Picasa as Photo Editing Tool and More!

Looking for a fun way to organize and share your digital photos? Want to have access to a photo editor to do simple retouches, add effects, and build collages? Want a tool that integrates well with the pictures in iPhoto on your Mac? Want a program that does all this on the PC? Enough of these darn questions. If you answered "yes" to any of the above, then you owe it to yourself to check out Picasa, free photo editing software from Google. The video below explains some of the features of Picasa.

If you want to find out more information or want to download the program to your home computer, visit http://picasa.google.com

Google Reader

Does your class require you and your students to keep abreast of news events while they happen? Politics, sports, local news, and pop culture all change daily. A web reader can deliver these stories direct to you right after they're posted! Stay up to day with your favorite news sites and blogs. You can access/read all of them in one place with a reader. There are several brands of readers (all free) out on the web, but we recommend Google Reader for its ease of use and large menu of types of sites you can "register" to receive.



Google reader lets you subscribe to your favorite websites. Each posted story contains a link to the original content, and an email link to send the article to anyone in your address book. Signing up is easy (especially if you already have a Google account.)

http://www.google.com/reader

How about making your own media?

We often get asked how to "borrow" youtube videos to embed into powerpoint productions. Typically, we are apt to help - but it is important to point out that technically downloading personal copies of Youtube videos is not supported by the Youtube terms of service. There are tools and sites, such as Zamzar, Meep, Vixy and others that assist in this process - but be aware that if you do this and it is in violation of youtube's terms of service, you do so at your own risk.

If internet connection allows, it's always best to link directly as opposed to downloading a video from the web.

Better yet - there are a host of media creation software out there to try. Here's an overview of what Microsoft offers:

Delicious

This week's blog entry, Delicious, has been around for a long time. I still frequently run into people who don't know what it is - so we've decided to feature it. It's one of those must-have organizational tools that you won't know how you did without once you have it.

How many times have you bookmarked a favorite/necessary website at work, only to get home and realize you can't get to it because you saved it on another computer? If you learn to bookmark on the web, instead of your computer, this doesn't have to ever happen.

Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows you to tag, save, manage and share Web pages all in one place. With emphasis on the power of the community, Delicious greatly improves how people discover, remember and share on the Internet.

Things you can do with Delicious
Bookmark any site on the Internet, and get to it from anywhere
Instead of having different bookmarks on every computer, Delicious makes it easy to have a single set of bookmarks kept in sync between all of your computers. Even if you're not on a computer you own, you can still get to your bookmarks on the Delicious website.

Share your bookmarks, and get bookmarks in return
If your friends use Delicious, you can send them interesting bookmarks that they can check out the next time they log in. Of course, they can do the same for you. As you explore the site and find interesting users, you can use the Subscriptions and Network features to keep track of the Delicious tags and users you find most interesting.

Start your account now: http://www.delicious.com/

Wordle

Wordle is a web tool that generates a "word cloud" graphic - a visual representation of text. You provide text, the site creates a graphic giving prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source you provide. You can provide the text manually, or link to a website/blog to import the text.

These "wordles" were created from the text found in this blog. You can apply varying color schemes and fonts to your project.

To create your own, go to http://www.wordle.net/ .

How could you use this? Please comment below.

Windows Speech Recognition

Based on a student request, we went searching for a way to use your voice to write a paper and had to look no further than our own backyard so to speak! Speech recognition has been around for quite a few years, but with Windows 7 - it's at its best. Available previously in XP and Vista, the latest version of this software is superior in ease of use in every way.

Hidden under program accessories, in the "Ease of Access" folder, you'll find this gem of a tool. The tutorial is extremely well done, and helps your computer recognize your voice, while teaching you how to operate the software.

This is perfect for those of us who still are hunting and pecking on the keyboard, not to mention a wonderful asset for disabled students. Try it yourself, and share it with your students.

Teacher Tube is a new streaming video site, similar to YouTube, which was created by teachers for teachers. The site (which is barely 2 years old,) contains more than 26,000 videos from instructors throughout the world.

Instructors have used this resource for project submission and resource sharing. It's instructional uses allow its content to not be blocked at most institutions. Instructors may upload their video content, or link to any of the content on the site.

For more information, visit www.teachertube.com

Here is a brief yet interesting video about an amazing deep space Hubble Telescope discovery:

SpokenText

Click on the play button below. This is a recording made with a free web application that takes written text and converts it into an audio file. It is very quick and easy. Spokentext.net allows you to make recordings of text by uploading documents, web pages, or by typing on the fly.

With the initial free account, recordings only last 30 days hosted on their server, but you can download your recordings to keep permanently. Use the comments below this blog to add discussions on how likely you would be to want to use this often.

Sharepoint

Sharepoint, though full of organizationally complex benefits, is a particularly good document management system. Watch this video by commoncraft for a general overview. RCTC is running a simple version - let us know if you'd like your own site!

Screener

Screenr has just been introduced as an open-source free video screen capture application. Designed to be used in conjunction with twitter, we have found it to be a very useful tool on its own merit. The biggest improvement over other open source video capture applications, is the ability to download the final product to your computer and own the file.

Fast facts:
Record your screen actions for up to 5 minutes
WEb based - nothing to download
Mac or PC based
Share by link, or embed code
HD available
FREE!

Try it yourself: http://screenr.com/

Here is the sample we made:

Everyone is tweeting on twitter!

Imagine having instant access to new ideas, important campus updates, meeting results - all by just answering your phone! Imagine being able to communicate to all your students instantly by simply texting on your phone! When I first learned about twitter, I admit...I was a skeptic. It struck me as rather narcissistic.

But for every negative I could come up with, there was a positive screaming out "but wait!" Here are the top 10 reasons to twitter in the educational setting:

1. Immediate - Connect to students/people in an instant.
2. Concise - Every professional email in theory written in just characters.
3. Handy - Twitter from your phone.
4. Network - effectively communicate without leaving your chair.
5. Goldmine - A wealth of information waiting out in cyberspace.
6. Collaborate - Together we're better - a virtual staffroom.
7. Self awareness/reflection - Reading about other educators’ experiences makes you question/confirm your own practices
8. Idea generator - great medium for sharing ideas and getting feedback.
9. Get smarter: Following smart people on Twitter is like a mental shot of espresso
10. Don't be left behind! EVEN THE PRESIDENT IS DOING IT!



How to twitter:

Customizing your D2L Homepage

Did you know you can customize the look of your D2L homepage? If you are bothered by the "role switch" widget, or want to make a custom widget featuring youtube, a blog or other information - watch our video and learn how to create your own look.

Click here to view video

Articulate

Energize your courses with Articulate Engage—a quick and easy tool that lets you create lean-forward experiences that learners love. The ability to produce dazzling interactions that turn passive viewers into active learners.

Easy-to-use templates let you create rich-media interactivity in minutes. Choose from a wide range of interaction types, including process, timeline, pyramid diagram, labeled graphic, interactive FAQ, and more. The familiar Flash format allows interactions to integrate seamlessly into virtually any e-learning course, or even stand alone on any Web site. Once you see how quickly and easily you can create great looking interactive content, you'll never want to produce passive e-learning again.

Here's a quick sample we made using videos shot with nursing faculty Nancy Hust and Amy Sands. You can upload images, or videos along with customized text to create a quick, professional engaging activity:

click here for sample

This software is available for staff use in GL132.

Quandary

Remember the old "choose your own adventure" books where you get to decide what the character does, but have to suffer the consequences if the choice was wrong? Now you can create your own adventure for your students with Quandary, from Half-Baked software. A quandary reads like a story, but contains a large number of Decision Points where the reader will have to make a choice between several courses of action. Clicking on the link carries the story further, but a different decision point will arise with an entirely new set of choices.

You can create your own scenario for ethics, law, sociology, etc. with this simple tool. All you need is a PC and a little imagination!

This shareware program only works on pc at the moment (sorry Mac users.) For more information,click here.

Want to try a couple of Quandary mazes out for fun? Click here.

Livescribe

Impressive. Amazing. Easy. All words to describe Livescribe's breakthrough technology that lives in a pen. This amazing tool visually records what you write, while simultaneously recording the audio you speak. Files are immediately uploadable to your D2L site, or embeddable in a blog as below. New adjunct math instructor Chris Person-Rennell has become a quick expert and uploaded several lessons for students to view. He shares a sample below. Livescribe is available to use in GL 122.

Click here to view Chris's lesson.

Barcode Scanning Makes Registration Smoothe Sailing

You never know where you'll find technology inspired greatness! We only had to look out our back door this week to see the Student Success Day volunteers scanning registrant's IDs as they entered the building. A number of "success days" back, after painstakingly taking down student names by hand, Deb Ellsworth got a brilliant idea. She approached Teddy Wieczorek and Wail Kailani from the library and inquired about the potential of the library barcode scanner. With their help, she arranged for a loan of the scanner and they connected it to a laptop where data can be directly imported into an excel spreadsheet. Deb was exhuberant about the amount of time it saved - for both volunteers and students waiting to register. Subsequently, media services has ordered scanners that are now available for checkout for staff who could use this technology.

What is all the hubbub about MP3s, and why should I use them in my class? MP3s use the third audio layer of the MPEG (moving pictures expert group) compression standard, thus the name. This compression removes much of the extra audio information and frequencies that your ear can't hear and delivers a file that is 1/12 the size of equivalent audio. What this means for you and your students is fast upload and download of audio files to your D2L site for Distance Ed. classes, as well as "Web Enhanced" classes.

RCTC's Educational Technology Department has purchased SonyMP3 recorders for check-out. MP3 file creation is a snap, as you record your lecture or review, connect the recorder to your computer, and upload the audio files to your D2L class. It's just another way the Educational Technology Department can help you reach your learners. To learn more, stop down to the Educational Technology Department, or visit us during one of our Technology Showcases.

Virtual You - Make an Animated Movie

For this week's blog, press the play button on the movie!



To build your own virtual you,
http://www.xtranormal.com

PREZI! (or powerpoint is so yesterday!)

This summer one of the most refreshing things found everywhere at the D2L conference was another free Web 2.0 tool called Prezi!

Prezi takes your tired Powerpoint presentations and WAKES THEM UP! It does away with linear slide organization. Working from one giant canvas, Prezi allows you to feature, zoom and create relational patterns connecting thoughts - allowing you to say what you want to say concisely and beautifully.

While we may not be experts yet, take a look at our mini-sample: (Picture it full size!)

Click on the arrow located at the middle-bottom of box to control. Keep clicking thorugh.



Now!...try it yourself at

http://www.prezi.com

Interested in an inservice? Be sure to leave a comment below:

LP Conversion is Here

Have old instructional records that are out of print? With the help of the Educational Technology department we can convert those old LPs to CD with our new USB record player. This Sony LP player includes a transducer which digitizes the audio for input to the computer. When used with the included audio software, the file can be saved in any number of file formats including .aiff, .wav, and mp3. The LP is recorded in real time, so there is no quick duplication. This should help preserve the much needed LP audio tracks that you need in your class.

To take a closer look at this Sony player, stop down during one of our Technology Showcases in the Technology Support Center, Room GL120.