Crazy about video and VIDDIX!

VIDDIX is an online presentation application that allows dual-pane or single-pane presentations. You upload a video into one panel and then the other panel is used for graphics, links, images, and even more video. Students can take any video with subject content...kill the sound and narrate to show understanding, while adding their own information and more! Or they can shoot their own video and add web content to enhance their presentation or to further demonstrate their comprehension. Has many potential uses for both students and teachers. I could see instructional videos or even mini review videos with links to more content for students who need remediation. Just send them to the URL, at home or during lunch, or during class.
Check out the demo I made!

Animoto...videos quick and easy!

Like Charlene, I too discovered Animoto and was amazed how fast and easy it was to put together a good looking video. All housed online, you simply choose pics/vids from your computer and music from their site (LOTS of options) and the application creates a video using a selected template. I liked that they had plenty of music options (even a monthly "what's new" selection), which would satisfy K-12 students AND plenty of links to Creative Commons music sources for building school projects. Very student-friendly! There are benefits with a paid subscription, but like most, you could probably do without. You can sign your students up and let them make very cool presentations, very quickly! I threw this one together as a commercial for my after-school STEM Club...click here to check it out!

Some Solutions!

Well, since the QuickTime files have some issues when shared away from their player, it is nice to know that Jing is free and easy to use and share. I found another free site called FreeScreencast.com that offers the same advantages. It only works on the PC platform, but I thought I'd share it anyway.
Here's the LINK.

I was able to get my .mov file to work, however, by converting the file on one of my favorite sites: Zamzar. Zamzar offers free file converting, which can come in handy. Junp through a few hoops and Zamzar will email the converted file to you or you can sign up and store your converted files on their site. I have used this for converting YouTube videos so I could play them in class using the player of my choice. You just need the URL for the video and you're good to go. Check it out!

Another movie about making movies???

OK, so maybe the cheese is sliding off my cracker...but I made another movie...this time in QuickTime showing how to make and share movies with Jimg. Am I crazy??? Possibly, but I discovered there were some things I really liked about Jing that I wanted to share and I also wanted to see how easy it would be to post this QuickTime video...

A movie about making a movie...

Thanks to Joe Knell, I now realize that making a "screencast" using the QuickTime player on the new MacBook is easy. So....I made a Jing movie about making a QuickTime movie and even played it back with in the Jing movie!! Wrap your brain around this!
Click here to watch!

Using Jing for instructional screencasts!

So, I know I'm late on getting this thing rolling, but my first find that proved useful was Jing. A few others have mentioned Jing in our classes and I have always been intrigued. It is a free download, which when running, deposits an easy user interface in the form of a glowing sun in the corner of your screen. While simple screen captures or image captures can be achieved simply with Macs and I guess PCs, I think the real benefit of Jing comes with the screencasting. It is easy as pie, even with the free version, to select the size of your capture, click on the video button, and record everything you are doing on the screen with audio. You can pause to bring up a different screen or catch your breath too! The one thing I haven't figured out is how to back up a wee bit to clean up a mistake. 

We usually complete a few computer lab assignments during the year and they always entail the repetition of directions on how to access or use websites and/or tools. Creating a video tutorial that can be played by whoever, whenever is a great replacement for printed directions or my failing voice. I will just need to hand over the headphones...

As that plan ferments...I have created a much needed video (screencast), which I uploaded to our class Wiki. I noticed many students accessing the numerous StudyStacks I created and parents who do not know how to use the site in spite of the printed directions on our Wiki.

Hopefully this video will help: http://bbmslifescience.hcpss.wikispaces.net/HOMEWORK

Welcome!!

So....I hope to hear about what you all find in the way of cool Web 2.0!