Problems with video editing

Was trying to help a school get some footage from a camcorder onto a Windows PC in a file format that MS Moviemaker can understand. This was not as easy as I first anticipated due the film being supplied to me on a small DVD-R. One of those ones that are about 2.5 inches across that I havn't seen used in anger for about 3 years.

Problem number 1: how to read the DVD. My laptop wont take those small disks. Found an old USB DVD writer from the dim and distant (6 years ago - before they were commonly put in desktops and laptops). Success. Footage on hard disk.

Problem number 2: ripping the DVD. Now, I am not into this really so I fell back on VLC an excellent piece of software that can norammly reencode stuff into the format I would like. Would it have it? Nope. It would read the difficult VOB files from the DVD ok and convert them into what it said were mpeg2 or wmv files - Moviemaker was resolute in its refusal to play them however. After about 2 hours of headscratching and web research I came accross Quick Media Converter for Windows. Drag and drop - all kinds of conversion. Easy peasy. Thought I had it cracked.

Problem 3: getting a headache now. Video footage not in sync all the way through with audio. Fooled me for a while until a teacher complained because it starts out ok but then goes off. Back to the web for research and found that this commonly happens using a particular encoder of video. No solution.

The Upshot: I've spent too long on this already really and am out of ideas. Have to apologise/wildly justify myself to the teacher concerned. Suggest throwing money at the problem etc etc. Still got a headache.

Any ideas?

Another labour saving web clipper

Grabbing screenshot images is a common task - resizing them and saving them and publishing them can all be chores. Again, one for the macheads but looks like a little tool called Skitch may be able to help. It is very powerful, is a free signup and comes with online storage and sharing spaces so is all web 2.0 and all that. Check out the thumbnail below. It can integrate with iSight too.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

It is made by the same people who produced the excellent Comic Life, Plasq. I can see lots of times when this would be useful for integrating web clips into a learning platform. Perhaps you just want a thumbnail of what a website looks like to use as a link instead of text? Skitch could do it for you. There are many possibilities.

BETT Finds

Was at BETT last Friday. Trends seem to be for web based graphic, audio and video editing- a couple of finds;

Creaza - does a few things, making cartoons, simple video editing etc. Some online stoorage. Says it will integrate with learning platforms in the near future. Worth a look. I'm still thinking about how to actually use it in the classroom.

Truetube - Does your school block youtube? Truetube may be an answer. Upload and edit video online. Moderated content, all of educational value. Website not working well as of 20/1/09 but looked good in demo at the show. I think it was a BETT category winner. WEBSITE NOW FINE 27/1/09

Any other good stuff??

Preventing presentation probelms

I have been frustrated recently when I have seen a number of presentations given about software. The products themselves have been fine but there have been many situations where the presenter has been talking..

"and all you need to do to publish this blog post is.....--- click, wait, nothing happens---- it will just be a second, I think the internet is slow today ---wait longer, awkward silence----- ..just a moment, perhaps if I try it again --audience shuffles and whispers to one another-----...."

Do you recognize that? From a teaching point of view it is exceptionally disengaging. We stop caring about what it is we are learning and our mind is wandering.

So I was considering how I could prevent such scenarios in my own practice where inevitably there is the same element of showing people how to use an online service (or even just a piece of software) How can I guarantee that all link will work and all clicks be responsive?

So I was browsing Janes E-Learning Pick of the Day and one of the tools she found is called Screentoaster. No software to install, just login to the website and record whatever is happening on your screen. Brilliant! You can publish on the web or save the file - which I think is better for me, then I can incorporate it into presentations.

No more awkward silences? Well not from rotating hourglasses anyway.

BBC report on OFSTED's view of Learning Platforms

The BBC are covering an OFSTED report about learning platforms that highlights that while increasing numbers of schools are using learning platforms, hardly anyone is getting the most out of them.

Some of the problems identified are familiar: It is only enthusiastic teachers within schools who are using them effectively, meaning that curriculum coverage can be patchy. They can be used as dumping grounds for rarely used files.

There is some highlighting of positives. An important one is access to learning for the disadvataged in some way; excluded etc. This principle extends though. The agenda for the future should be learning that can happen any time of day for any learner in any place not just in the 5 hours in school lessons per day. How can this be delivered? Learning platfroms can form part of the answer. Personalised learning, again learning platfroms have much to add.

Of course getting teachers and schools to extract the most from learning platforms rather than just seeing them as something to be bought in and box ticked is a challenge but I think it is possible for the culture to change. Especially when new, exiting things become possible only when learning platforms are used effectively.

Challenge Machine

The challenge machine is an easy way to create a quiz online that you can share with others. When you log in you can rack up points for yourself and so on. It is very good. Lots of potential for students to challenge each other and teachers to set challenges for classes. It is also wider than that though and the challenges are published to all users. Uses could be to ask opinion, conduct surveys, I don't know.

My first simple challenge in below - have a go...

Carbon cost of Googling revealed

Probably best not to read this BBC news article in our line of work...

How to organise research from multiple sources?

So a portion of my days at the moment is spent doing research. New software, web services, becta documents. Some of it is online, some in digital documents and some on actual physical paper would you believe. Now the thing is, how do you put all of this together? How do you store it? How do you look at it all whether you are at home or at the office or out on the road? How do you search for that bit of information you know you read but can't remember whether it was on the web or on a bit of paper?

Well, I'm not sure. Suffering from partial information overload I was looking around for some on or offline solution. Came across Notebook (yes I am a Mac user don't hold it against me) which I have rejected before but didnt remember why until I looked at it again. The thing is I like it, but it doesnt do the whole sharing info thing very well. You are pretty much locked to the machine you are using. Ho hum. 

Perused some lifehacker articles for inspiration and found Evernote. Looks like a winner. Things I like so far;

• Free (limited but adequate usage)
• Cloud computing - all accessible via web interface as well as on software on pc, mac etc
• use web/iSight to add notes with text recognition (pretty good btw although didnt get my wifes scrawls about curtain material - she does work for the nhs though...)
• to do list incorporated
• can add stuff by email

Will  see how it goes. Check it out.

j2e

One of the first projects I am working on is to help schools use a web application called j2e.

Having had a play around with it and spoken to one of the designers I have to say I am amazed. It is a fancy online DTP type thing designed for use by children in its simplest form. Not unlike google docs in the concept of online storage of files... but these words don't do it justice. THe ability of multiple users to collaborate on documents, to export documents, to include dynamic content. Have a play around if you are in any way interested...

Here is an overview video: A brief overview

I cant wait to see it in action in the classroom.

Change of circumstances

Coming out of teaching in a large comprehensive secondary school to working for the LEA is involving a change of mindset and culture. I knew it would, but it is of course difficult to anticipate what it will be like before it happens.

My job is now as Teacher Advisor for Learning Platforms and as I get my head around that and build on my experience in using learning platforms in my own practice I hope this blog will to some extent chart my thinking.

Here goes...