Vidly- Awesome Video Tool for Twitter

I had a chance today to come across Vidly- which is a video tool that can be used with your Twitter account. Using your webcam you can record up to a ten minute video with Vidly, add your Tweet and off it goes to Twitter to post your message with a link to your video. You also have the option to upload a video in several different video formats. I found Vidly easy to use and completed my first Vidly video in minutes which is now posted on Twitter. You can also get the embed code for the video and place it on your blog or wiki and share it that way. You can watch the video in the post. What a great tool to use for educational purposes. Think of all of the ways you could use video in an instructional setting- it boggles the mind what you can do- even with an inexpensive webcam! In this video, I talk about using Papershow in the college library with my class. Enjoy!

Animoto

I came across Animoto today and wanted to share it with you. It is a web site that lets you upload your pictures, select your music form their library and then puts the whole thing together for you. You can see the sample video in this post. It is very cool and with a click of the mouse let me embed it in my blog. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Applying Jing in the Classroom

This morning I received an email from one of my graduate students who was working on a software project who said she was stuck and didn’t remember how to add a Note card in her ClozePro project. My first inclination was to write her a long and complex step by step process and email it to her. However, on second thought, I decided that it would be a lot easier to create a quick Jing video and show her exactly what needed to be done. So I opened Jing on my MacBook and recorded a 20 second video showing my student, Donna how to create the Note card in her project. Once I created the video, I sent my student an email with the Jing link so that she could view the video. Here is her response.

Dear Dr. Friedlander-thank you. I am just so fascinated by all this new
technology. I will revise my work at the college today or tomorrow. Your
e-mail response just blew me away. It was great to see that visual
presentation. Have a nice Sunday......Donna

If a picture is worth a 1000 words then a video has to be worth at least a million! So remember the next time one of your students asks you how to do something why not create a quick Jing video. It’s just an idea!

Professional Development & Training

One of my colleagues at the College of St. Elizabeth was kind enough to send me a link to You Tube that was not only humorous but really hit home. For any one who does technology support and training we must remember the importance of professional development and training. In the video one monk is transitioning from using a scroll to using a book and asks for assistance to use this "new technology" by calling the Help desk. As teachers, we must remember that when we introduce new technologies that we must build in support and training opportunities and the application of the technology. Likewise, we must also be cognizant of the learner's learning style as we present the new information. The video really hit home for me and I wanted to share it with you. Let me know what you think.