interesting "spin" is that apart from the usual Tag Cloud shapes one has come to expect, Tagxedo offers users the choice to opt for less conventional shapes, such as fruit, animals, everyday objects, etc. And this is not merely limited to applications pre-loaded shapes, either. Apart from the default shapes, you can also load a picture file previously saved on your disk, and apply the shape to your Tag Cloud. Click on Options>Shapes to either choose a default image, or Add Image to upload an image which will then be used as a "template" for your Tag Cloud. You can even upload a picture of yourself, and see how you would look as a Tag Cloud! From the same menu - you can also write a word which will be used as a template for your Tag Cloud: Options>Shapes>Add Word.

To save your Tagxedo Tag Cloud, simply go to Words>Save. You will be prompted with an array of picture types and sizes to choose from, and you will also be granted access to the embed code to embed the Tag Cloud directly into your webpage or blog. To download your Tag Cloud in JPG or PNG format, simply click on the relevant icon and you will be prompted to save the picture onto your hard disk. To publish it online, click on Web>Save, and you will be able to name your creation and grab the embed code and URL of your Tag Cloud too. Upon saving, you will also be able to publish your creation to the Gallery, although since at the moment, Tagxedo is not fully functional, the gallery is disabled, serve for some interesting entries uploaded by the developer. The developer states that, once the gallery is up and running, it will be moderated for "unsuitable" entries. Other features, such as printing from the application itself, are not up and running either.

At the moment, Taxgedo is currently in Beta so all the features of the application are enabled, free of charge. After the beta period ends, certain advanced features (including, unfortunately, the custom shapes option) will require a premium subscription. However the developer promises that the free version will cover a very rich set of functionalities - with over 30 themes, fonts and shapes to choose from. So I say...make the best use of it until the features are all free for all to use :)

Sites to Remember

http://www.wordle.net

http://www.tagxedo.com

Wetpaint Wikis (2): Adding Stuff to Your Wiki

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:23:00 +0000

When a person creates his or her own personal Wiki, be it for personal or for work use (for example, having a classroom wiki so that both students and parents will be able to access their work from anywhere), it is important to start updating it regularly and keep it interesting for the site visitors. A Wiki can be seen as a sort of template which can be filled up collaboratively; it is alive and dynamic and ever-changing. Unlike a Blog, a Wiki can have several pages, and each page can have its own individual layout. Usually the first page is called 'Home'; that is where you write your introduction - the scope of your Wiki - and then you can have a series of pages linking to that home page.

But before we start talking about editing, a more important question arises: that is, Who is going to be responsible for the edits? Just because you have created a wiki, it doesn't automatically follow that everyone in the world will be able to view or edit it. Public wikis exist of course - the most common example is Wikipedia, which everyone can edit. We, as teachers, deal mostly with young learners, and safety online is often a huge concern of ours. You may want to have a Wiki which everyone can see and join in, but which only yourself and your students (or those whom you invite) can do the edits. You may wish to moderate discussions. Either way, the first thing to do after you create your wiki is to think about Permissions.

Site Settings

Before you start editing, it is important to take a look at your Site Settings. Click on Settings at the top right hand corner of the screen to access your wiki settings. We will go through them one by one in the order in which they appear.

Communications: This is where you set your site greetings, messages and notifications. You can also set a profile template for your members to fill in.

Templates: This is where the different page templates are. These are similar to MS Word or Powerpoint templates, and you can even customise your own.

Name and Logo: Change your site name (logo) and description.

Styles: Change appearance or site theme from here - you can choose from a selection of styles to suit the mood of your wiki.

Statistics: You may opt to have an analytics widget installed, such as Google Analytics or SiteMeter. These help to keep track of who visits your site.

Permissions: Although this is the tab before the last, its one great importance - for this is where you can manage who can view and/or edit your wiki. There are 3 levels of security regarding who will be or not be able to edit your site:
Everyone, even anonymously - basically your wiki will be open to all, and everyone will be able to post, reply to discussions, comments, etc.
Anyone who joins your site: There are no anonymous edits allowed, but anyone who joins the site can edit or add pages on your site.
Only people I invite: There are no anonymous edits allowed, but anyone who joins the site can edit or add pages on your site.There are separate settings for posts and threads. The level of security you use will be determined by what you want to use your wiki for.

Backups: Wetpaint allows you to back up the contents of this site by exporting the pages as HTML into a zip file.This process may take a while, especially if this site is large. Backups are important especially if you are writing your information directly onto your Wiki and not, for example typing first into a word processor and then copy and paste your text. REMEMBER: A Wiki is a cloud computing application, and therefore, all the information is stored on servers several hundred miles away from your home. If something happens to that server and you haven't backed up your work, all your data will inevitably be lost - so BACK UP regularly!

Adding Pages

After taking care of the settings, you can start adding pages to your wiki. On the left hand side of your screen you should see the navigation menu. If you haven't added any pages yet, there will be your Home page at the top. Click on Add a new page to have additional pages. You may choose from pre-defined pages (rather like we choose content layout slides in Powerpoint: You can have blank pages, calendar-of-events type of pages, etc. Remember to give a suitable name to your page - short and self-explanatory. Once added, pages can be changed or deleted by clicking on More Tools on the Edit Toolbar.

The Edit Toolbar

As the name suggests, the Edit Toolbar is the place where you will be doing all the editing. After inserting your pages, click on the page you wish to start editing and click on Easy Edit. The Easy Edit Toolbar will pop up, and you can start editing your page by simply clicking on it. You will notice all the familiar icons: Bold, Italics, Underline, Font Name, Spellcheck, etc. Apart from text, your page may contain Photos, Videos, Widgets and/or Content Modules.

Photos and Videos

Click anywhere in your page (whilst in Easy Edit mode) to insert a photo or video. Photos are pretty straight-forward. In the case of videos, you may opt either to upload a video from your PC or else one which resides on a remote server, such as YouTube or Google Video. In the case of YouTube/Google, all you have to do is click on the Video icon, and then on Add by URL OR Embed. Copy the video's Embed Code from the source and click on Add YouTube Video. Once you add your video or picture, you will be able to adjust its size and orientation. In the case of videos, you will only be able to play them when you exit Easy Edit mode.The photos and videos you upload will also be visible in the Photos and Videos pages (accessible from the top menu bar.) The Photos and Videos pages also offer the opportunity to create photo and video albums.You may also opt to add other widgets or videos from other sites other than YouTube or Google - but this, together with the Content Modules, will be dealt with in the next post :)

Now...What Next?

Well, creating your very own Wiki of course! You have more than enough to get you started with your wiki project. You can also access one of my previous posts, an Introduction to Wetpaint Wikis, at http://teachersandcomputers.blogspot.com/2010/04/introducing-wikis-wetpaint-part-1.html, to refresh you memory. Log onto http://wetpaintcentral.com/ to start off. Have fun :)

Comic Creation with ToonDoo

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:58:00 +0000

Children of all ages love comics - cartoon character strips which usually tell a story, often humourosly, and sometimes with a hidden message or two. Comic strips are often found in newspapers and magazines, and more recently, online. They can be a a way for teachers to convey a message to their students a bit differently, and in turn students can be encouraged to express their thoughts and emotions more freely. Web 2.0 technology offers teachers and students the possiblity to create online, embeddable comic strips and books easily and effectively. One such comic-creation platform is ToonDoo, which can be found on http://www.toondoo.com.

First Look into ToonDoo

After the registration process (neccasary if you want to save your work), and subsequent login with your newly created password, you will be transported onto your ToonDoo homepage. The colourful, cartoony top drop down menus will allow you to do a variety of things, mainly:

Toons Menu: to view your and other people's toons;

Books Menu: to browse through your books and those uploaded by others;

Dooers: to edit your profile;

Tools: to create comic strips and books;

Contests: to enter 'Compleetoons' and 'Toonaments' (ToonDoo style competitons)

Galleries: to view favourite creations

Etc: online help in the form of wikis, blogs and forums.

The home page is quite colourful: with clickable screenshots of the latest and most popular toons uploaded. You will be able to browse through them and get an idea of what can be done with ToonDoo. The presentation below, by Lisa Davidson (previously published on Wauchope IT Wiki), explains the basic features of the application:

title="View this slideshow on SlideShare">View | Upload your own

Your First Comic Strip

To create your first comic strip, click the light blue Toons menu on the top left hand side of the screen. The first time round your My Toondoo page will naturally be empty. You will see some icons on the top right hand side of the screen. Click on the ToonDoo Maker icon on the top right hand side of the screen (the icon will look like 3 grey boxes, which will change colour when you hover over them with the mouse) to start your first comic strip. Your canvas will load and you will be prompted to choose a page layout first.

To start filling in your comic strip, you can do one of the following things:

1. The easiest way is obviously to use the application's pre-loaded backgrounds and cliparts. There are a good number of pre-loaded graphics however they are obviously somehow limited. To access them, click on the top menu and choose between characters, backgrounds, props, speech bubbles, etc.

2. Alternatively, you may choose to be more creative by either uploading your own pictures from your computer or from the web, or even create your own free-hand drawings. This can be done by clicking on the set of icons at the bottom right hand side of the screen. Clicking on the DoodleR button will enable you to draw free-hand backgrounds or pictures which you can fully move around the screen. The TraitR button will enable you to create characters (or avatars, if you wish) to star in your creation (either cartoony or upload your own picture for a realistic character). Finally, the ImagineR button will enable you to either import pictures from a fixed location or from the web.

Whilst working away, at the bottom of the screen, you will also notice a variety of tools which are staple of simple doodle makers and paint programs: such as clone, flip or rotate a graphic, send a picture to back/front, etc, which will help you get the effect you desire.

Saving and Sharing your ToonDoo

When you feel that your ToonDoo is ready, you can click on the ToonDoo Main Menu button on the top left hand side of the screen, and click on the save icon (a proverbial blue floppy disk!). You can decide whether your ToonDoo is going to be public, private or to be shared by amongst friends only. You can also choose to have your comic re-doable by others, i.e. let others edit it. Like any Web 2.0 widget, your ToonDoo comic can be embedded into most other websites. To view your embed code, click on the Toons Menu and scroll down to My Toondoos. Select the comic that you wish to embed or share, and click on the Embed icon (<>) to grab the code, or on the email button (envelope icon) to send by email. You can also Tweet it or upload it directly on Facebook too. Alternatevly, print it or save it onto your PC.

From a Comic to a Strip

Once you have created your first comic, you will also be able to create a complete strip, or ToonDoo Book (if you try to create a book without having a comic first, you will be told that you can't). To do so, click on the Books menu on top of the screen and then on My ToonBooks. If you already have some books saved they will show up here: if you want to create a new one, click on the Book Maker icon on the top left hand side of the screen (it should illuminate bright green upon mouse over) and you will be able to drag and drop your comics into the book.

Social Networking

Following other similar online applications, ToonDoo also offers users some social networking traits: the possibility to tag, comment and flag other people's comics, and also the possibility to allow others to re-do (edit) your work. It also allows you to add ToonDoo friends and communicate through private messages (called Bubble Bauble - accessible from the Etc menu). A word of advice: ToonDoo doesn't screen its entries: although there is a great number of educators using the application, it is important for teachers to check out other people's comic strips throughly before sharing with their students.

Sites to Remember:

ToonDoo: http://www.toondoo.com

Wauchope IT Wiki: http://wauchopeit.wikispaces.com/Toondoo

Teach2all: http://www.tech2all.com/2007/03/30/toondoo-comics-creation-tool-featuring-social-networking/

Introducing Wikis: Wetpaint (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Until not very long ago, if a person or an organisation wanted to create a webpage or website, they generally asked someone else to do it - someone with the knowledge required to create and upload it. One needed to know how to use web-authoring software, perhaps a bit of programming and most importantly, one needed the physical online space to upload a website. This was in the era before we started to talk about Web 2.0 and cloud applications, of which Blogs and Wikis are a prime example.

A blog - or Web-log - is on online diary where people post diary entries about their personal experiences or talk about things that interest them. Blogs became popular because of the ease with which people could upload their posts - usually requiring little more than simple word-processing and e-mailing skills (typing, uploading of photos, attaching files). Popular blog hosting websites include Google's Blogger and Wordpress. Below is a short video which explains in simple layman's terms what a blog is all about:

Another popular and relatively easy way of publishing online material is through the use of Wikis. A Wiki is similar to a Blog in terms of accessability and usability, however it encompasses much, much more. For starters, whilst Blogs are usually made up of one 'page', where a person uploads his or her own personal 'diary' (with the posts appearing one after the other in chronological order), Wikis are usually more complex and are made up of many pages and sub-pages. Furthermore, Blogs are inteded to be used as online diaries, usually maintained by one or a very selective group of people. On the other hand, Wikis are not inteded to be led by just one individual; they have a much greater emphais on collaboration and are regarded as a social interaction and networking tool. The popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a prime example of a Wiki in practice: thousands of collaborators from all over the world have joined the site and collaborate regularly on articles to create this vast web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project. Perhaps two of the most popular Wiki sites (especially with Educators) are Wikispaces and Wetpaint. Both sites provide free, online hosting and allow users to create simple websites in a matter of minutes. Today I am going to take a look at the basic features of Wetpaint Wikis: below is a short video which gives an overview of what can be done with it:

Wetpaint: Creating an Account

Like with any other online service, the first thing to do is create an account: go to http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/, click on the large green GO! icon and sign up (if its the first time you access the site) or Sign In if you already have an account. You can also opt to sign in with your Facebook, Twitter or Live account. Once your Wetpaint account is activated, you will be able to register and sign in not only on your own Wiki (which you can create from Wetpaint homepage) but also sign in to other public or private wikis (one to which you have been invited to). After creating your username or signing in, all you have to do to create your wiki is go to Wetpaint Homepage (http://wetpaint.com), enter a site name on Name Your Site, enter your chosen URL on Choose URL, and you are ready to create your own website in minutes.

Basic Features and Navigation

Upon loading, your Wetpaint site should look something like this:

You will notice your Site Name on the header on top; and a list of menus at the bottom of this header. This is where you can make changes to your wiki. Below is a list of the menus and what they do:

Home: This will take you back to your Home page (easy!) To add additional pages to your wiki, you must click on Add a new page on the top left hand side sidebar.
Discussions: This is where you post, reply to and follow discussion. To start a new discussion - Post Thread.
Photos and Videos: This is where you can upload photos and videos. Also, any videos or photos uploaded anywhere on the site will be available for viewing here as well. Photos can be grouped intogalleries; videos into Collections.
Updates: A summary of all the updates performed and by whom. Very very useful when doing a collborative job!
To-dos: Quite simply, a to-do list required for the page. If you want someone to do a particular edit, make sure to post a to-do on the page.
Droplets: These are basically widgets that you can add to your favourite social networking site or aggregator, so that you will be able to follow your wiki's updates more easily.
Members: A summary of the members of the wiki, with a list of page edits performed as well. By clicking on he member's names you can add them as friends and send them private messages.
My Profile: Change your profile details, view messages, compliments, manage your account.
Promote: Get tips on how to improve traffic on your site
Settings: Last, but most certainly not least, this is the place to change your site settings: from layouts, to templetes, to privacy settings and who can access and edit your site.

Inviting Collaborators

The Scope of having a Wiki is not to build it yourself, but to have collaborators who together work to create a common website. At a basic level, one can have three types of Wikis: A wiki which everyone can edit, even unonimously (100% public); a wiki which only members can edit; or a 100% private wiki, which members may only join by private invitation from an administrator. In the case of private wikis, there is also the added advantage of it being relatively ad-free. Unfortunately at the time of writing this post, the invitation feature for private sites is temporaly disabled; therefore to invite people to join your site, temporarily put the site as "public", share the site's URL with your collaborators, and ask them to click on the Sign Up icon at the top right hand corner of the screen. As soon as everyone has joined, the administrator can put the site back on Private.

In this first part we have only just touched on the basic features of Wetpaint WIkis: What they are, how to create them, and how to invite collaborators. The second part will include more information on how to build up your wiki by adding pages and widgets. Stay tuned :)

Sites to remember:

Blogger: http://www.blogger.com

Wordpress: http://wordpress.com

Wikispaces: http://www.wikispaces.com/

Wetpaint: http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/

Sketchfu

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:41:00 +0000

Project work in the early years often involves children expressing themselves through pictures and drawings rather than through prose. Students may be asked to collaborate together on a particular drawing, and send it to their partners in another school or indeed another country, so that they (their partners) may also be able to work on it. In such cases, conventional paint packages such as TuxPaint and KidPix may not be altogether adequate. Enter Sketchfu, the online collaborative sketch/doodle maker, which makes collaboration not only possible but user friendly and fun, even for the youngest of learners. Sketchfu is an online (cloud) application, and can be found online on http://sketchfu.com.

Getting Started

Upon loading, you will be prompted either to Sign In or to Create a New account (always recommended to be able to work more efficiently). Upon logging in, you will be transported to your Sketchfu Home Page, where your latest activity, and the activity of your friends, will be displayed. (In true Web 2.0 fashion, Sketchfu allows you to add your friends and collegues as 'online buddies' to make sharing of drawings even easier). From the menu at the top right hand side of the screen, you can also access your Profile (to view your drawings and drawing comments), browse other people's drawings (Browse Drawings), look into other people's Profiles (Browse People) or just start drawing by clicking on Draw.

Start Sketching

To start your drawing simply click on Draw at the top right hand side of the screen. You will be presented with a canvas, around which are a few simple commands: just choose the colour and size of your brush, and you will be able to start your masterpiece in no time! To help younger students, there is a variety of wide tipped brushes to choose from. There is no conventional Eraser button found in similar paint packages; however there is an Undo button. When you are done simply click on Publish (at bottom right hand side of the canvas) in order to save your drawing online. (You can also give your drawing a name; otherwise it will be given an automatically generated number from Sketchfu).

Stop and Replay...

An amazing feature of Sketchfu, which the children like immensly, is the ability to replay their drawing after they are done - as if one is watching a movie of the drawing being made. It is as if an invisible hand is going through the motions and magically building a drawing. The speed of the animation in itself can be regulated by clicking on arrows on either side of the Speed button. Unfortunately the actual animation cannot be embedded in a Blog or Website, but the children can watch it many times over on Sketchfu.com.

Sharing your Creation

Sketchfu allows users to share drawings with one anther, so that another user may be able to add other details to the drawings without having to send complicated e-mails with attachments to and fro each other. Users can also comment on each others' drawings or write instructions to each other within the Sketchfu internal messaging system.

To share a drawing, simply click on the Save button on the right hand side of the screen (opposite the canvas), and then click on e-mail it to send to a collaborator. Note that, before you e-mail it to someone else, you will be able to lock the drawing and thus preventing other people from actually adding anything to the drawing (by clicking on Don't allow others to add to this drawing). You may also share it on Facebook, Blogger, and other online platforms by grabbing the embed code and pasting it on your favourite platform (sadly, you would be pasting the actual drawing, not the animation that goes with it).

When you send an e-mail to a collaborator to view the drawing, he or she will receive an e-mail notification to be able to view or edit your drawing (according to the permissions issued with the e-mail - see above) and once again he or she will be able to send it back to you for editing. It is also easier, for collaboration purposes, if the partners involved are added as 'Friends' on the Sketchfu platform.

A Final Note....

Sketchfu is monitored by the Sketchfu Squad, and any anomalies can be reported directly to them by clicking on their profile which can be found at http://sketchfu.com/profile/FU_MOD_SQUAD. Recently, Andrew and Matt, the creators of Sketchfu, have also released another version of this online sketch maker called Muzy, aimed at more serious artists or perhaps older students, with a bigger canvas, eraser button, collage layers and better brush tools. Muzy can be accessed from the Sketchfu home page or by going directly to http://muzy.com.

Sites to remember:

Sketchfu: http://sketchfu.com

Report problems in Sketchfu: http://sketchfu.com/profile/FU_MOD_SQUAD

Muzy (for older students): http://muzy.com

Glogster: Poster Yourself!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:58:00 +0000

We have all heard of, seen and read Blogs - you are reading one right now! - and Blogging has become a fast hobby for many. You might have a favourite Blog which you like browsing through regularly, or you might have even tried your hand at Blogging yourself. Now there is a new way in which to express yourself: Glogging, as in Glogster - Poster Yourself!

Glogster is a digital poster creator, and allows expression of opinions, feelings and ideas, in a way that wouldn't be possible with the use of mere words. Rather like Blogs, it allows users to use an online medium in order to communicate with the outside world - but instead of text, users use graphical representations, photos, audio and videos to reach their audiences.

Getting Started

Glogster can be accessed at http://glogster.com. As always with this kind of online application, registration is always recommended in order to reap the full user benefits. After registration, click on the pink Log In icon on the top right hand side of the screen and you will be transported to your Glogster Profile. Here, you will be able to edit your profile details, access your own and other people's Public Glogs (because Glogs can be either Private or Public), and read your internal Glogster e-mail. You may also add other Glogster-using friends as buddies, and thus create a small, closed community of friends with whom to create and share Glogs. To start creating your Glog, click on My Desktop and Create a New Glog.

Your First Glog

When you click on Create a New Glog, a random, nearly-bare Glog will pop up on the screen. Each element of the Glog - the background, photos, titles, videos etc - can be edited by the user. The icons on the top left hand side of the screen - Upload and Link - enable one to either upload a picture, video or sound file, or add a link to an existing resource on the web. The uploaded resources will not be automatically be visible on the Glog; they will be stored in its library for later use.

Personalising Your Glog

Once you have uploaded your resources, you can click on the floating (black) menu on the left hand side of the screen. This menu will enable you to either use your own uploaded resources or Glogster's ready made ones.

Graphics: By clicking on the Graphics tab, you will gain access to Glogster's graphics library which can be used in your Glog. The images can be manipulated to suit your Glog's needs.

Text: By clicking on the Text tab, you will be able to insert and edit text in your Glog.

Images: The previously uploaded images will be visible here, and you will be able to drag and drop them to your blog.

Videos: Allows you to embed Videos from SchoolTube. Alternatively, upload and embed your own video (Max file size: 100MB).

Sounds: Allows uploading of sound files from your computer or from online sources,

Wall: Enables you to change the background of the Glog. You can choose from Glogster's Gallery or upload your own.

Uploading and Sharing your Glog

Once your Glog is finalised, it will be ready to be published and shared with your friends or with the rest of the world. On the bottom right hand side of the screen there are two pink icons: Preview to see your Glog prior to publication; and Save and Publish to publish and share your Glog. From here you will be able to change the Glog's name, add Tags, Categories and make it Public (for viewing by anyone who accesses the site) or Private (for a selected group of friends only). Upon saving, you will also be able to post your Glog on your favourite Social Networking site or Blog - such as Facebook, MySpace, Wordpress or Blogger Blogs.

To start Glogging, simply log on to http://glogster.com. Go on...Poster Yourself ! :)

Kindersite: Where Children Play and Teachers Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:09:00 +0000

As from this scholastic year (2009-2010), desktop PCs have started to be introduced in the Kindergarten classes in Malta and Gozo. Apart from the software which comes pre-installed on the Desktops, the Internet connection in the classrooms mean that the Kindergarten teachers also have a vast array of online educational games available freely to them. There are many excellent sites to choose from, and I will be dedicating some of the articles of this blog to them. The first site that I would like to talk about was recommended to me by a good friend (and experienced Kindergarten teacher from Fgura Primary) Miriam Schembri: Kindersite-Where Children Play and Teachers Learn.

Kindersite is a portal aimed at children who attend Kindergarten and the early years of Primary schools (3-6 years of age), plus a special section for older pupils (7-12 years). The site has thousands of links to the best stories, songs and games for young children. It also allows teachers to create individual children's profiles, so that the children's favourite sites and games can be individually bookmarked. It is best if the teacher registers first to the site, to be able to use all of its features. The site can be found at http://kindersite.org/, and to register, simply click on the right hand side of the page on the link that says 'New Users Register Here'.

Children's Directory

Upon loading the websites, at the top of the screen, two link buttons capture the children's (and teachers') attention: Children's Directory and Educational Games 7-12 Years. The former contains links to young learners' games, stories, lullabies and songs; the latter has educational games from slightly older students (up to 12 years of age). The Children's Directory has literally thousands of links for educational games, online story books and favourite children's rhymes. One can easily navigate between one category and the next; and each site has an icon (small graphic from the site) and short description about the activity. The interface is pretty easy to navigate, even for younger children.

Educational Games

The educational games section has links for slightly older students (7-12 year olds) and covers a wide array of online apps suitable for students from Primary to Early Secondary levels. Some links worth mentioning are for Dvolver Movie Maker, for creating short, animated videos, and Tag Galaxy, a flash application which allows you to search and browse through Flickr photos in 3D graphical rendition.

News Column

The news section contains news related to the website, including latest additions (such as the newly added Lullabies section), and articles both from the Kindersite Staff and also from renowned educators from all over the world. From the news section one can also access and print Kindersite Fliers and Surveys, and add oneself to the site's list servers.

Kindersite Projects

Kindersite have also been recently endorsed by the European Community, Directorate-General for Education and Culture for 14 projects in education. There are 14 projects in total, including Language Learning projects and EduComics, a projects which focuses on the use and creation of Comics in Education. More projects can be accessed from the Projects section.

To browse through the myriad of resources, materials and projects available on the site, don't forget to login and register on http://kindersite.org

An essential for the Kindergarten and Primary classrooms!

World of Tux

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:29:00 +0000

Many of you might have heard of Tux Paint, a free, open source, bitmap graphics editor. In a few words, it is s simple paint/drawing program, available for free download from its creators. The term open source also means that the software's code is also freely available for users to develop.

Tux Paint's simple interface and bright colours has captured the attention of children and teachers alike. Apart from Tux Paint, two other programs are available for free download from the same developers: Tux of Math Command and Tux Typing. The former is a simple arcade-style game for learning Mathematics; the latter is a typing tutor for children.

The First Step: Tux Paint

Tux Paint has been previously pre-installed on both the teachers' laptops and the classroom desktops; hence, it is already available for both the teacher and the students alike. Upon loading the software (which can be run either as full-screen or windowed), the canvas will load up, with the Tools on the left hand side, the Actions on the right hand side, and the Colours at the bottom of the screen. The Drawing Tools available include:

Paint: For free-hand drawing. One can also choose the size and shape of the brush stroke from

the Actions on the right hand side of the screen, or the brush colour from the bottom.

Stamps: Ready-made stamps can also be inserted by clicking on the stamps icon on the left, and then scroll amongst the different stamps that appear on the right. The stamps can be made to look bigger or smaller by clicking on the size bars, just underneath the pictures on the right.

Lines: To draw straight lines. The sizes can be chosen from the right.

Shapes: Select this tool to create shapes (solid or empty shapes can be selected from the right).

ABC Text: Allows one to type letters on the keyboard, which appear directly on the canvas (fonts can be chosen from the right).

Magic: A special effects wand, to enhance and embellish existing drawings. The different options can be chosen from the right hand side, and include special effects such as creating smudges, waves, TV effects, mirror images, etc.

New: Opens a new canvas to work upon.

Undo and Redo: Undo/Redo actions.

Eraser: Rubber Tool.

Save: Saves current canvas.

Open: Opens a previously saved canvas.

Print: Prints your current canvas.

Quit: Quits the program.

Tux Paint, and additional Tux Paint Stamps, can be downloaded freely from http://www.tuxpaint.org/download /.

Next Step: Tux Typing

After the students have started gaining more eye to hand co-ordination and mouse skills, it will be time to pass onto some keyboard skills with the use of Tux Typing. Tux Typing is a graded typing tutor, especially

created for young children. Upon loading, you will be greeted with a choice of 3 games: Fish Cascade, Comet Zap and Lesson.

Fish Cascade: The Penguins are hungry! Hungry for letters and for words....Choose a level (easy, medium and hard) and choose the type of letters or words that are falling down from the sky - they can be single letters, simple or long words, or specific words such as names of colours, animals, etc. As soon as the letters appear on the screen, hit the letters on the keyboard to complete the words - and feed the Penguins at the bottom of the screen.

Comet Zap: Comets are falling from the sky, and you have to prevent them from hitting the Penguins! Depending on the level chosen (Space Cadet, Pilot, Ace or Commander), the comets will rain down with varying speed and hit the poor Penguins, unless you hit the relevant key on the keyboard and save the day. Once again, one can choose between just having falling letters or whole words for older students.

Lessons: The Lessons are simple keyboard drills for children, once again, with varying degrees of difficulty. There are 43 lessons in total.

Apart from these three different games, one can also, from the Options in the main menu, change the word lists, setup languages, etc. Tux Typing can be downloaded from http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxtype/download.php.

Last Stop: Tux of Math Command

Last but most certainly not least, in the Tux saga, is Tux of Math Command, which is aimed at slightly older students (at Primary Level) and offers a variety of arcade-style maths games for teaching of Mathematics. Play can either be

in One Player or Two Player Mode (the latter offers a chance for collaboration between players). The games all center around the same main objective: that the students are given simple training in number works, starting from basic number recognition to more advanced sums (addition of two 2-digit numbers). A number, or a sum (depending on the level chosen) will appear on the screen, and the children must click on the correct number on the screen and press the space bar to activate their answer.

Being open-source, Tux of Math also has the facility to allow the more advanced users to edit the sums and number patterns and create customised games for their students. For more help on editing the games, and for downloading the game, go to http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/download.php.

These three applications are all freeware and open-source (and hence, open for development for the more advanced users) and are available for download on the website http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org /. Specific developer information, and additional information on Tux Paint (including downloading of additional stamps) can be found on http://www.tuxpaint.org/.

SuperLame

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:40:00 +0000

Ever seen a rather serious looking photo of someone you know, or indeed yourself, and wish you could lighten it up a little with speech bubbles? Or indeed, create a comic strip with your favourite pictures? Now there is a Web 2.0 application that is easy to use and can do just that: BeOriginal's SuperLame.

SuperLame is a simple tool which allows the user to quickly add speech balloons to their favourite pictures. It was created using Adobe's Flash CS3 and makes use of ActionScript 3.0. SuperLame can be accessed on http://superlame.com and requires no registration or sign-up. Upon loading, click on the large blue icon on top, Start Here, and let your project begin.

Step-by-Step to Comic Creation

First, you need to upload your first photo. Do so by clicking on the Upload Image tab on top, and choose your photo for editing. (NB: Remember to use re-sized versions of photos, and that your photos must be smaller than 2MB).
Now that your photo has been uploaded, you can start adding speech bubbles by clicking on the Add a Balloon tab. Click in the center of the balloon and start typing your blurb. The balloon can be moved around the screen and positioned exactly where you want it. You may also change the style of your balloon (for example, you may opt for 'cloudy thoughts' balloons, or a more pointy variety to express astonishment, etc.). This is done by clicking on the icons surrounding your new word balloon.
You can also opt to add a 'sound' effects by clicking on the Add Sound FX tab. This does not actually add a music file to your picture, but rather, it creates comic-book type words such as POWW and KABOOM !! to add more characther to your photos.
Your photo can have a frame around it, and you can also choose to have a black, white or grey background for it as well. Both can be modified by clicking on their respective icons on the right hand side of the photo.
Ready from your editing? Click on the Save Image icon on the top left hand menu bar. The image will be stored as a JPEG, ready to be saved or e-mailed to a friend. Or, if you feel so inclined, you may also opt to visit the Comic Shop, where you can order prints of your Comic Photos, stickers or even T-Shirts (all this obviously at a price).

Some Ideas for the Classroom

SuperLame requires no sign-up or registration, and is relatively easy to use, even for younger pupils. Photos can be downloaded directly from the camera to the website, and sets of photos can be manipulated in order to create a storyboard. SuperLame is not a photo-sharing website; users will not be invited to browse through other people's photo collections, thus making it safe for children as well.

SuperLame accessed at http://www.superlame.com

Imagination Cubed

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:20:00 +0000

Imagine two classrooms set in different countries - say one in Malta, one in the UK. Both sets of students are collaborating together on a project. They would like to create a drawing or a picture together, and have thought of using a regular drawing program, such as the ones already pre-installed on their desktops. However, conventional paint programs only allow people to work at a drawing asynchronously; for them to collaborate on the same picture it would require them to save a copy of the drawing and e-mail it back and forth to each other, until everyone has added their piece. This is often time-consuming and may not reach the desired effect in the end.

Enter the world of Imagination Cubed...one of the simplest, most user friendly collaborative Paint/Doodle Maker available online. Imagination Cubed allows multiple users to interact with the same drawing simultaneously. It is a simple flash engine which delivers fast performance and the ability for multiple users to collaborate together in real time. To start using Imagination Cubed, simply go to http://www.imaginationcubed.com/

Introducing Imagination Cubed

As soon as the initial animation has loaded, you will be presented with a plain Whiteboard Space and a list of options to choose from. By default, the Pen Tool will be activated and you may start doodling straight away. There is a set of tools which you can access from the Tools menu, which include:

Pen: To change the style, thickness and colour of your Pen;
Shapes: To insert shapers into your drawing. You may change the colour and the size of the shape by dragging one of its corners;
Stamper: A set of stamps which you can use - once again, you may change colour and size according to your doodle;
Line: Creates straight lines of different colours and thicknesses;
Type: Text Tool;
Background Colour: Change your doodle's background colour and/or texture.

Each drawing or doodle can be saved, printed and sent to other persons for review. These options are accessed from the File menu. Another handy option is the Replay button - which allows the animation to be replayed from the beginning. To the naked eye, your doodle may appear to be just that, a little drawing or doodle; but it reality what you are creating is a simple flash animation which can be replayed over and over again. This unfortunately leads to one of the downsides of the application: it doesn't allow you to import your own pictures into the doodle. You start with a clean slate and have to fill it up on your own.

Collaborative Tools

Up to this point, the drawing or doodle is technically still yours; meaning that it is still private and only you and your students have access to it. It is only when you are ready to share it with the rest of the world that your doodle becomes public: by inviting people to collaborate on it. This can be done by clicking on the Invite a Friend tab at the top right hand side of the screen.

A dialog box will pop up requesting your name and e-mail address, and also the name and e-mail address of the person/s with whom you wish to share your doodle. After you hit send, your 'friend' will receive an invitation to view and join your drawing. The person must open the e-mail, click on the link, and be transported into your doodle, where he or she can just watch you work on your project or work together with you, in real time. Your name and the name of your friend will appear on top of the Pen, so that everyone can see what the other is doing.

When collaborating on a doodle, the Chat option will automatically activate, enabling users to chat while working together.

Using Imagination Cubed

One can think of several uses for using Imagination Cubed in the classroom...Some ideas are:

For collaborative projects, such as eTwinning, Eko Skola, Connectando Mundos, etc;
For collaboration between classrooms in the same school, especially in the early years;
For communication purposes between classrooms, to augment a regular chatting session;
For helping young students with their hand-mouse co-ordination skills;
For training on Interactive White boards;
For creating simple animations which can be shared and replayed over and over again...

This list, obviously goes on and on...only your imagination is the limit!

Imagination Cubed can be accessed on: http://www.imaginationcubed.com/

Using Technology With Your Students: AUP Forms

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:03:00 +0000

I think that to say that we live in the digital era would be the under-statement of the century. We are surrounded by technology all the time – wherever and whatever we clasp our eyes upon, in fact. Laptops have become as small as the palm of one’s hand. GPS’s have become widespread and most people wouldn’t dream of going abroad without one. Mobile phones, which, a couple of years ago served the sole purpose of placing a call from A to B, are now capable of shooting photos and videos on par with the most advanced digital cameras.

And, probably, that is where the problem lies. We are so used to all this technology and information pouring at us from all directions – be it from e-mail, websites, blogs or social networking sites – that we sometimes forget one of the basic rules of digital publishing: that is, never, ever, publish online photos, videos or details of persons without their previous knowledge or consent.

Digital publishing and social networking sites such as Wordpress and Facebook has made photo and video upload very easy – in fact, as easy as sending an SMS from our mobile. The mere fact that this task has become so increasingly simplified it does not automatically incur that the previous rules of Netiquette do not apply or have ceased to exist. On the contrary, since sharing and uploading of information has become so easy and widespread, I feel that we have been bestowed with an even greater responsibility. It is so easy to take a picture and upload it from our mobiles – a mere minute or two of ‘work’. But do we ever stop and think about whose photos we are putting online, and if that person would like to appear online after all?

The argument becomes even trickier when dealing with our classroom students. Our students are below the age of consent; it is their parents who make the decisions for them. And parents have every right in the world to refuse not only that their children appear online, but also that photos or videos are taken of their children, even if they are not intended for publication, digital or otherwise. Some parents are understandably afraid of ‘sharing’ their children with the outside world; others are surprisingly laissez-fair (but probably because they are not aware of the risks involved; an equally dangerous state of mind). But surely, we, as teachers, cannot keep track of all the photos taken by us – or indeed our students – and uploaded online, can we? Or should we?

The answer lies in a simple phrase, or form, as it were: The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) form, which can be downloaded from http://skola.gov.mt/SKOLA/home/aup-qsc/AcceptableUsePolicy.aspx#AUPForm. It is our duty as teachers to ensure that each and every student in our classroom has had his AUP form signed and delivered. Never, ever take anything for granted. The most outgoing and cheery student in your class might not like being photographed, or his parents may object to the practice. It is not something worth taking the risk for.

If there is a good number of parents in a particular school which object to their children using the Internet or being photographed, it is also worth asking WHY this has happened. A great deal of misinformation that goes around is surely to blame; but mostly, it may be fear of the unknown…Parents may have a lot of questions going around their heads, such as…"Where will my child’s photos be published?”…and…"Is my child going to be supervised while surfing the Net?” These are all justifiable and acceptable excuses, but what can be done in order to counter-act them? Surely one cannot have a classroom website with half of the students absent, or their faces blotched out? What kind of classroom website would that be ??

I think I can safely say that, in this occasion, honesty is certainly the best policy. If there is a problem in your school or classroom – talk to the parents. Some of them are plain afraid of the unknown; others might have been drawn into the fear by other, more paranoid or misinformed individuals. Explain to the parents what are you going to do; where and why the photos will be used, the websites they will be uploaded on, etc. Re-assure the parents about Internet use in the classroom, too.

It is also worth directing the parents to one or two useful websites, such as CBBC’s Internet Saftey News on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/tech/safe_surfing/newsid_1607000/1607213.stm, BBC’s Staying Safe online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe and Kidsmart: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/. Assure the parents you will be helping their children learn how to use the Internet safely and wisely.

There is a lot of good stuff going on the Internet, and a myriad of learning experiences still unexplored; but unfortunately, there is a lot of the bad stuff, too. The important thing is to know the difference. In the digital era, the uninformed human being is a very dangerous person to be around. Make sure that you – as a teacher – plus your students and their parents are well aware of the correct Netiquette to follow.

Some important websites to remember:

AUP Forms (Download Form & Explanation for Parents): http://skola.gov.mt/SKOLA/home/aup-qsc/AcceptableUsePolicy.aspx#AUPForm

CBBC Internet Safety News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/tech/safe_surfing/newsid_1607000/1607213.stm,

BBC Staying Safe Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe

Kidsmart: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/

Mind Mapping: Using Bubbl Us

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Every beginning has its end - the warm Summer days are giving way to shorter, cooler days, and a new scholastic year has just begun. After a relaxing break, it is now its time to head back to our respective classrooms, meet our new students and start the exciting journey of teaching and learning once again.

New year - new students - and probably, new projects as well. During the year, we are all bound to have some sort of project running in our classroom - be it something simple such as setting up a nature table, or something requiring a bit more thought, like an eTwinning project. At the start of such projects, it is customary for the teacher to engage the pupils in what is known as Mind Mapping. A Mind Map is a

"... diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate,visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing"

Source: Wikipedia

Traditionally this excercise usually took place on the board or on a flip-chart; however now there are several web options which make this possible as well. After browsing to see what's available online, I decided to go for Bubbl Us , which can be found at http://bubbl.us

Introducing Bubbl Us

Bubbl Us (without the silent 'e' at the end) is an free web application used for brainstorming sessions online. It allows users to create colourful online mind-maps, which can be shared and embedded in blogs and websites. A distict advantage over written mind-maps is the ability to have multiple users working on the same Map. This is particularly useful if the teacher requires input not only from his/her classroom students, but also from other classes if its an inter-classroom project, or from other collegues as well.

To start mind-mapping, go to http://bubbl.us and click on Start Brainstorming to start a new session.

Basic Features

Each brainstorming session starts with a focal point - a rectangular grey bubble - in the middle, with the word 'Start Here' on it. Click on this' and write your chosen topic in the middle - for example, 'Helping our Environment'. When you go mouse over the central bubble, you will be able to see several icons which let you do different things with your mind map. Starting from the top left icon and moving clockwise, these are:

Move: Click and drag to move your bubble around;
Delete: Click to delete the bubble;
New Sibling: Create a new bubble under the same parent;
Connect: Click and drag to connect a new bubble with a directional line. Drop onto another bubble to connect;
New Child: Click to create a new child bubble;
Colour: Click to select bubble colour.

The controls are quite easy to get the hang of, even for young students. Bubbles can be individually edited using the above controls, there is also a handy undo button which can reverse any unwanted actions.

Printing, Saving and Sharing

Each Mind Map can be printed and saved online for future reference or editing - by clicking on the relevant icons (if you did not create an account at the beginning of the session, it will prompt you to create one as soon as you hit save - you only have to supply a username, e-mail account and password). But what really puts Bubbl Us above pen and paper mind-mapping is the fact that one can not only share the mind-map in a blog, wiki or website, but it also allows multiple users to interact with the map itself. This is called mind-map sharing and options can be accessed by clicking on My Sheets > Sharing (top right hand corner of the screen.) You will notice that a particular mind-map is being shared because it will have a tiny yellow star on it.

Alternatively, by clicking on Menu icon at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you will be prompted to:

Send a read only link for your friends or collaborators to view;
Grab the html embed code for embedding your mind-map directly on your blog or website
Import or Export your sheet in XML format;
Change the editor's settings for your mind-map.

Some important tips for sharing your mind-map:

before you start sharing, make sure that you have a saved copy of your mind-map in its original state before you open it up to others;
mind-maps may only be shared with Bubbl Us 'friends': that is, the persons you want to share your mind-map with must also have a Bubbl Us account;
friends can have different permissions assigned to them: Read Only, which allows viewing but no editing, or Full Edit, which allows full editing control, including re-naming of your mind-map.

Further information about Bubbl Us and mind-mapping can be found at:

http://bubbl.us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Mapping

Happy Mind-Mapping!

Ning

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Ning is an online platform, used primarily for creating private or closed social networks. Unlike other popular social networking applications such as Facebook or MySpace, which are open for all to join, Ning allows users to create private networks for a particular group of online users. The network can be kept as private or as public as the creator desires, and each member can be granted different permissions and given different roles in the general running of the network. Ning is being increasingly used in the educational field as both a tool and platform for collaboration. Users can opt to either take part in other members' social networks or create a network from scratch of their own.

Getting Started

To start exploring Ning, log onto http://ning.com. You will be immediately prompted to Sign In and to Create a new social network. You can choose a name for your network, and also the network's URL (they don't necessarily have to be the same). The URL is subject to availability.

Once you click on Create, you will be prompted either to log in with your existing Ning account or else sign in for a new membership.

Now you can really start customising your Ning Network. First, describe what your Network is going to be about, and choose a language and country.

Next, you can start adding, removing or simply moving your network's features. Decide on what shortcuts you need to have upon loading, and what comes before and after. Usually, it is advisable that the members' blog posts are visible immediately when one logs onto the network. The Network's latest activity should also be allowed a prominent space on the network. Another important consideration is whether or not you want to allow synchronous chat on the network.

The final stage is to customise your Network's appearance: choose a theme and customise the colours according to your taste. Click on Launch, and your new Social Network is ready to roll!

Getting Around

At first glance, a Ning network may seem less straight forward than say, Facebook, however if you are used to Facebook's interface you will soon get the hang of Ning. On the top there are a series of Tabs which open onto other pages: My Page, Blogs, Events, etc. Take some time to explore each page. But first, make sure to customise your personal page on Ning, by adding details, photos, etc. On My Page, you can also access your Network's Private Messaging (e-mail) and add other network members as friends. To view the other members of the network, click on the Members Tab.

The network's discussions can be found in the Forum page, and the Network's upcoming activities can be accessed from Events. In the case of Events, one can opt to have events which are open only to specific members of the network, that is, by invitation only.

Ning Networks allow easy uploading of both photos, videos and blog posts. Depending on how you arranged your page features during setup, the relevant pages can be found on the top tabs and also on the Main Page. Photos can be added by uploading the actual picture files; in the case of videos, you must copy and paste the video's embed code (such as a video from YouTube, TeacherTube or Vimeo). Each person can have his/her own blog on the network, and blog posts will appear both on the Main Page and on the personal page (My Page) of the person uploading the blog.

How safe is Ning?

You can have two roles on a Ning Network: the role of Administrator if you are logged into a network you have created yourself, or the role of Member if you can have been invited to join a network created by somebody else. Another important thing to take note of is that if you are the Network's Administrator, your interface will look slightly different that if you are merely a Member. If you are the network's administrator, you will of course have extra privileges and be able to re-arrange the network's elements. You will also be able to determine who does the edits, and, in extreme cases, ban persons from your network. Ning can allow you to have a 100% private network - that is, private except for the users who have been specifically invited and approved by the network's administrator. These security settings are of utmost importance if you are planning to use Ning with young learners.

Network permissions can be determined by clicking on the Manage tab, and then on to Members to define members' roles, and on Network Privacy to determine who can view and join your network.

The Administrator can also opt to change the tabs at the top of the page: thus re-arranging page elements and accessibility.

Ning Networks in Education

Ning has been used extensively in education, for collaboration purposes and for creating safe, private networks for students to work in. There are a number of good networks which illustrate how Ning can be used within the educational setting, both locally and abroad. Take a look at these two excellent networks, created by educators for educators...

Ning in Education: http://education.ning.com/
Classroom 2.0: http://www.classroom20.com/

For more information about Ning Networks, go to:

http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/home.php?p_sid=idJ6oaBj
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ning

Sharing Resources - Online Slide-Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:38:00 +0000

In previous posts, I have talked about various applications and widgets: Photo-editing software, audio manipulation software, animated avatars, etc. These applications or resources may or may not have been specifically created for educational purposes. There is a myriad of applications out there, and a multitude of skills to learn - this sometimes can be a bit overwhelming. There is always a constant pressure on us teachers to perform and to create new and interesting resources, and especially, resources which can be shared online.

Sometimes we, as teachers, underestimate how much work we manage to cram in during the year - and the re-usability of our resources. For example, this year, for the Creativity & Innovation Projects, teachers were asked to look at any ongoing projects or activities going on in their classrooms - such as e-Twinning, Eko Skola or simply classroom based projects - and adapt their work for sharing or online publishing (I am referring mostly to the Year 5 Blogs Project on Skola Portal). Everyday resources, such as photos, videos or slide-shows can be adapted for online viewing with minimal changes required.

One of the most common types of resources which you might be in possession of are Slide Shows - Picture Slide shows or more traditional presentations or Power Point Shows. Both can be adapted to online uploading and viewing - on a website, wiki or blog - and we will now take a look at two popular services which make this possible.

Power Point Slide-Shows

Power Point Slide-Shows can be surprisingly easy to adapt to online viewing -I am talking, of course, of MS Power Points: the ones you might have already prepared for your daily lessons, or a simple PPT created by your children. Of course, MS Powerpoint Shows need a slight adjustment before they can go online: they need to be converted in a way that your blog or website will recognise them. Then - like with any other widget - its simply a case of grabbing the correct Embed code and paste it in place. To make MS PPTs available online, we can use a variety of web applications. I am going to talk about just one of these popular services; however, there are others to choose from. The services offered are free (upgrades are available at a cost - but usually the basic service will cover your needs). The most important thing to remember is that in order for them to work, registration is required the first time round, and signing-in on the subsequent times.

SlideShare

One of the most popular PPT sharing resource is SlideShare.net . It lets you upload your presentations and share them in online a couple of simple clicks. To try out the service and register, go to http://slideshare.net/ . You can opt to browse existing presentations, try out some widgets or simply upload your presentation. To upload your presentation, click on the Upload button on the top of the page. You will be asked to choose a PPT from a location on your computer, and, depending on the speed of your connection, your PPT will soon be ready for viewing or embedding! (Each PPT must not exceed 100 MB and you may upload up to 10 files at a time). You can choose a title, tags and category for your PPT.

One thing to remember when using such services is that the uploading part is only one half of the story (the same applies when uploading, for example, a video on You Tube). After uploading your file(s) on the server, the application needs to convert the file to a format that is globally recognisable and embeddable. After the file has uploaded, remember to click on Publish so that your presentation will be converted into online format.

After the Presentation has been uploaded, you may wish to alter Permissions surrounding it. You can also opt to have a private, restricted view or public Presentation. You may also opt to let people download the presentation onto their PCs or not. It all depends on what you intend to do with your Presentation. All these settings can be changed and accessed any time after uploading, by clicking on My Slidespace - where all your uploaded PPTs reside - click on the PPT whose settings you wish to change, and then on Edit. You will be shown up the options page once more, and will be given the chance to do the required edits. Remember to click on Update to change your settings.

NB. Different platforms require different Embed Codes. The Embed Code is basically a piece of script which will allow your newly uploaded presentation to be visible on your Website/Wiki/Blog or Social Networking Site. Depending on where you want your presentation to appear, select the appropriate embed code - usually you will see a little icon symbolising the type of embed - the orange letter B for Blogger Code, the blue F for Facebook, the black W for Wordpress, etc. You may also share your presentation by e-mail by copying and pasting the URL where your presentation has been uploaded onto an e-mail message.

Photo-Slide Shows

Instead of simply sharing photos online, why not put them together and create a movie-like slide show? There are various applications which allow this - the two most popular ones are Slide.Com and Animoto. Both have very similar interfaces and rely on the principal of uploading photos, adding effects and transitions, and finally publishing and sharing your work. Here, we are going to take a quick look at Slide.com; if you are interested in Animoto you may log onto a previous post I created on my blog, http://teachersandcomputers.blogspot.com/2009/03/animoto.html.

Slide.com

Slide.com is a photo-sharing application - similar to MS Photostory - and allows you to create interesting photo-slide shows. It is available on http://slide.com and like other online applications it requires registration the first time round.

To start your first slide-show, sign in with the username and password you have created upon registration, and click on Make a Slide Show. You will be prompted to start adding your photos - either from your PC or else grab photos from other online albums that you might already have, such as Flickr or Facebook (Remember - Re-Usabilty!). Each photo may also be individually named.

While you are waiting for photos to load (in order to shorten uploading times, remember to resize them for the Web!), you might wish to change your slide-show's settings:

Style: Change the way your photos will appear on the screen - i.e. the transition from one photo to the next;
Skin: Change slide-show's player as it will be displayed on your website;
Themes: Add a theme animation to your slide-show, such as sparkles or hearts;
Music/Video: Add some music from a good choice of tracks, to suit all moods and occasions;
Background: Change your slide-show's background colour;
Effects: Add effects to your photos, such as b/w and sepia tints;
Size: Change the size (in pixels) of your slide-show;
Privacy: Determine the privacy settings of your slide-show - who will be able to view or download your creation

As soon as all your photos are uploaded, you can change their order on the story-board at the bottom of the screen, or change any effects or styles as desired. When that is done, you may Save and Get Code. As in the case for other widgets, remember to grab the correct code according to where you are uploading your work. For example, Wetpaint Wikis do not support script tags. Usually all popular services are supported. If you are unsure of what you need, or your favourite blog or wiki isn't listed in the code list, try grabbing a copy of another application's embed code and see if that works - sometimes its just a simple case of trial and error!

NB There are several applications which will allow sharing of resources online; unfortunately I cannot go through them all here. However here are some additional sites which you might want to try out:

For sharing Power Point Presentations:
http://authorstream.com/

http://docs.google.com/

For creating photo slide-shows:
http://animoto.com/
http://onetruemedia.com/

Author's Note: This post is dedicated to my father, Alfred, who spent the last two weeks in hospital but is now on the road to recovery. He was always a great supporter of my work and is always encouraging me to try and do my best.

Google Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:40:00 +0000

Google Maps (formerly known as Google Local) is a freeware web mapping service application provided by Google. It powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It encompasses street maps, a route planner for traveling by foot, bicycle, car, or public transport and an urban business locator for numerous countries around the world. It also can help find the location of specific buildings. (Source: Wikipedia.com) Google Maps is also pre-installed on newly purchased iPhones and iPod Touch.

Google Maps forms part of the 40+ freeware applications available from Google Inc.

To get started on Google Maps, watch this two-minute tutorial, produced by Google Support:

This video (which can be found on the Google Maps Support) illustrates very clearly the many features of Google Maps. However, I will now go through its basics, one by one.

Google Maps Basics

Map Navigation: You can navigate through a map by simply clicking and dragging your cursor (which will be in the shape of a palm of a hand) around. The + and - signs will help you zoom in and out of the map, and you can also choose what type of map you want to view: map view, terrain view or satellite view.

Get Directions: Want to go from A to B, and get all the different options available? You will be asked to enter location A and location B, (for example, from London, UK to Sussex, UK). You can choose which mode of transport you are going to use, if you are going to use the car or walk, and in the case of cars, whether or not you wish to take the highway or just normal streets.

While you are getting directions, you can also search for specific businesses in the vicinity, such as restaurants or hotels, or even public places such as schools or bus stations. On the more practical side, you can also search for speed cameras and I was pleased to note that all the latest speed camera locations have already been loaded into Google Maps, and you can even download the POI's into your own GPS.

My Maps: Instead of searching for directions or maps every time, you can save and re-load maps that you have been working on, and in true Google Apps fashion, you will be able to share them with other users. To create a new map, simply click on Create a new Map. Or, if you want to edit an existing map, click on Edit. There is a variety of tools which which will help you to customise your map. An important point to remember is that by default, maps appear to be Public, so if you don't want it so, click on Unlisted. Once again, I have included a short video from the Google Maps team, to illustrate how My Maps work...

Google Maps Tips and Tricks

By default, when you log onto Google Maps, you will probably be shown a map or the world or of the US. Your Default Location is basically your Google Maps start-up page, and you can change it according to what you are going to do with your Maps. For example, if you are using Google Maps with your classroom children, it would be wise to set your School or Locality as your default location. Or, if you are doing a project about another country abroad, try setting that as your default location.

When asking for directions, remember you can opt for different kinds of directions: walking directions or by car. You can also set your findings to either KM or miles.

Google Maps works rather like a GPS (in fact, Google Maps can be downloaded into your GPS, and iPhones come with Google Maps pre-installed). One important feature of GPS devices and Google Maps is that they work best if you input the correct postcode. Actually, a postcode is the only vital information you will need when searching for a particular location, so make sure you get them right.

There might be more than one location with the same name. If you haven't got the correct postcode for searching, try to be at least more specific in your search. For example, do not just key in Malta, but Malta, Europe, for more accurate results.

When you find places of interest on Google Maps, (for example, you might be looking for restaurants near your holiday location) by clicking on the Placemark you will be able to access other options for your location, such as the ability to save it on My Maps or copy and share the map URL with your friends.

This is of course just a very basic overview of Google Maps. Like all other web applications, the more you practice, the better and easier it will get. Linked to Google Maps is another (desktop) application called Google Earth, which offers more features and is available for free download at http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

Using YouTube Videos (Part 2) : Extracting Audio Files

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:47:00 +0000

One of the very first posts of this Blog described how we could download YouTube Videos from the Internet and embed them in our everyday lessons in the classroom. I explained in detail how this could be done by using the popular video-downloading site, Keepvid.com (Using YouTube Videos as a Resource in the Classroom). Sometimes though, we might come across a video with a really good soundtrack or commentary, and we would like to use just that, the audio; perhaps to add special effects to an Audacity Project or for quizzing our students in class. Today I am going to focus on how we can extract Audio Files from these downloaded videos (and from other AVI - MP4 files in general).

Extracting Audio Files from Downloaded Videos

To extract audio from a video which is already on your PC, all you require is a simple audio extraction program. There are various freeware and shareware audio extraction applications available for downloading off the Internet, and they are relatively simple to use (just open the video file and the program does the rest). One of my favourites is AoA Audio Extractor, which is available for free download from AoA Media. This little application will effectively convert popular video formats - such as MP4s, AVIs, FLVs, WMVs and MOVs into MP3s, WAVs or AC3s. To start extracting audio files, simply click on Add Files on the top right hand corner of the screen. You will be prompted to choose the video file to convert. Click on Open and then choose the file format for conversion (MP3, WAV or AC3). Finally, click on the large round Start button on the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and the application will do the rest. You can download AoA Audio Extractor from the AoA Media site, which can be found at http://www.aoamedia.com/audioextractor.htm.

Extracting Audio Files from Online Videos

If you wish to use a YouTube Video primarily for its audio component, there is no need to download the video using KeepVid. Instead of using KeepVid, use another site called (wait for it...) ListenToYouTube. What this site does (in a similar way to KeepVid actually) is download the video for you, but instead of giving you the video file (FLV or MP4 format), it just presents you with the extracted audio file in MP3 format.

First, log onto YouTube and locate the video you wish to use, and start playing it. On the right hand side of the screen, you will see the video's URL. Copy the URL (by right clicking and selecting copy). Then, open a new window and type in http://listentoyoutube.com/. In the centre of the screen, you will see an empty address bar in which you can enter your video's URL directly from YouTube. Simply paste the URL you had previously copied (right click > Paste) and click on Go. You will see some basic information about the video you are trying to convert - such as Title, File Size, etc - and in a minute or two, the application will start processing the video for you. Depending on the speed of your connection, the online video will be processed and converted into an MP3 file.

Up to this stage, your MP3 is still not down laded, but is it simply residing on ListenToYouTube's servers. To actually save a copy of this file, click on Download MP3 and you will be taken to another page where once again you will be prompted to download your file. Click once again on Download MP3 and a dialog box will open, prompting you to insert a username and select a save location for your file. Click on Save and your MP3 will be saved onto your PC.

Which is the best system to extract audio from video files? The answer is up to you. It rather depends on your preferences and what you wish to use your newly-extracted audio file for. If for example, you wish to use the file as a lesson starter, you might want the audio clip plus the original video file to show to the students later on. Or you might just need some special sound effects to embed into an Audacity Project. Whatever system you use, please remember the usual pros and cons of using material straight off the Internet, especially with regards to copyrighted materials and suitability of content - refer to my previous entry about YouTube videos at:

http://teachersandcomputers.blogspot.com/2009/01/using-youtube-videos-as-resource-in.html

Sites to remember:

http://youtube.com/

http://listentoyoutube.com/

http://www.aoamedia.com/audioextractor.htm

Note: A special thanks goes to my colleague Kevin Grima for pointing out ListenToYouTube.com to me. Thanks Kevin :)

Vimeo

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:03:00 +0000

When talking about uploading and sharing of videos online, the vast majority of people automatically think of YouTube. However, YouTube is definitely not the only site which offers these online services. Another popular site (especially in the US) is Vimeo.

Vimeo is a video-centric social networking site, launched by InterActiveCorp in 2004. Its name, "Vimeo", is, in fact, an anagram of the word "movie". The site hosts around 13,000 video uploads daily, 10% of which in HD. Most notably, the White House regularly uploads HD versions of Barac Obama's broadcasts on Vimeo.

Although Vimeo is primarily used to upload videos, its core purpose is very different from that of YouTube. It is not commonly used to download music videos or cartoons or excerpts from movies. Vimeo is essentially a social networking site, where people of similar interests can create groups and upload instructional, demonstrative or simply entertaining videos. It offers a somewhat safer, cleaner environment in which to work with our students.

Getting Started

Although anyone can access Vimeo, it is always best to create an account first (otherwise you will find yourself locked out of many features). When signing in for the first time, it will ask you if you want to link you Vimeo account with your own Facebook account for convenience - I did, of course :) When you first log in, your display should look something like this...

On the top right hand side of the screen one can find the Menu Bar with a series of drop-down menus. Clicking on Me will allow the user to edit the Home Page, Profile, Settings and Contacts. The Me menu will also allow the user to engage in private messages and conversations with their contacts on Vimeo. From the Video menu one can, apart from uploading Videos, manage Albums, Groups, Channels and Subscriptions. Alternatively, to upload a video, simply click on the Upload menu.

Uploading Videos

To upload a video, simply click on the Upload Video button. Vimeo offers the user the possibility to upload up to 500MB of videos every week (including HD). Videos can be tagged so that they are labelled and more easily found. Altough it allows users to share videos and to download each other's videos, its rigid privacy settings mean that the users can decide if they want their video to be available for others to watch or download from the site, or not. In other words, uploaded videos can be kept totally secret from the general viewing public. Users may opt to use Vimeo purely to keep a backup of their videos.

This short screen cast was developed by the Vimeo team, and shows how one may upload a video and keep it private...

Additional Features

Below is a list of some additional stuff that can be done with Vimeo. To learn more about these features, click on the Explore menu on the top right hand side of the screen.

Groups: Creating a Group in Vimeo is like creating a mini community within Vimeo of people with common interests like yourself. Within a group users are able to share and discuss videos, music, photos, events, etc. (When searching Groups, I managed to find a good number of teachers' groups).

Channels: A simple way to showcase videos is to create a Channel where your viewers can watch your creations.

Projects: Users here can discuss ongoing or future audio-visual projects they wish to embark upon. It is also a sort of forum, where the users may engage in discussions about technical issues, requested features, general discussions about videos, etc.

Toys: Vimeo Toys are discovery applications that enable users to check out the latest videos and activity on the Vimeo service. Vimeo Land is a cartoon-style 2D world, while Pulse is one huge collage of all the videos being uploaded in real time. Users can actually engage in and create their own "Vimeo Toys".

As one can see, there is more to Vimeo than just uploading and sharing of videos. It is more of a specialised community of people who share videos and ideas with each other. It is very, very different from YouTube, and do take my word for it. It can be safely used to upload children's content videos online and embed them into a Blog or even on Skola portal. Try it out at http://www.vimeo.com/

Google Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:11:00 +0000

When someone hears the word ‘Google’, the usual response would be to think of the popular search engine, or, maybe, the familiar online webmail, Gmail. However, in recent years, Google Inc has truly evolved and offers an array of online Applications (Google Apps), most of them available to use for free on the Internet.

History

In January 1996, two Ph.D students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started Google as their part of their research project. Originally the search engine used the Stanford University domain (google.standford.com). The domain name google.com was registered in September 1997. At the time, their offices were a mere space in a friend’s garage in Menlo Park, California – a far cry from their multi-million Googleplex headquarters in Santa Clara County. Apart from the hugely successful Google search engine, the company now encompasses dozens of applications (of which Blogger, which hosts this very blog, and Picasa, about which I wrote in January).

It is not possible for me in this article to go into detail about all the available Google Apps; however I will give a quick overview of the two most popular Apps: Gmail and Google Docs. I will cover other popular Google Apps in due course.

Gmail and Chat

This is, of course, where it all begins – creating a Gmail account will automatically open the doors to a myriad of other applications available on Google. If you haven’t yet set up a Gmail account, you can do so at http://mail.google.com. Gmail provides the registered user with a 7GB (and growing) of storage facility. It also boasts a powerful SPAM filter which deters the accumulation of SPAM e-mails in your mailbox. However, there is more to Gmail than just storing your e-mails.

For starters, e-mails are grouped together in Conversations. The reply to a particular e-mail is automatically grouped with the original e-mail. Subsequent replies will also be added to this Conversation Bubble. Each new e-mail can create a new Conversation and Conversations are searchable. Longer Conversations, with many replies, are shown in short format for ease of retrieval. This is quite different from the usual html-style layout of other web-based e-mails or Outlook.

More than e-mail…

Google Calendar: Gmail has its very own Google Calendar, accessible on http://calendar.google.com. It allows the user to organise events and set reminders (which can be sent regularly to a Gmail account). After the initial set-up process, any additional changes to appearance or events can be accessed to from the Calendar tab on the top-left hand side of your Gmail toolbar. Calendars may also be shared – either made 100% public, or just to selected contacts – by clicking on the drop-down menu next to your Calendar name, on the left hand side of the screen. A user may opt to have more than one calendar (for different areas of one’s life, if the need arises).

Lables: A unique feature of Gmail is the ability to sort e-mails by using Labels. Labels work rather like Tags, and allow the user to group e-mails together by subject (for example, you might have a label for Work e-mails; another label for Joke e-mails, and so on); thus making retrieval of information easier. Labels can be created and edited by clicking on the Settings tab and then on Labels. Accidentally deleting a label will not delete e-mails associated with that label.

Google Talk: Gmail also has an in-built chat program - Google Talk - similar in concept to other IM’s such as MSN or Skype. Although basic in both features and appearance, it allows users to interact effectively with each other, both with short texts and even with video calls. One may choose to either Save the chat history or go Off The Record. Chat settings – including settings for video calls – can be accessed from Settings > Chat.

Google Docs

In an ever-changing world, portability is of essence. Google Docs allows the user to create, upload, access and edit documents from anywhere (at least, where a connection to the Internet is available). Google Docs enable users to:

Create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations online;
Upload documents directly from their Inbox;
Easily share documents with others, without the need of sending multiple e-mails

To create a document from scratch, go to http://docs.google.com (remember, Gmail registration is required first!) The user friendly interface will allow you to create your desired document in no time – simply click on New, choose the type of document required, and start away! If, on the other hand, you already have a typed document that you want to share, simply click on the Upload button and upload the document in much the same way as you would add an attachment in an e-mail.

Amongst the obvious advantages of working with Google Docs – mainly the portability and the possibility to create online backups of your work – are the ability to bring people together and collaborate on an online project. Multiple persons can work on an online document simultaneously – and tracks can be kept of who edits what, and when. I have included this short video from The Common Craft Show, which illustrates the most salient uses of Google Docs “In Plain English”…

For more information about Google Apps, visit:

http://mail.google.com

http://www.google.com/talk/

http://www.google.com/apps/

http://docs.google.com

http://calendar.google.com

More information about other Google Apps will be uploaded shortly on this very blog. Stay tuned J

Animoto

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Animoto is an online service, enabling the user to create unique trailer-like videos which can be shared with other users. The application also enables the user to upload a soundtrack to accompany the photos. Its creators claim that the ensuing video takes into consideration the music’s genre, rhythm and tempo to generate a trailer that takes into the song’s nuances.

Animoto was founded by a New York based company, with previous experience in the entertainment industry. In March 2008, The Animoto Videos application was launched on Facebook and became a popular way for users to showcase their photos on this social network

Getting Started

The first time you log onto Animoto, you will be asked to sign in with an active e-mail account. After signing in, log onto your

e-mail in order to activate your newly created Animoto account. Upon logging in, click on Choose your Video Type to start your project. There are two types of videos on offer: the Animoto Short 30 sec Video or the Full Length Extended Video. While the former is free of charge, the Full Length version can be created only against payment and requires the user to purchase Video Credits (from the website).

Uploading your Images

Animoto will let you use images from one or more of the following locations: from your computer, from online sources or from its very own digital library, which contains a good selection of stock photos and images and are great for getting started or for introducing Animoto to students. Click on the Images tab to start uploading. You will also be given the choice to rotate, highlight or move your pictures along the timeline, but sadly, nothing else. If you wish to edit or crop your pictures, you must do that before you upload them on Animoto.

Adding Music

After choosing your images, you can then proceed to upload a suitable soundtrack to go with your slide show. Click on the Music tab in order to choose your preferred music. Once again, Animoto has a good array of pre-loaded music tracks, however it also lets you upload music of your own. (Animoto's creators claim that, when the final slide show is being generated, it takes into account the music's genre and tempo to generate a trailer-like video, and that is why users don't have the option to set their own transitions and/or animations).

Your Video is served...

After the images and music have been uploaded, its time to click on the Finalise Tab and generate your video (this might take some time, especially on slow connections). In the case of Animoto Shorts (i.e., the freeware version of the application) one cannot have a tangible copy of the video on the hard disk (for example, as with MS PhotoStory or Picasa Video). The video will actually only be "saved" in cyberspace. However, the video will be available for viewing on the user's Animoto account. To share with others, one can:

click on Send video to friends icon, so that your friends will receive a link to the video by e-mail;
click on Post/Embed Online to post your video on a website or blog;
click on Export to YouTube icon to upload the video on YouTube;
click on iPhone Options to send the video to an iPhone.

So, although one cannot actually have a downloaded version of the video on the hard disk, there are many ways to share an Animoto video with others. Animoto's strength lies in its user friendliness and the ability to easily share your creation with others, without having to leave the application or hog your or your friend's mailboxes with too-large attachments.

Below is my very first Animoto Short video. For more information about Animoto, go to http://animoto.com/

Tagging and Uploading Photos: Introducing Flickr

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda R. Debattista) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Flickr is an online photo and video management application, used for editing, organising and uploading digital images online. It was developed by Ludicorp, a Vancouver-based company that launched this application in February 2004. In 2005, both Flickr and Ludicorp were acquired by Yahoo! Flickr has since undergone many changes in both appearance and interface. The latest version (Flickr Gamma) was launched in May 2006.

Flickr requires a Yahoo! account to sign in, and it’s a free and easy way to share photos with friends. When logging onto the website, you will be prompted to sign in with your Yahoo ID, or, alternatively, create a new Yahoo e-mail account to be able to log onto Flickr.

Upon loading, you will be greeted with your own personal Flickr page. There are also various upload choices available, both for beginners and for more advanced users. One can upload:

via the Flickr Uploader (available for both PC and Mac);
via iPhoto, Aperture, or Windows XP plug-ins;
via Flickr upload web page;
via email via various free third-party desktop programs;

Uploading Photos (through Flickr Uploader)

The easiest way to upload photos in Flickr is through its very own Flash uploader. When you sign in, you will see your Photostream on the top right hand side of the screen, and the Upload link on the top left. Click on Upload to start uploading your pictures in 3 simple steps: first choose your photos, then upload, and finally edit them. (After uploading, you will be able too see them in your Photostream – see above). When uploading, remember that you can decide who will see your photos: you can either make them public (can be viewed by anyone logging onto Flickr) or private (viewable only to those you choose).

Problems with uploading?

At times, you may not be able to work with Flickr’s flash uploader. This can happen for a variety of reasons: the most common being that you do not have the required flash plug-in or your Internet browsing security settings are set too high. If you do not wish or cannot rectify this, click on the basic uploader link which will let you upload your pictures in much the same way as you would send an attachment in an e-mail. Slow, but does the trick.

Tagging your photos

Once your photos are online, you may wish to tag them. Tagging a photo means giving it a sort of label or short description, so that you or other persons may be able to search for the photo more efficiently. To tag a photo, simply select a photo in your Photostream and click on Add a Tag (on the right hand side of the screen; just underneath your photo’s thumbnail.)

While up to this point, this process is similar to other tagging features available on other photo management applications, Flickr can then take tagging into a whole new level: it lets you select parts of the photo and tag different parts of it with different words. For example, if you upload a photo of a street lined with houses, you would be able to tag each individual house and perhaps input the name of the family who inhabits it. The same goes for group photos: Flickr lets you pin-point the individuals in the picture, one by one.

With Flickr, tagging becomes a visual process: the tagged parts of the photo will be encircled and the tags clearly visible on different parts of the picture, creating interesting compositions. This is known as adding notes. To add a note to an uploaded picture, simply click on the photo you wish to tag, and click on Add Note. You can drag the note around the required position on the photo, and you may also delete or edit it at a later stage.

Editing your photos

In 2007, Yahoo! announced its partnership with Picnik, a web-based photo editing application, and it was integrated into Flickr. By clicking on the Edit Photo tab, Picnik will open and allow the user to access its editing features. These include:

Basic editing: Lets you perform basic fixes to your photos, such as rotating, cropping and sharpening of a photo. Click on the Edit Tab;
Basic effects: Allows you add simple effects, such as Black and White, Sepia, Colour Invert, Tint, etc. Click on the Create Tab and then on Effects;
Add Frames: Lets you add novelty frames to your photos. Click on the Create Tab and then on the Frames Tab;
Advanced effects: More advanced special effects, created by clicking on the Create Tab and then on Sandbox Tab.

Viewing your photos and sharing them with others

After you have tagged and edited your photos, you may wish to share them with your friends. First, click on the View as Slideshow icon in your Photostream, to see how your pictures will look on your friend’s PCs. Then, if you are happy with the results, click on the share icon (either in your Photostream or, if you are in Slideshow mode, it will prompt you to e-mail your photos to your friends at the end of the show). Basically, what your friends will receive is a link to your Photostream. Add your friends’ e-mail addresses (separated by a comma) or just copy and paste the link and use your regular e-mail account to send the link over.

For more information about Flickr and its many uses, click on the following links:

http://flickr.com
http://www.picnik.com/
www.flickr.com/help/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr