Google Wave-A new way to communicate!

Tuesday ended with another Tele-Tech Tuesday video conference hosted by SOITA. The new topic was Google Wave, a new application from Google. The company seems to always be creating something new and Wave is no exception. Wave seems to be taking online communication to the next level. To me, it seems to be a combination of an IM (instant messenger), wikis and email. It takes the best of each piece and pulls it together to form sort of an 'all-in-one' communication and collaboration tool. You can chat instantly, drag and drop pictures, videos and other files right into the conversation thread, edit and save conversations (this works great to answer questions directly under the question rather in another message). You can also work on documents live with other people. I think this is going to be a great application with a few adjustments from Google. Wave is new and still in a testing phase. I'm sure Google will keep making improvements. It is worth checking out to see where web 2.o is headed!

To hear the official description and for more information, check out:

http://wave.google.com/about.html

How many words is a video worth?

We have all heard the saying, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. Well, how many words is a video clip worth? A lot more if you ask me! I have recently purchased a Flip Video camera for my personal use have discovered just how easy they really are to use. If you want to capture video of your class the Flip is a great way to go! The cameras are very small so they fit great in your pocket and with only a few buttons you really can't mess anything up on accident! The other great part is how easy it is to load the video on your computer. The flips use a USB connector that is built right into the camera. So, you don't need to worry about finding the elusive cord that typically comes with cameras but never seems to be around when you need it. Plus, the software is built into the camera too so you can upload, edit and publish your videos from any computer that you plug into! If you want to capture video quickly and easily then I recommend the Flip!

Just think of the benefits students would get by listening and watching themselves read, perform, etc.

There are some great discounts out there for educators. Here is a site that was recommended to me by Jenna Rahrig from Morgan:
http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/product?id=4310

The side offers buy one, get one free for educators!

There are other pocket camcorders available on the market too. Many of them are great products as well. However, one of the reasons I like the Flip so much is it works on PCs and Macs. This is great for schools when you are not always on the same computer!

Add Slideshows to your Blog with Picasa

I was fortunate enough to attend (and present at) the eTech Ohio Conference (state technology conference) this week in Columbus. I was able to get some great information (as always) to bring back and was selected to be a presenter for one of the sessions! I can't take all the credit though. Stacy Strawser, Jenna Rahrig and Lisa Hodits all presented with me for, 'Using Blogs and Picasa for Classroom Communication'. We came up with the idea, submitted our proposal in the fall and were selected!

The presentation was great! Everyone did a wonderful job. We taught a hands on session that covered setting up a blog, setting up a Picasa account (picture management software) and using Picasa to add a slideshow into our blog (blogger.com). We wanted a way to add your own pictures into your blog as a slide show. Picasa makes that possible through the use of 'Web Albums'. Basically, you can create a folder that is stored on the Picasa server (internet) instead of your own computer. That way you can get to your picture from anywhere with internet access instead of having to be on your computer. The process is pretty smooth and since Picasa and Blogger are through Google you use the same username and password for both accounts. This means less passwords to remember. Yea!

I have uploaded the handouts from the presentation (as a slide show) and added the links to both sites we used. Feel free to check it out for your self or ask for help! Click on the slide show to make it bigger and control each slide.

The link below is Stacy's music blog. She has a slide show running in the yellow bar on the right side of her blog. It is the 'Elda Music Slideshow'. Check it out:
http://eldamusic.blogspot.com/

Picasa

Blogger